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Hepatitis C viraemia in adults with type 2 autoimmune hepatitis
Author(s) -
Garson J. A.,
Lenzi M.,
Ring C.,
Cassani F.,
Ballardini G.,
Briggs M.,
Tedder R. S.,
Bianchi F. B.
Publication year - 1991
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/jmv.1890340405
Subject(s) - hepatitis c virus , virology , hepatitis c , autoimmune hepatitis , antibody , primary biliary cirrhosis , immunology , medicine , flaviviridae , hepatitis , viral disease , pathogenesis , hepacivirus , recombinant dna , virus , biology , gene , biochemistry
Sera from 14 patients with type 2 autoimmune hepatitis (anti‐LKM, positive) were investigated for evidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Antibodies to HCV were detected in 13 patients by both commercial and “in‐house” ELlSAs and also by a second generation recombinant immunoblot assay. Nine of the 13 (69%) anti‐HCV positive patients were shown to be viraemic by a polymerase chain reaction‐based assay for serum HCV RNA. Neither anti‐HCV nor serum HCV RNA were detected in any of 6 controls with primary biliary cirrhosis or in 39 healthy blood donors. These findings strongly suggest a role for HCV in the pathogenesis of type 2 autoimmune hepatitis.