GB virus C/hepatitis G viremia and antibody response to the E2 protein of hepatitis G virus in hemodialysis patients.
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the prevalence of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) RNA and that of antibody to the putative E2 protein (anti-E2) in hemodialysis patients. GBV-C/HGV RNA in serum was detected by a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, and anti-E2 was measured in 244 hemodialysis patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using recombinant E2 protein. The GBV-C/HGV RNA level was determined by competitive RT-PCR with an interval of 1 year. GBV-C/HGV RNA, anti-E2. and both together were detected in 11 (4.5%), in 19 (7.8%), and in 3 patients (1.2%), respectively. Comparison of clinical characteristics between GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive patients and negative patients revealed the longer duration of hemodialysis (9.8 years vs. 6.0 years; p < 0.05), and the greater frequency of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) (63.6% vs. 20.3%; p < 0.05) and HCV RNA (36.4% vs. 12.9%; p < 0.05) in GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive patients. The GBV-C/HGV RNA levels of patients who were positive for anti-E2 remained under detection limit (< 10(2) copies/mL), whereas only one of eight patients who were negative for anti-E2 showed a GBV-C/HGV RNA level under detection limit (p < 0.05). The presence of anti-E2 in serum was associated with loss of detectable GBV-C/HGV RNA or with a very small amount of HCV RNA in hemodialysis patients.
Okuda
M
M
First Department of Internal Medicine, Yamaguchi University, School of Medicine, Ube, Japan.
Hino
K
K
Korenaga
M
M
Yamaguchi
Y
Y
Katoh
Y
Y
Mukaide
M
M
Kaneda
Y
Y
Minaminozono
T
T
Okita
K
K
D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D014766:Viremia / Q000821:virology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C107619:glycoprotein E2, GB virus C