Study on clinical features of hepatitis G virus infection and HGV invasion to peripheral blood mononuclear cells / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the clinical features of hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection and HGV replication sites in vivo. Methods A sensitive and specific reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR) was set up to detect the plus-stranded and minus-stranded HGV RNA in sera of 129 high risk population as well as in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 59 cases of them. The clinical features of HGV infection were analyzed in the meantime. Results Among 9 patients with single HGV infected, 3 cases were diagnosed as acute hepatitis, 3 cases as chronic hepatitis and the other 3 cases as healthy carriers. The detection rate of HGV RNA in PBMCs is much lower than that of HCV RNA (35.7 % vs. 77.3 % , P＜0.05). In all 59 PBMCs and 129 serum samples no minus-stranded HGVRNA was found. Conclusion HGV infection can cause acute or chronic hepatitis with mild clinical manifestation. HGV can invade PBMCs but can not replicate in PBMCs, and the ability of HGV to invade PBMCs is lower than that of HCV.