title: Hepatitis G virus infection in American patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis: no evidence for liver replication.
abstract: It is unclear whether hepatitis G virus (HGV) can lead to chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Eighty-nine patients with end-stage liver disease undergoing liver transplantation were studied: 50 were diagnosed as having cryptogenic cirrhosis while 39 had nonviral chronic liver disease. Five (10%) in the former and 1 (2.6%) in the latter group (not significantly different) were positive for HGV RNA in serum. All 6 HGV-infected patients were negative for the presence of the HGV RNA minus strand in the liver when tested with a strand-specific Tth-based reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and 5 were positive for the presence of the plus strand, albeit at low levels. This implies that the liver is not the primary replication site for HGV, at least in a significant proportion of patients. Absence of liver replication explains the reported lack of association between HGV infection and liver pathology encountered in many clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: Division of Transplantation Medicine, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laskus
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radkowski
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dodson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rakela
mesh_terms: D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008979:Moloney murine leukemia virus / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase