HGV/GBV-C infection in patients with acute hepatitis of different etiology and in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
To investigate the prevalence of hepatitis G virus (HGV/GBV-C) in patients with liver disease and to confirm its hypothesized ability to cause liver damage, we studied 130 subjects; 61 had chronic hepatitis C virus infection and 69 had acute hepatitis of either defined etiology (n = 57) or of unknown origin (n = 12). Positivity for HGV/GBV-C RNA was detected in 10 of the 61 subjects with chronic hepatitis C (16.3%) and in 11 of the 57 subjects with acute hepatitis of defined etiology (19%), whereas we failed to detect HGV/ GBV-C viremia in subjects with hepatitis of nonestablished etiology. Patients exhibiting positivity for HGV/GBV-C RNA were found to be comparable to those exhibiting negativity for HGV/GBV-C RNA in terms of both liver function tests and Knodell's score (in liver biopsies); the affect of HGV/GBV-C infection on the biohumoral and histological activity in patients with chronic hepatitis C therefore appears to be minimal or absent. Similar clinical features were observed in patients with acute hepatitis of known etiology whether they were positive or negative for HGV/GBV-C RNA. However, long-term clinical studies are still required to clarify the actual impact of HGV/GBV-C co-infection. In our geographic, i.e., a region or north-east Italy, HGV/GBV-C infection appears to be strictly related to intravenous drug use, and this agent does not seem to be responsible for acute hepatitis of unknown etiology; other etiological agents are probably involved.
Fabris
P
P
Department of Infectious Diseases, Ospedale S. Bortolo, Vicenza, Italy.
Infantolino
D
D
Biasin
M R
MR
Benedetti
P
P
Tositti
G
G
Bettini
C
C
Marchelle
G
G
de Lalla
F
F
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012313:RNA; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification
C034477:RNA primers; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012313:RNA