Absence of the negative strand of GBV-C/HGV RNA from the liver

Background/Aims: The pathogenic role of the human virus GBV-C/HGV remains u nclear as information on tissue specific tropism and sites of replication o f GBVC/HGV is limited and controversial. The aim of this study was to deter mine whether the liver is the site of GBV-C/HGV replication. Methods: We utilized the strand-specific Tth RT-PCR assay to investigate th e presence of the positive- and negative-strand of GBV-C/HGV RNA in liver a nd serum samples from 12 patients with chronic GBV-C/HGV infection; four we re infected with GBV-C/HGV alone, six were coinfected with HCV and two with HBV. A control group of six patients infected with HCV alone was included. The presence of the positive- and negative-strand of HCV RNA was also inve stigated in the same samples. Results: All liver specimens were negative for the presence of the replicat ing negative-strand of GBV-C/HGV RNA. Positive-strand GBV-C/HGV RNA was fou nd in 6 of the 12 liver samples and was detectable only at low levels, most probably reflecting serum contamination. By contrast, the negative strand of HCV RNA was detected in high titers in the liver of all HCV-infected and -coinfected subjects with less than a 100-fold difference from the positiv e strand. In serum samples only the positive strands of GBV-C/HGV and HCV R NA were detected in comparable titers. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that GBV-C/HGV is not replic ating in the liver and, taken together with the bulk of evidence against he patopathogenicity, they argue against the new agent being a hepatotropic vi rus. We suggest that the acronymic term of this agent GBV-C/HGV is used wit h the understanding that it is not a hepatitis virus.