DETECTION OF REPLICATIVE INTERMEDIATES OF VIRAL-RNA IN PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS FROM CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C VIRUS CARRIERS

Clinical and experimental evidence suggests the possible existence of one or more extrahepatic sites of HCV infection. In order to demonstra te the ''in vivo'' infection of lymphoid cells by HCV, we applied a ne sted PCR to total cytoplasmic RNA extracted from fresh or cultured per ipheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of HCV chronically infected pa tients, using primers derived from the highly conserved 5' untranslate d region of the HCV genome. The presence of virions in PBMCs occurs fr equently, if not always, and is often accompanied by active viral repl ication. Moreover, the appearance of replicative intermediates after s timulation of cellular growth with mitogens suggests that latent genom es could undergo replication upon cellular activation and/or prolifera tion.