TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantitation of Hepatitis C Viral RNA in Sera of Hemodialysis Patients
T2 - Gender-Related Differences in Viral Load
AU - DuBois, D. B.
AU - Gretch, D.
AU - Dela Rosa, C.
AU - Lee, W.
AU - Fine, J.
AU - Blagg, C. R.
AU - Corey, L.
N1 - Funding Information:
From the Departments of Medicine, Laboratory Medicine, and Microbiology, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA; and the Northwest Kidney Center, Seattle, WA. Received March 24, 1994; accepted in revised form July 5,1994. Supported by a grant from the Northwest Kidney Founda· tion and by National Institutes of Health Grant No. AI-07044. Address reprint requests to Lawrence Corey, MD, 1200 12th Ave S, Suite 9301, Seattle, WA 98144. © 1994 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. 0272 -6386/9412405 -0007$3.00/0
PY - 1994
Y1 - 1994
N2 - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common in hemodialysis patients, as determined by antibody assays and qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of serum HCV RNA. To further characterize HCV infection in this population, we measured the viral load in infected hemodialysis patients by a quantitative, competitive PCR assay (QC-PCR) for HCV RNA. Hepatitis C virus RNA levels were correlated with serologic, biochemical, and demographic features of a cohort of hemodialysis patients. Sera from 208 hemodialysis patients were screened for HCV RNA (5′ conserved region) by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and HCV-specific antibody. Forty-four patients were antibody positive (21%); among these patients, 34 (77%) were HCV RNA positive. No viremic, seronegative patients were identified. Hepatitis C virus RNA levels quantitated by QC-PCR ranged from 3 × 105 to 108 molecules of HCV RNA/mL. Male patients had significantly higher mean and median HCV RNA levels (107 molecules/mL) compared with female patients (3.6 × 106 moleculeslmL and 3 × 106 molecules/mL, respectfully; P = 0.02). No other demographic or clinical feature of this cohort correlated with HCV RNA levels. Intravenous drug abuse was the most frequently identified risk factor (29% of seropositive patients) for infection with HCV in this population. No association between HCV RNA levels and hepatic enzyme levels (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase) was apparent. Hepatitis C virus infection is highly prevalent in our hemodialysis population, and hemodialysis patients, particularly males, have high levels of HCV in serum. Furthermore, hepatic enzyme markers are very poor indicators of ongoing HCV infection. Accurate characterization of the virologic status of HCV-infected patients requires both serologic testing and HCV RNA detection.
AB - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common in hemodialysis patients, as determined by antibody assays and qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of serum HCV RNA. To further characterize HCV infection in this population, we measured the viral load in infected hemodialysis patients by a quantitative, competitive PCR assay (QC-PCR) for HCV RNA. Hepatitis C virus RNA levels were correlated with serologic, biochemical, and demographic features of a cohort of hemodialysis patients. Sera from 208 hemodialysis patients were screened for HCV RNA (5′ conserved region) by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and HCV-specific antibody. Forty-four patients were antibody positive (21%); among these patients, 34 (77%) were HCV RNA positive. No viremic, seronegative patients were identified. Hepatitis C virus RNA levels quantitated by QC-PCR ranged from 3 × 105 to 108 molecules of HCV RNA/mL. Male patients had significantly higher mean and median HCV RNA levels (107 molecules/mL) compared with female patients (3.6 × 106 moleculeslmL and 3 × 106 molecules/mL, respectfully; P = 0.02). No other demographic or clinical feature of this cohort correlated with HCV RNA levels. Intravenous drug abuse was the most frequently identified risk factor (29% of seropositive patients) for infection with HCV in this population. No association between HCV RNA levels and hepatic enzyme levels (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase) was apparent. Hepatitis C virus infection is highly prevalent in our hemodialysis population, and hemodialysis patients, particularly males, have high levels of HCV in serum. Furthermore, hepatic enzyme markers are very poor indicators of ongoing HCV infection. Accurate characterization of the virologic status of HCV-infected patients requires both serologic testing and HCV RNA detection.
KW - Hemodialysis
KW - RNA
KW - hepatitis C virus
KW - polymerase chain reaction
KW - transaminase
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028047038&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0028047038&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0272-6386(12)80673-1
DO - 10.1016/S0272-6386(12)80673-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 7977321
AN - SCOPUS:0028047038
SN - 0272-6386
VL - 24
SP - 795
EP - 801
JO - American Journal of Kidney Diseases
JF - American Journal of Kidney Diseases
IS - 5
ER -