Assessment of hepatitis C virus RNA levels by quantitative competitive RNA polymerase chain reaction: high-titer viremia correlates with advanced stage of disease.
A quantitative competitive RNA polymerase chain reaction (QC-PCR) assay was developed for measuring absolute levels of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in the sera of 121 viremic persons, including 64 asymptomatic blood donors, 39 symptomatic patients referred for treatment of chronic hepatitis C, and 18 patients with end-stage liver disease referred for liver transplantation. Mean HCV RNA levels (log molecules per milliliter) were lowest among blood donors with normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values (5.8 +/- 1.5), higher among blood donors with elevated ALT (6.9 +/- 0.8) and clinic patients with chronic active hepatitis (6.9 +/- 0.7), and highest among patients with cirrhosis (7.1 +/- 0.8) or end-stage liver disease (7.6 +/- 1.0). High-titer viremia ( > or = 7.5 logs/mL) was more frequent among patients with end-stage liver disease (14/18; 78%) than either blood donors (10/64; P < .001) or patients with chronic active hepatitis (7/26; P < .001). Thus, 121 (94.5%) of 128 anti-HCV-positive persons were viremic. QC-PCR may be valuable for monitoring HCV infection status and selecting individuals for therapy.
Gretch
D
D
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle 98195.
Corey
L
L
Wilson
J
J
dela Rosa
C
C
Willson
R
R
Carithers
R
R
Busch
M
M
Hart
J
J
Sayers
M
M
Han
J
J
D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D014766:Viremia / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
D017931:DNA Primers; D012367:RNA, Viral