Assuntos
Antivirais/uso terapêutico , Hepatite C Crônica/terapia , Hepatite C Crônica/virologia , Interferons/uso terapêutico , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Genótipo , Hepacivirus/genética , Antígenos da Hepatite C/química , Antígenos da Hepatite C/genética , Humanos , Dados de Sequência MolecularRESUMO
The development of new antiretroviral agents may improve survival of HIV-infected individuals, and therefore chronic viral hepatitis may become more relevant in these patients. The presence of GBV-C/HGV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA were investigated by reverse transcriptase-nested polymerase chain reaction in plasma from 168 Spanish HIV-infected patients belonging to four different risk groups: intravenous drug users (IVDUs), hemophiliacs, homosexuals, and heterosexuals. GBV-C/HGV-RNA and HCV-RNA were detected in 18% and 43% of the patients, respectively. The prevalence of current infection with these viruses was notably high, 19% for GBV-C/HGV and 69% for HCV, among individuals with parenteral risk of infection (intravenous drug abusers and hemophiliacs), but sexual transmission with GBV-C/HGV was also suggested because 16.5% of patients with sexual risk, either homosexual or heterosexual, had GBV-C/HGV-RNA in plasma. Although investigation of GBV-C/HGV-RNA possibly underestimates the actual prevalence of infection with GBV-C/HGV, the above data suggest that sexual contact may play a relevant role in the spread of this virus. Phylogenetic analysis showed no evidence for clustering of NS3 sequences into different genotypes or subtypes of GBV-C/HGV.
Assuntos
Flaviviridae , Infecções por HIV/complicações , Hepatite C/epidemiologia , Hepatite Viral Humana/epidemiologia , Doenças Virais Sexualmente Transmissíveis/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Contagem de Linfócito CD4 , Feminino , Flaviviridae/genética , Flaviviridae/isolamento & purificação , Heterogeneidade Genética , Hepacivirus/genética , Hepacivirus/isolamento & purificação , Hepatite C/complicações , Hepatite Viral Humana/complicações , Hepatite Viral Humana/transmissão , Hepatite Viral Humana/virologia , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Filogenia , Prevalência , RNA Viral/sangue , Fatores de RiscoRESUMO
Comparative sequence analysis of different isolates of hepatitis G virus (HGV) has demonstrated significant intersubject genetic heterogeneity, but few data on intrasubject genetic evolution have been reported. To further investigate the genetic diversification of the HGV genome, 36 plasma samples from eleven patients chronically infected with HGV serially obtained 2-4 years apart were analysed. We determined the viral nucleotide sequence of the 5' non-coding (NC) and the NS3 regions by directly sequencing the RT-PCR amplified products obtained from the viral RNAs. Intrasubject sequence variation was found to be 1.3-2.4 x 10(-3) base substitutions per genome site per year within the 5' NC region and 1.3-9.4 x 10(-3) base substitutions per genome site per year within the NS3 region. Depending on the genomic region analysed (i.e. 5' NC or NS3 region), pairwise comparisons and phylogenetic reconstructions showed that intersubject genetic distances were 17.5- to 20.8-fold greater than intrasubject ones. Overall, the evolution rate of HGV in the regions analysed is not significantly different from that found in hepatitis C virus.