POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-RNA STRANDS IN SERUM, LIVER AND PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS IN ANTI-HCV PATIENTS - RELATION WITH THE LIVER LESION

To investigate the replicative hepatitis C virus status and its relati on to liver damage, serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and live r-paired samples from 45 untreated hepatitis C virus infected patients (38 with chronic hepatitis, three with minimal changes, and four with normal liver) were studied by nested polymerase chain reaction, using primers from the 5' untranslated region. Positive HCV-RNA strand was detected in serum (69%), peripheral blood mononuclear cells (100%) and liver samples (100%). The presence of negative HCV-RNA strand was con firmed using specificity controls assays and was only detected in live r and peripheral blood mononuclear cells samples, (95% and 82%, respec tively). No correlation between the presence of negative HCV-RNA stran d in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and positive HCV-RNA strand in serum was found, whereas serum HCV-RNA was not detected in patients w ithout negative HCV-RNA strand in the liver. Both positive and negativ e HCV-RNA strands were found in liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of four patients with normal liver histology, and three with mi nimal changes. Furthermore, the presence of HCV-RNA in serum did not c orrelate with the alanine aminotransferase values and the histological activity index. These data confirm the existence of replicative inter mediates in the liver, not only from patients with histologically prov en chronic hepatitis, but also from those with normal liver, suggestin g the existence of hepatitis C virus in true healthy carriers. (C) Jou rnal of Hepatology.