HEPATITIS-C VIRAL QUASI-SPECIES IN HEPATITIS-C VIRUS CARRIERS WITH NORMAL LIVER-ENZYMES AND PATIENTS WITH TYPE-C CHRONIC LIVER-DISEASE

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been reported to conform to a quasispecies nature, which is most evident in hypervariable regions of the putativ e envelops 2 domain. The aim of this study was to determine the relati onship between the nucleotide complexity and diversity of hypervariabl e region 1 and various stages of the carrier states, The subjects stud ied were 20 HCV carriers with normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) le vels, 50 patients with chronic hepatitis who showed elevated ALT level s, 22 with cirrhosis, and 24 with hepatocellular carcinoma. The quasis pecies completely was analyzed by means of polymerase chain reaction-m ediated single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). The value of nucleotide diversity was calculated by PCR cloning and sequencing, The number of SSCP bands ranged from I to 7, with no significant diffe rences in the mean numbers among the stages of HCV infection. There wa s no correlation between the amounts of serum HCV RNA and the numbers of SSCP bands. No significant difference was found in the values of nu cleotide diversity between carriers with normal ALT levels (mean, 6.6 x 10(-2) per site) and patients with chronic hepatitis (7.7 x 10(-2)). These findings suggest that the quasispecies complexity of hypervaria ble region 1 is independent of the stage of chronic HCV infection.