title: Assessment of spontaneous fluctuations of viral load in untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C by two standardized quantitation methods: branched DNA and Amplicor Monitor.
abstract: Quantitation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in serum has been used to predict and monitor the efficacy of interferon therapy in chronic HCV infection. We prospectively studied the fluctuation of viremia by a longitudinal follow-up of HCV RNA levels for 2 months in six untreated patients. Spontaneous fluctuations of HCV RNA ranged from 2.8- to 5.7-fold with branched DNA assay and from 2.9- to 5.6-fold with Monitor. These large spontaneous fluctuations (up to 0.75 log), observed daily, weekly, and monthly, raise doubt about the clinical value of a single assessment of pretherapeutic viremia.
authors.affiliation: Alphabio Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Hôpital de la Conception, Marseille, France. alphabio@wanadoo.fr
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Halfon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bourlière
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Halimi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khiri
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bertezene
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Portal
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Botta-Fridlund
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Gauthier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jullien
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Feryn
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gerolami
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cartouzou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000502:physiology*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral