GB virus C infection in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C before and after liver transplantation.
Recently, a novel virus, tentatively designated GB virus (GBV-C) was identified in patients with hepatitis. The frequency of this novel virus infection was therefore investigated in 58 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and in 74 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who had received orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) because of decompensated liver cirrhosis. Before OLT, GBV-C sequences were found by reverse transcription nested polymerase chain reaction with primers derived from the helicase-like region in six (10%) of the HBV- and in six (8%) of the HCV-infected patients. Specificity of the polymerase chain reaction products was confirmed in eight of them by direct sequencing. Pretransplant GBV-6 viremia was associated with posttransplant viremia in 75% of patients. The comparison of GBV-C nucleotide and amino acid sequences within the helicase-like region revealed that pre- and posttransplant sequences differed only in 0-7 nucleotide exchanges, and with the exception of one, all of them were silent mutations. After OLT, 29% of the HBV- infected and 12% of the HCV-infected patients became GBV-C positive,indicating a high rate of "de novo" GBV-C infection. By correlating the GBV-C status with the frequency of the occurrence of graft hepatitis in both groups of patients, it became evident that posttransplant GBV-C viremia did not increase the risk for this clinical condition. However, we found a significantly higher percentage of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with pre-OLT GBV-C/HCV coinfection compared with patients with HCV infection alone (5/6 vs. 16/68;P<0.01).
Berg
T
T
Department of Internal Medicine, Virchow-Klinikum, Medizinische Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
Naumann
U
U
Fukumoto
T
T
Bechstein
W O
WO
Neuhaus
P
P
Lobeck
H
H
Hohne
M
M
Schreier
E
E
Hopf
U
U
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D002423:Cause of Death; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D011184:Postoperative Period; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D012086:Reoperation; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014766:Viremia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology
D012367:RNA, Viral