title: Evaluation of viral load in saliva from patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus can be detected in blood and other bodily fluids, such as saliva. The aim of this study was to detect and quantify the HCV-RNA in saliva and plasma from patients with chronic hepatitis C infections, as well as check the level of viral load in sex groups (age, ethnicity and virus subtypes). Whole saliva and blood from 70 patients with chronic hepatitis C infections attended at the department of gastroenterology from University Hospital. The HCV-RNA load was performed by qRT-PCR using Sybr Green I master mix. HCV-RNA was detected in 80% (56/70) of patients in saliva and 92.85% (65/70) in plasma. The median of the viral load in the plasma was of 4.87 log10, and in saliva, it was 3.32log10, (p = 0.0005). Female patients and black patients exhibited a negative correlation between the HCV-RNA load in saliva vs. the HCV-RNA load in plasma (r = -0.3172, CI95% -0.6240 to -0.03736, p = 0.0491) and (r = -0.3141; IC95% -0.6069 to -0.05926; p = 0.0209), respectively. HCV-RNA was detected and quantified in saliva samples, and according to the quantification levels, saliva may be a possible transmission source of HCV, particularly in women and people of black ethnicity who develop chronic HCV infections.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Odontology with Concentration in Integrated Clinical, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Electronic address: renata_lais@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Renata L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Xavier Santos
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Tropical Medicine, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; Virology Sector, Laboratory of Immunopathology Keizo Asami (LIKA), Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dayse M V
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: de Deus
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
authors.forename: Edmundo P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: de Almeida Lopes
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Tropical Medicine, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; Virology Sector, Laboratory of Immunopathology Keizo Asami (LIKA), Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; Department of Physiology and Pharmacy, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria R C
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Duarte Coêlho
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Odontology with Concentration in Integrated Clinical, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jurema F L
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: de Castro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Chronic hepatitis C infection; Ethnicity; Viral subtype; qPCR