DETECTION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-REPLICATION IN PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS AFTER ORTHOTOPIC LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION

Background. The presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication in per ipheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) remains controversial. We dete rmined the presence of the negative HCV RNA strand in PBMCs from a gro up of HCV-positive patients before and after liver transplantation. Me thods. Nine patients receiving orthotopic liver transplantation for en d-stage HCV-related liver disease were studied. PBMCs were collected o n the day of transplantation and 1 month later. The negative HCV RNA s trand was detected by highly strand-specific Tth-based reverse transcr iptase polymerase chain reaction. Results. All nine patients mere posi tive for the presence of the HCV RNA-positive strand in serum and PBMC s both before and after transplantation. The presence of the negative HCV RNA strand was documented in three PBMC samples after transplantat ion but in none of the samples collected before transplantation. Concl usion. Our results suggest that under circumstances of impaired immuni ty associated with pharmacological immunosuppression, HCV may be lymph otropic in vivo.