GBV-C HGV INFECTION IN CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C PATIENTS - ITS EFFECT ON CLINICAL-FEATURES AND INTERFERON THERAPY/

A novel virus (GBV-C/HGV) may be associated with some liver diseases i ncluding fulminant hepatitis and acute and chronic hepatitis. On the o ther hand, many investigations showed that this infection does not con tribute to liver disease. GBV-C/HGV has been found to occur in associa tion with infection with other hepatitis viruses. We investigated the effect of GBV-C/HGV infection on the clinical features and interferon treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C. A total of 262 hepatit is C virus (HCV) RNA positive patients with chronic hepatitis were exa mined in this study. The detection of serum GBV-C/HGV RNA was done by RT-PCR using specific primers from the NS5 regions. Interferon-alpha w as given at a dose of 6 MU/day for 16 or 24 weeks. A responder was def ined as a patient with ALT normalization and HCV RNA disappearance aft er treatment. GBV-C/HGV RNA was detected in 28 (11%) patients. No sign ificant difference was detected in clinical features (age, sex, liver- related biochemical tests, and histological examination) between the 2 8 GBV-C/HGV-positive patients and the GBV-C/HGV-negative patients. Usi ng interferon therapy for hepatitis C, the responder rates of GBV-C/HG V-positive and -negative patients were 14% and 20%, respectively. Of t he 28 patients with GBV-C/HGV RNA, GBV-C/HGV RNA was tested after inte rferon therapy in 16 and of these GBV-C/HGV RNA was not detected in ni ne patients after therapy. These findings suggest that GBV-C/HGV infec tion dose not affect the clinical features in patients with HCV and th e efficacy of interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C. (C) 1998 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.