title: Hepatitis C viraemia in adults with type 2 autoimmune hepatitis.
abstract: Sera from 14 patients with type 2 autoimmune hepatitis (anti-LKM1 positive) were investigated for evidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Antibodies to HCV were detected in 13 patients by both commercial and "in-house" ELISAs and also by a second generation recombinant immunoblot assay. Nine of the 13 (69%) anti-HCV positive patients were shown to be viraemic by a polymerase chain reaction-based assay for serum HCV RNA. Neither anti-HCV nor serum HCV RNA were detected in any of 6 controls with primary biliary cirrhosis or in 39 healthy blood donors. These findings strongly suggest a role for HCV in the pathogenesis of type 2 autoimmune hepatitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Pathology, University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Garson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenzi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ring
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cassani
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ballardini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tedder
authors.forename: F B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Bianchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000382:microbiology*; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007558:Italy; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D014766:Viremia / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral