title: Molecular investigation of GB virus C infection in hemophiliacs in Japan.
abstract: RNA of a putative non-A, -B, -C, -D, or -E hepatitis virus named GB virus C (GBV-C) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with primers deduced from the 5' untranslated region in 15 (24%) of 63 men with hemophilia in Japan at a frequency higher (P < .001) than that in 2 (0.6%) of 337 controls. By phylogenetic analysis, GBV-C isolates from some patients were similar in sequence, indicating infection with closely related strains, and those from certain patients resembled sequences reported from foreign countries. All patients were infected with hepatitis C virus, and genotypes that are rare in Japan were detected in 36 (57%) of them. These results indicate that patients with hemophilia in Japan would be at increased risk for infection with GBV-C and hepatitis C virus, some of which would have been transmitted via imported coagulation factor concentrates in the past.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayumi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000150:complications*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral