High prevalence of HCV-RNA in the saliva cell fraction of patients with chronic hepatitis C but no evidence of HCV transmission among sexual partners

The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of HCV-RNA in differ ent fractions of saliva taken from patients with chronic hepatitis C, to es tablish whether virologic parameters or disease severity exert any influenc e on the detectability of HCV-RNA in saliva, and to evaluate the prevalence of HCV infection in partners of HCV-infected subjects with respect to the presence of HCV-RNA in saliva. Sera samples and different fractions of sali va (whole saliva, surnatant, and cell fraction) from 48 subjects (45 with c hronic hepatitis C and three healthy anti-HCV+ carriers) were examined for HCV-RNA by RT nested PCR and DEIA hybridization. HCV-RNA-positive sera were also tested for genotype and viral titer (bDNA2 method). Twenty-seven stab le sexual partners (25 females and 2 males) were screened for anti-HCV anti bodies at least twice over a minimum of 12 months. HCV-RNA was detected in the sera of 39/45 patients and of 22/39 viremic patients, In all of the lat ter, the presence of HCV-RNA was restricted to the cell fraction. Viral tit er was significantly higher in patients with MCV-RNA in saliva than in thos e without (12.3 x 10(6) versus 4.6 x 10(6) eq/ml, P<0.01), HCV-RNA positivi ty was unrelated to genotype, duration of disease, Hepatitis Activity Index scores or transaminase levels. Anti-HCV was positive in one of 13 sexual p artners of patients with HCV-RNA in saliva and in 1/14 of those without (P = NS), In conclusion, HCV-RNA is detectable in the cell fraction of saliva in a high proportion of highly viremic patients with chronic hepatitis C, b ut its presence does not seem to be associated with an increased risk of HC V transmission among sexual partners.