GB virus C/hepatitis G virus infection among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

To elucidate the prevalence and association of GB virus Clhepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) infection among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), GBV-C/HGV RNA was screened by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction using the specific primers derived from 5′-untranslated region and NS3 in sera from 60 HCC patients admitted in our hospital between 1993 and 1996. Of 60 patients, 12 (20%) showed positivity for one of HBV related viral markers such as HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc and HBV DNA, 24 (40%) for one of HCV markers such as anti-HCV and HCV RNA, 18 (30%) for both HBV and HCV markers, and six (10%) showed negativity for both HBV and HCV markers. GBV-C/HGV RNA was detected in five (8.3%). One patient (8.3%) was included in 12 HCC patients with HBV markers, one (4.2%) was in 24 with HCV markers alone, and two (11.1%) was in 18 with HBV and HCV markers, and one (16.7%) was in six without HBV and HCV markers. Only the history of blood transfusion was significantly different between the patients with and without GBV-C/HGV RNA. These results indicated that: (1) GBV-C/HGV infection is associated with only a small proportion of HCC; (2) blood transfusion is a major important route for GBV- C/HGV transmission; (3) laboratory findings and characteristics of HCC are not significantly different between HCC patients with and without GBV-C/HGV.