|
Hepatology, Vol 24, 1003-1009, Copyright © 1996 by American Association
for the Study of Liver Diseases
Phylogenetic analysis of Hepatitis C virus isolates and
their correlation to viremia, liver function tests, and histology
S Zeuzem, A Franke, JH Lee, G Herrmann, B Ruster and WK Roth Medizinische
Klinik II, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe- Universitat, Frankfurt, Germany.
Nucleotide sequence analysis of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) strains showed substantial
variability leading to a classification into several genotypes and subtypes.
The data correlating HCV genotypes and subtypes with Hepatitis C viremia levels,
demographic characteristics of patients (age, mode of transmission, duration
of infection), and severity of liver disease are conflicting. The interpretation
of several studies is further complicated because the molecular methods used
lacked specificity for genotyping/subtyping and underestimated viremia levels,
especially in patients infected with HCV genotypes 2 and 3. In the present study
we investigated 97 consecutive patients with chronic Hepatitis C using molecular
"gold standard" methods. HCV subtyping was performed by sequence and phylogenetic
analysis of the nonstructural (NS)-5 region and serum HCV-RNA concentration
was assessed by a validated genotype-independent quantitative reverse- transcription-polymerase
chain reaction assay using an internal RNA standard. Patients infected with
subtypes HCV-1b, HCV-2a-c, and HCV-4 were older than patients infected with
HCV-1a and HCV-3a. Serum HCV-RNA levels ranged from 1.5 x 10(4) to 1.0 x 10(8)
copies/mL with no significant differences between median serum HCV-RNA concentrations
in patients infected with different genotypes/subtypes. Although patients infected
with HCV-1b were older, no biochemical or histological evidence was obtained
that this subtype is associated with more severe liver disease. Furthermore,
the present study showed a lack of correlation between the serum HCV-RNA concentration,
biochemical parameters, and liver histology. The median serum HCV-RNA levels
in patients with chronic persistent hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, and
liver cirrhosis were 5.0 x 10(6) copies/mL, 2.5 x 10(6) copies/mL, and 5.0 x
10(6) copies/mL, respectively. These differences were not significant. In conclusion,
using optimized and validated molecular techniques, the present cross-sectional
study showed no correlation between HCV genotypes/subtypes, viremia, liver function
test results, and histology.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Zeuzem, S., Lee, J.-H., Franke, A., Rüster, B., Prümmer, O., Herrmann,
G., Roth, W. K. (1998). Quantification of the Initial Decline of Serum Hepatitis
C Virus RNA and Response to Interferon Alfa. Hepatology 27: 1149-1156
Pessione, F., Degos, F., Marcellin, P., Duchatelle, V., Njapoum, C., Martinot-Peignoux,
M., Degott, C., Valla, D., Erlinger, S., Rueff, B. (1998). Effect of Alcohol
Consumption on Serum Hepatitis C Virus RNA and Histological Lesions in Chronic
Hepatitis C. Hepatology 27: 1717-1722
Zeuzem, S., Schmidt, J. M., Lee, J.-h., von Wagner, M., Teuber, G., Roth, W.
K. (1998). Hepatitis C Virus Dynamics In Vivo: Effect of Ribavirin and Interferon
Alfa on Viral Turnover. Hepatology 28: 245-252 [Full Text]
Abe, K., Edamoto, Y., Park, Y. N., Nomura, A. M. Y., Taltavull, T. C., Tani,
M., Thung, S. N. (1998). In Situ Detection of Hepatitis B, C, and G Virus Nucleic
Acids in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tissues from Different Geographic Regions.
Hepatology 28: 568-572
|