title: Hepatitis G virus/GBV-C in serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and bone marrow in patients with hematological malignancies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  HGV/GBV-C is highly prevalent in the general population but its significance remains unclear. It is known that HGV/GBV-C is not primary hepatotropic and its replication was reported in PBMC, bone marrow and other tissues. To investigate a possible role of HGV/GBV-C 115 consecutive patients with hematological malignancies were analyzed for virus RNA presence and quasispecies composition in three compartments: serum, PBMC and bone marrow.
  
  
  METHODS
  RT-PCR was used to amplify 5'UTR HGV/GBV-C in serum, PBMC and bone marrow. Viral sequences obtained from three compartments were subjected for comparative molecular analysis performed by single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) and pyrosequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HGV/GBV-C RNA was detected in 23 out of 115 (20.0%) patients, most often in bone marrow (18 patients), followed by PBMC (11 patients) and serum (10 patients). Differences in SSCP bands distribution corresponding to different viral variants and confirmed by direct sequencing were observed in three patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HGV/GBV-C infection is frequent in patients with hematological malignancies. Common detection of HGV/GBV-C in bone marrow supports the hypothesis that it is a major replication site of this virus.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology and Transfusiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Elżbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kisiel
authors.forename: Kamila Caraballo
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Cortez
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pawełczyk
authors.forename: Iwona Bukowska
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Ośko
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kubisa
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laskus
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radkowski
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000821:virology; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology*; D029407:GB virus C / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Bone marrow; Compartmentalization; HGV/GBV-C; Quasispecies