title: Liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells are not major sites for GB virus-C/hepatitis G virus replication.
abstract: The pathogenesis and replication sites of GB virus-C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) in humans remain unclear. The presence of GBV-C/HGV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA sequences in matched serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and liver samples in 10 patients with GBV-C/HGV infection, 8 of whom were coinfected with HCV was explored. Positive- and negative-strand GBV-C/HGV and HCV RNA were detected by strand-specific reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and virus titers were quantified by competitive PCRs. Positive-strand GBV-C/HGV RNA was detected in 7 of 10 PBMC samples of the patients with serum GBV-C/HGV RNA, but negative-strand GBV-C/HGV RNA was not found in these cells. Positive-strand GBV-C/HGV RNA was found in 9 liver samples, and 2 (22%) of them also had negative strand. In contrast, negative-strand HCV RNA was frequently found in PBMC and liver samples. A positive correlation between the titer of viral RNA in liver tissue and that in serum sample was demonstrated in HCV infection, but not in GBV-C/HGV infection. These findings suggest that liver and PBMC are not the major replication sites for GBV-C/HGV and that GBV-C/HGV is not a primary hepatotropic virus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral