title: Clinical significance of hepatitis GB virus C infection in alcoholic liver disease.
abstract: Recently, hepatitis GB virus C (HGBV-C) has been recovered from patients with non-A-E hepatitis. However, it has been unclear whether HGBV-C may be related to the development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) or not. In this study, we determined HGBV-C RNA in sera from alcoholic patients without markers for hepatitis C and B viruses to evaluate the role of HGBV-C in ALD. Serum samples were obtained from 68 patients with ALD and 40 nonalcoholic patients with chronic type C liver disease. HGBV-C RNA was detected in only 3 of 68 (4.4%) patients with ALD, in 2 of 27 patients with hepatic fibrosis, and in 1 of 5 patients with chronic hepatitis. There was no HGBV-C RNA in sera from patients with fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, or cirrhosis. Serum levels of AST, ALT, and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase in alcoholic patients with, as well as without, HGBV-C RNA decreased to normal levels after abstinence. In addition, an inflammatory change was not observed in liver biopsy specimens obtained from two HGBV-C-positive patients with alcoholic hepatic fibrosis. Our results clearly suggest that the prevalence of HGBV-C infection in patients with ALD is rare and that HGBV-C may not play an important role in the development of liver disease in alcoholics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kanazawa Medical University, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takase
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueshima
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuchishima
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawahara
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D001706:Biopsy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D013695:Temperance
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral