title: Clinical, virological and histological implications of GB virus-C/hepatitis G virus infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: a multicentre study based on 671 patients.
abstract: To determine the prevalence, as well as the clinical, virological and histological implications of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBC-C/HGV) infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, sera from 671 well-characterized patients with chronic HCV infection were tested for GBV-C/HGV RNA using a sensitive and specific reverse transcription 'nested' polymerase chain reaction (RT-nPCR). GBV-C/HGV RNA was detected in 65 of 671 (9. 7%) patients with chronic HCV infection. Importantly, GBV-C/HGV co-infection was not associated with any changes in indices of liver diseases, including serum alanine transaminase levels, Knodell score or histology activity index (HAI). In this cohort, GBV-C/HGV co-infection was weakly associated with a shorter mean estimated duration of HCV infection and a higher median HCV viraemia level. We conclude that GBV-C/HGV has minimal or no impact on liver disease activity in patients with chronic HCV infection. This data supports the notion that GBV-C/HGV may not be a hepatitis virus.
authors.affiliation: Section of Hepatobiliary Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Slimane
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizokami
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000502:physiology; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000502:physiology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral