Hepatic histology in hepatitis C virus carriers coinfected with hepatitis G virus

Background—A novel flavivirus has been described recently and designated hepatitis G virus (HGV). The virus is transmitted by the parenteral route but it is uncertain whether it is associated with chronic liver disease because liver biopsy is difficult to justify in this group. Aims—To examine histo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gut 1998-01, Vol.42 (1), p.103-106
Main Authors: Petrik, J, Guella, L, Wight, D G D, Pearson, G M, Hinton, J, Parker, H, Allain, J-P, Alexander, G J M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Amino acids
Biological and medical sciences
Carrier State - pathology
Female
Fibrosis
Flaviviridae - genetics
Gangrene
Hemodialysis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis C - pathology
hepatitis C virus
hepatitis G virus
Hepatitis, Viral, Human - pathology
Histology
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infections
Infectious diseases
Inflammation
Liver
Liver - pathology
Liver Disease
Liver diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA
RNA, Viral - analysis
Viral diseases
Viral hepatitis
Viruses
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Summary:Background—A novel flavivirus has been described recently and designated hepatitis G virus (HGV). The virus is transmitted by the parenteral route but it is uncertain whether it is associated with chronic liver disease because liver biopsy is difficult to justify in this group. Aims—To examine histological features of liver biopsy in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) according to the presence or absence of HCV and HGV RNA. Methods—One hundred and thirty one consecutive HCV carriers undergoing staging liver biopsy were studied retrospectively. In each, HCV RNA and HGV RNA were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction on serum samples collected at the time of biopsy. The presence of each RNA was correlated with histological features blind to the RNA results; individual histological features of inflammation or fibrosis were scored separately. Results—Nineteen patients were positive for both HGV and HCV RNA in serum, 91 were positive for HCV RNA alone, two were positive for HGV RNA alone, and 19 were negative for both RNA species. Neither age nor sex differed between the groups; a greater proportion of intravenous drug users were HGV RNA positive, but this was not statistically significant. There was no effect of HGV coinfection on the stage of fibrosis or any other histological parameter except steatosis; patients with HCV and HGV RNA had a higher mean score for fat than those patients with HCV RNA alone (p
ISSN:0017-5749
1468-3288
1458-3288
DOI:10.1136/gut.42.1.103