Consensus oligonucleotide primers for the detection of GB virus C in human cryptogenic hepatitis.
Recently, sequences from a putative member of the Flaviviridae, GB virus C (GBV-C), were isolated from the serum of patients with cryptogenic hepatitis. These sequences were 83-99% identical at the nucleotide level. Because of the divergence between these GBV-C isolates, it is likely that the PCR-based detection assay yields false negatives, underestimating dramatically the true prevalence of GBV-C in human hepatitis. We report the design of a GBV-C consensus oligonucleotide primer pair that is superior to those originally described. These primers identify GBV-C sequences in cases of cryptogenic hepatitis, allowing a better estimation of the prevalence of this virus in human populations.
Leary
T P
TP
Virus Discovery Group, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA. learyt@apmac.abbott.com
Muerhoff
A S
AS
Simons
J N
JN
Pilot-Matias
T J
TJ
Erker
J C
JC
Chalmers
M L
ML
Schlauder
G G
GG
Dawson
G J
GJ
Desai
S M
SM
Mushahwar
I K
IK
D001483:Base Sequence; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral