INFECTION WITH GB-VIRUS-C HEPATITIS-G VIRUS IN BRAZILIAN HEMODIALYSISAND HEPATITIS PATIENTS AND ASYMPTOMATIC INDIVIDUALS

Recently, sequences from a novel human flavivirus, termed GB virus C ( GBV-C) or hepatitis G virus (HGV), have been identified in serum from patients with cryptogenic hepatitis and others. Sera from 116 patients with different clinical backgrounds were tested for the presence of G BV-C/HGV RNA by a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with primers from the nonstructural (NS) 5 region. Ten (15%) patients on m aintenance hemodialysis and 5 (19%) non A-C hepatitis patients were GB V-C/HGV RNA positive, along with one patient with chronic hepatitis B, one patient with chronic hepatitis C, and two asymptomatic individual s. Sequence comparison within 354 base pairs in the NS5 region showed homology rates varying from 87% to 97% among five Brazilian isolates, and from 86% to 93% between Brazilian strains and GBV-C/HGV isolates f rom other countries previously sequenced. Homology rates were higher a t the amino acid level since most substitutions occurred at the third nucleotide position of codons without changing the codon meaning. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.