title: HCV and monoclonal gammopathies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of antibodies against HCV in monoclonal gammopathies with and without cryoglobulinemic activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  201 patients were divided into two groups: (I) 94 patients with monoclonal gammopathies with cryoglobulinemic activity, and (II) 107 with monoclonal gammopathies without cryoglobulinemic activity. Cryoglobulins were characterized by immunofixation; HCVAb were detected using second-generation ELISA and RIBA methods; in 38 cases the presence of HCV in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was evaluated by PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HCVAb prevalence, as evaluated by RIBA, in Group I was 69.1% while in Group II it was only 14.9%. Histological and immunohistochemical study of the bone marrow in Group I patients frequently showed signs of nodular B-cell clonal expansion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data confirm the existence of a close correlation between HCV infection and the monoclonal gammopathies with cryoglobulinemic activity. HCV-positive cryoglobulinemic is characterized by self-limiting IgM monoclonal expansion associated with histological aspects of bone marrow lymphoid nodules that do not expand in the course of the disease like classic evolving lymphoproliferative processes.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Università degli Studi di Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mussini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghini
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mascia
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zanni
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lattuada
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giovanardi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonacorsi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Artusi
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D003449:Cryoglobulinemia / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010265:Paraproteinemias / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral