INFECTION WITH GB-VIRUS-C IN LEPROUS PATIENTS IN JAPAN

The detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in blood donors and patients with acute and chronic hepatitis has brought to the fore another virus or viruses which can be transmitted parenterally and induce liver dis ease. The RNA of a candidate virus designated GB virus C (GBV-C) was d etermined by the polymerase chain reaction with primers deduced from a helicase-like region in 229 leprous patients in Japan. GBV-C RNA was detected in 12 (5.2%) patients, and HCV RNA in 41 (18%). Three patient s were coinfected with GBV-C and HCV. The nine patients infected with GBV-C alone had aminotransferase levels lower than the three patients with the mixed infection or the 38 patients infected with HCV only (P < 0.001). Sequence comparison within 100 base pairs in the helicase-li ke region suggested that two, three and three patients, respectively, would have been infected with three distinct strains of GBV-C. These r esults indicate that patients with leprosy are at increased risk for i nfection not only with HCV, but also with GBV-C, and that the infectio n with GBV-C alone would not induce hepatic injuries as severe as HCV infection. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.