Serum hepatitis C virus sequences in posttransfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis
M Shibata, T Morishima, T Kudo, T Maki, S Maki and Y Nagai
Department of Pediatrics, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
We investigated 17 patients (12 males and 5 females, ages 2 to 57 years
old) with posttransfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis to determine relationships
between clinical courses and hepatitis C virus (HCV) markers. The patients
were grouped according to time course of abnormal serum alanine
aminotransferase (ALT) levels into three categories (chronic biochemical
disease, biochemically resolved chronic disease, and acute disease). Latest
serum samples (1.3 to 10.8 years after blood transfusion) were used to
detect antibodies against C100-3 antigen (anti-HCV) by enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay and HCV sequences by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
assay. Of the 17 patients, 13 patients (76.5%) were anti-HCV positive and 8
patients (47.1%), including one anti-HCV negative case, were positive for
HCV RNA. In total, 14 patients (82.4%) were positive for either HCV
markers. With respect to clinical course, HCV RNA was detected in six of
eight patients (75%) with chronic biochemical disease, and in two of five
patients (40%) with biochemically resolved chronic disease. HCV RNA was not
detectable in convalescent sera from four patients with acute disease.
These results show that there is a relationship between clinical status and
HCV viremia, but that normal liver function tests do not always represent
the clearance of the virus. Viremia in two patients with normal ALT level
suggests that hepatitis is not only caused by viral cytopathic effects, but
also by immunologic reactions against virus- infected cells. Thus, PCR is
useful in determining the persistence of HCV infection as well as to
diagnose anti-HCV negative HCV infection.
Volume 77,
Issue 6,
pp. 1157-1160,
03/15/1991
Copyright © 1991 by The American Society of Hematology
