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- Title
Hepatitis G Virus Infection in Hemodialysis Patients and the Effects of Interferon Treatment.
- Authors
Umlauft, Florian; Wong, David T.; Underhill, Peter A.; Oefner, Peter J.; Li Jin; Urbanek, Martina; Gruenewald, Kurt; Greenberg, Harry B.
- Abstract
Objective: To characterize the nature of hepatitis G virus (HGY) infections in hemodialysis patients and to determine the responsiveness of HGV to antiviral therapy in these patients. Methods: HGV, a recently identified flavivirus, is associated with non-A-E viral hepatitis infections. We studied HGV infections in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected hemodialysis patients over a 1-yr period, using two independent PCR assays and nucleic acid sequencing. Thirty-four of 63 study patients were treated with interferon. Results: We observed a 27% prevalence ('763 patients) and a 4% annual incidence of HGV infections in the study population. HGV was not detected in any of the 10 HGV-infected patients immediately after interferon therapy. Although seven of these 10 patients developed HGV relapses, three had long-term responses. The interferon responsiveness of HGV and HCV appeared to bunrelated. In contrast, all seven untreated HGV-infected patients remained viremic. Sequence analyses of the different HGV isolates revealed only very limited genetic variability in the polymerase chain reaction-amplified regions of HGV during 1 yr of observation. Conclusions: Our data suggest that HCV-infected hemodialysis patients are at substantial risk of acquiring HGV infection and that HGV infections are prevalent in this population. In addition, HGV infections become chronic but are responsive to interferon treatment.
- Subjects
HEPATITIS viruses; LIVER diseases; INFECTION; HEMODIALYSIS; ANTIVIRAL agents; INTERFERONS; POLYMERASE chain reaction
- Publication
American Journal of Gastroenterology (Springer Nature), 1997, Vol 92, Issue 11, p1986
- ISSN
0002-9270
- Publication type
Article