Analysis of hepatitis G virus GB virus C quasispecies and replication sites in human subjects

Although the hepatitis G virus is unlikely to be a primary hepatotropic vir us, its replication sites remain unclear. Using highly strand-specific Tth- based reverse transcriptase PCR we searched for the presence of the viral R NA negative strand in various autopsy tissues in two patients who died of e nd-stage Liver disease. In addition, amplified viral sequences were compare d in the 5' untranslated and the putative capsid regions by the single-stra nd conformation polymorphism (SSCP), Negative strand HGV RNA was detected i n bone marrow and spleen from both patients and in lymph node tissue from o ne. All amplified sequences from a given patient were identical when compar ed by SSCP and direct sequencing. This lack of difference in the compositio n of quasispecies recovered from various tissues suggests the presence of a single, common viral compartment in the infected host. (C) 1999 Academic P ress.