K. Shimanaka et al., Clinicopathological study of chronic hepatitis induced by alcohol with or without hepatitis G virus, ALC CLIN EX, 23(4), 1999, pp. 29S-32S
The concept of chronic hepatitis induced by alcohol (AL-CH) has not been wi
dely accepted, because AL-CH may be due to non-A-E hepatitis virus in heavy
drinkers. Recently, hepatitis G virus (HGV) was identified as a positive-s
trand RNA virus related to members of the Flaviviridae family. In this stud
y, we determined serum HGV in patients with AL-CH and analyzed the clinicop
athological changes after abstinence to evaluate whether AL-CH is caused by
alcohol or not. Serum samples were obtained from 16 patients with AL-CH wh
o had neither hepatitis B nor C virus. The diagnosis was confirmed histolog
ically. In eight patients, liver biopsy was performed twice, within 3 days
and 4 to 8 weeks after abstinence. The NS3 region of the HGV genome was det
ected using an reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction method. Seru
m levels of AST, ALT and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase were measured once a
week sequentially after admission. Serum HGV-RNA was detected in only one p
atient with ALCH (6.3%). In all patients, including one patient with HGV, s
erum levels of AST, ALT and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase clearly decreased
to normal levels after abstinence. Inflammatory activity in the periportal
area of patients with actively drinking decreased or disappeared after abst
inence for 4 to 8 weeks. These results suggest that HGV may not play an imp
ortant role for development of AL-CH, and that AL-CH may be caused by alcoh
ol itself, although a more larger number of patients with ALCH are needed t
o obtain definitive conclusions.