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Differential flotation centrifugation study of hepatitis C virus and response to interferon therapy
Author(s) -
Nagasaka A.,
Hige S.,
Matsushima T.,
Yoshida J.,
Sasaki Y.,
Tsunematsu I.,
Asaka M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199706)52:2<190::aid-jmv12>3.0.co;2-p
Subject(s) - interferon , hepatitis c virus , centrifugation , genotype , differential centrifugation , virology , virus , alpha interferon , medicine , immune system , hepatitis c , hepacivirus , flaviviridae , immunology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , biochemistry
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) appears to circulate in various forms such as native virion, immune complexes, and nucleocapsids during chronic infections. To determine the association of the physicochemical properties of HCV and its response to interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C, we examined pretreatment serum samples from 43 patients with HCV RNA who had received interferon therapy, using differential flotation centrifugation in a NaCl solution with a density of 1.063 g/ml. After centrifugation, the ratio of HCV RNA in the top and bottom fractions was determined by the polymerase chain reaction and expressed as T/B. Patients with a sustained response to IFN therapy were found to have higher T/B ratios than transient responders who relapsed after treatment ( P < 0.01) and nonresponders ( P < 0.01). With regards to HCV genotypes, patients with genotype 1b had higher T/B ratios in the sustained response group than in the nonsustained response group ( P = 0.001), but patients with genotype 2 had a similar distribution of T/B among the 3 response groups (not significant). These findings indicate that the physicochemical properties of HCV affect the effectiveness of interferon therapy, particularly in patients with genotype 1b. J. Med. Virol. 52:190–194, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.