Hepatitis C virus infection of peripheral nerves in type II cryoglobulinaemia.
Peripheral neuropathy is a frequent complication in patients suffering from type II mixed cryoglobulinaemia (mCGII), a sort of vasculitis that is strongly associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and characterised by high concentrations of anti-HCV antibodies and HCV RNA in the cryoprecipitates. We report the finding of HCV RNA in homogenates of nerve biopsies from five such patients, by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification of different regions of the viral genome. HCV RNA was localized in epineurial cells by in situ RT-PCR. Our data suggest that HCV infection of nerves plays a major role in mCGII-associated neuropathy.
Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche e della Visione, Università di Verona, Italy.
B
B
Bonetti
M
M
Scardoni
S
S
Monaco
N
N
Rizzuto
A
A
Scarpa
D003449:Cryoglobulinemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D012367:RNA, Viral