title: Hepatitis C virus superinfection of liver grafts: a detailed analysis of early exclusion of non-dominant virus strains.
abstract: Liver transplantation (LT) of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected grafts into HCV-infected recipients leads to superinfection with two different virus strains. To characterize the virological outcomes of HCV superinfection immediately after LT, we performed phylogenetic analysis of a fragment of the NS5B gene in donor and recipient serum samples prospectively collected before and after LT, starting on day 1. In four of six cases, the donor strain finally prevailed, while in the remaining two cases, the native recipient strain overtook the donor quasispecies. Clonal sequence analysis showed that, in three cases, the expelled strain was undetectable 1 day after LT. Our study shows that superinfection with a different HCV strain can lead to the exclusion of one strain by the other as soon as the first day after LT. This would suggest that competition might not be limited to the replication level, but could also take place during virus entry.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit, IMDiM, Hospital Clínic, CIBERehd, IDIBAPS and University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Santseharay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Sofía
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pérez-del-Pulgar
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carrión
authors.forename: Mairene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coto-Llerena
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mensa
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dragun
authors.forename: Juan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: García-Valdecasas
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Navasa
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Forns
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D019737:Transplants / Q000821:virology*; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase