Molecular epidemiology of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus in Athens, Greece

The relevance of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) infections in liv er pathology remains unclear. To investigate the epidemiology of GBV-C/HGV in Athens, Greece, sera from 512 subjects were screened for present and pas t markers of GBV-C/HGV infection using a reverse transcription-polymerase c hain reaction (RT-PCR) and a serological assay, respectively. GBV-C/H GV RN A was detected in 18/56 (32.1%), 12/42 (28.6%), and 16/55 (29.1%) patients with acute hepatitis B, C, or non-A-E, and in 5/58 (8.6%) and 18/68 (26.5%) patients with chronic hepatitis B or C, respectively, as well as in 50/133 (37.6%) hemodialysis patients and 10/100 (10%) healthy individuals. The da ta indicated that GBV-C/HGV seroprevalence is age-dependent; thus, GBV-C/HG V RNA and anti-E2 positivity were shown to be associated with younger age [ odds ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 0.97-1.00, P = 0.017] and old er age (odds ratio 1.03, 95% Cl 1.01-1.05, P = 0.002), respectively. No sig nificant associations were identified between GBV-C/HGV RNA status and alan ine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in either hepatitis or hemodialysis patie nts. Nevertheless, GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive acute nonA-E hepatitis patients w ere more likely to manifest a more severe clinical form of acute hepatitis (P = 0.024). Phylogenetic analysis of partial 5'-untranslated region sequen ces isolated from 18 viremic individuals showed that most GBV-C/HGV strains circulating in the greater metropolitan area of Athens belong to the 2a su bgroup. A genetically diverse type 2 sequence that may represent a novel su btype within group 2 was also characterized. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.