ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the infections of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in chronic hepatitis C patients and the hepatic impairment in chronic hepatitis C patients co-infected with HCMV.Methods HCMV-DNA was determined by fluorescence quantitative-PCR (FQ-PCR) in 95 patients with chronic hepatitis C (observation group) and 95 healthy controls(control group) and HCMV active infections were analyzed.HCV-RNA was determined by FQ-PCR in observation group,and the difference of HCMV-DNA positive rate between high HCV-RNA(> 104 copies/ml) and low HCV-RNA(≤ 104 copies/ml) was analyzed.Alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were determined by rate method in two groups and the hepatic impairment was analyzed.Results Twenty-five cases with positive HCMV-DNA in observation group,the positive rate was 26.3%(25/95).Five cases with positive HCMV-DNA in control group,the positive rate was 5.3%(5/95).There was significant difference between two groups for HCMV-DNA (x2 =14.29,P <0.01).Twenty-one cases with positive HCMV-DNA in 43 cases of high HCV-RNA patients,the positive rate was 48.8%(21/43).Four cases with positive HCMV-DNA in 52 cases of low HCV-RNA patients,the positive rate was 7.7%(4/52).There was significant difference between the two (x2 =19.90,P < 0.01).ALT,AST in observation group was higher than that in control group (P < 0.01).ALT,AST in chronic hepatitis C patients positive for HCMV-DNA was higher than that in chronic hepatitis C patients negative for HCMV-DNA significantly (P < 0.01).Conclusions HCMV in chronic hepatitis C patients becomes active again and co-infects easily.When chronic hepatitis C patients co-infect HCMV actively,hepatic is further injured.