MOLECULAR INVESTIGATION OF GB VIRUS-C INFECTION IN HEMOPHILIACS IN JAPAN

RNA of a putative non-A, -B, -C, -D, or -E hepatitis virus named GB vi rus C (GBV-C) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain r eaction with primers deduced from the 5' untranslated region in 15 (24 %) of 63 men with hemophilia in Japan at a frequency higher (P < .001) than that in 2 (0.6%) of 337 controls, By phylogenetic analysis, GBV- C isolates from some patients were similar in sequence, indicating inf ection with closely related strains, and those from certain patients r esembled sequences reported from foreign countries, All patients were infected with hepatitis C virus, and genotypes that are rare in Japan were detected in 36 (57%) of them, These results indicate that patient s with hemophilia in Japan would be at increased risk for infection wi th GBV-C and hepatitis C virus, some of which would have been transmit ted via imported coagulation factor concentrates in the past.