GB virus C infection in patients with type II mixed cryoglobulinemia.
Ann Intern Med
; 127(10): 891-4, 1997 Nov 15.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-9382367
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is present in most but not all patients with type II mixed cryoglobulinemia.OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the role of GB virus C (GBV-C) in type II mixed cryoglobulinemia.DESIGN:
Retrospective study of serum and cryoprecipitate samples.SETTING:
Tertiary care hospital in Bergamo, Italy. PATIENTS 58 cryoglobulinemic patients, 35 of whom were treated with interferon-alpha. MEASUREMENTS GB virus C RNA was determined by a reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assay done by using primers derived from the conserved GBV-C helicase region.RESULTS:
GB virus C RNA was detected in serum specimens from 23 of 58 cryoglobulinemic patients (40% [95% CI, 27% to 53%]) and 1 of 145 healthy blood donors (0.7%) (P < 0.001). Twenty of the 23 patients with GBV-C RNA were simultaneously infected with HCV. Unlike antibodies to HCV and HCV RNA, GBV-C RNA did not concentrate in cryoprecipitate in patients co-infected with GBV-C and HCV. Furthermore, the therapeutic effectiveness of interferon-alpha in patients with coinfection was related to the disappearance of HCV RNA but not GBV-C RNA from serum. None of 3 patients with GBV-C infection alone had detectable GBV-C RNA in cryoprecipitate.CONCLUSIONS:
Infection with GBV-C, usually associated with HCV, is common in patients with type II mixed cryoglobulinemia but is unlikely to have a primary role in this disease.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Flaviviridae
/
Crioglobulinemia
/
Hepatitis Viral Humana
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Ann Intern Med
Año:
1997
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia