Quantitative analysis of hepatitis C virus RNA: relationship between the replicative level and the various stages of the carrier states or the response to interferon therapy.
The authors quantified hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in serum by the competitive RT-PCR assay to correlate the replicative level of HCV with [1] various stages of the carrier states or [2] a sustained response to interferon therapy. The competitive RT-PCR assay employed is based on co-amplification of the target RNA with known amounts of synthetic mutated RNA having a novel restriction endonuclease (EcoRI) site. The titer of circulating HCV RNA defined as log10 (copy numbers/ml serum) were lower in asymptomatic blood donors (5.4 +/- 2.0) and in patients with chronic persistent hepatitis (7.3 +/- 1.1) compared with those having chronic active hepatitis (7.9 +/- 0.8), liver cirrhosis (7.8 +/- 0.7) and hepatocellular carcinoma (7.9 +/- 0.7). The initial titer of circulating HCV RNA of long-term responders before interferon therapy (7.1 +/- 1.2) was significantly lower than that of short-term responders (8.3 +/- 0.5) and non-responders (8.1 +/- 0.4). Multivariate multiple logistic regression showed that the titer of HCV RNA before therapy was the strongest independent predictor of a sustained response to interferon therapy. These results showed that the replicative level of hepatitis C virus is higher in advanced liver disease and that the replicative state of HCV is the most important factor influencing sustained response to interferon treatment.
First Department of Medicine, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Japan.
H
H
Hagiwara
N
N
Hayashi
H
H
Fusamoto
T
T
Kamada
D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014779:Virus Replication
D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral