Occult hepatitis C virus infection in Iranian patients with cryptogenic liver disease

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J Med Virol. 2011 Jun;83(6):989-95. doi: 10.1002/jmv.22044.

Occult hepatitis C virus infection in Iranian patients with cryptogenic liver

disease.

Bokharaei-Salim F, Keyvani H, Monavari SH, Alavian SM, Madjd Z, Toosi MN,

Alizadeh AH.

Source

Department of Virology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The diagnosis of cryptogenic liver disease is made when after extensive

evaluations, recognizable etiologies of chronic liver disease are excluded. In

this study, the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA was tested in peripheral

blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) taken from Iranian patients who although were

found negative for plasma HCV RNA and anti-HCV antibodies, suffered from chronic

liver disease of unknown etiology. From September 2007 to March 2010, 69

patients from Tehran with chronic liver disease of unknown etiology who were

referred to our center were enrolled in the present study. PBMCs were isolated

from 10 mL peripheral blood specimens. HCV-RNA status was tested in plasma and

PBMCs samples by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

HCV-RNA was detected in HCV-positive PBMCs specimens by RT-PCR method. HCV

genotypes were subsequently analyzed in HCV-positive samples using restriction

fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay; then HCV genotypes were confirmed by

sequencing of 5' non-coding fragments after cloning PCR products into

pJET1.2/blunt cloning vector. HCV-RNA was detected in PBMCs specimens belonging

to 7 (10%) out of 69 patients. Genotyping of the HCV-RNA isolated from PBMCs

showed that 3 (43%) patients with occult HCV infection had genotype 1b, 2 (29%)

had genotype 1a, and another 2 (29%) had genotype 3a. The results of this study

suggest that patients with chronic liver disease of unknown etiology may have

occult HCV infection in the absence of anti-HCV antibodies and plasma HCV-RNA.

It has been suggested that in the absence of liver biopsy specimens, analysis of

PBMC sample for HCV-RNA would be informative. J. Med. Virol. 83:989-995, 2011.

© 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID: 21503911 [PubMed - in process]