P. Carpintero et al., HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION DETECTED BY VIRAL-RNA ANALYSIS IN PORPHYRIA-CUTANEA-TARDA, The Journal of infection, 34(1), 1997, pp. 61-64
The high prevalence (62%) of anti-HCV in patients with porphyria cutan
ea tarda (PCT) found in a recent study prompted us to speculate that h
epatitis C virus (HCV) infection could contribute to liver damage in t
his disease. The relationship between a positive serologic test and in
fertility remains elusive, as anti-HCV false-positive reactivity has b
een described in some patients with chronic liver disease. Hence, it n
eeds to be established if HCV infection plays a role in the pathogenes
is of liver injury, or anti-HCV positivity may be an epiphenomenon in
PCT patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the existence of t
rue HCV infection by verifying the presence of serum viral RNA in pati
ents with PCT. HCV RNA was studied in sera from 36 patients with clini
cal and biochemical features of PCT using a polymerase chain reaction
technique. Additionally, 26 patients with chronic alcoholic liver dise
ase and 29 patients with different dermatological lesions but with no
liver disease were studied as control groups. HCV RNA was positive in
29 of 36 patients (80.5%) with anti-HCV positive PCT. For alcoholic li
ver disease and dermatological disease controls the values for HCV RNA
were 11.5% and 3.4%, respectively. HCV infection was found to be sign
ificantly higher in patients with PCT than in controls (P <0.001), dem
onstrating that most subjects with clinically expressed PCT have true
HCV infection. These data support the hypothesis that liver damage in
some patients with PCT may be attributed to prolonged HCV infection, s
uggesting that treatment for chronic hepatitis C could be indicated.