Müller H M, Kallinowski B, Solbach C, Theilmann L, Goeser T, Pfaff E
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany.
Arch Virol Suppl. 1994;9:307-16. doi: 10.1007/978-3-7091-9326-6_31.
Recent reports have shown that HCV infection is not only restricted to hepatocytes. Like hepatitis B virus (HBV), which also was thought to be strictly hepatotropic in early molecular and cellular investigations, infection of lymphoid cells by HCV in vivo has been demonstrated. We showed that total peripheral blood leukocytes of chronically HCV-infected patients are infected by detection of plus- and minus-stranded HCV RNA using strand-specific oligonucleotide primers in the RT-PCR. These cells also represent extrahepatic sites for the viral replication, as demonstrated by incorporation of [3H]-uridine into nascent RNA after stimulation of the cells with a mitogen. Furthermore, total PBML from an uninfected person could be infected in vitro using an HCV-positive serum. It could be shown that replication of HCV RNA takes place in these cells. Examination of different subsets of PBML showed predominant infection of B-lymphocytes during HCV disease. Additionally, infection of T-lymphocytes was detected in about 50% of all chronically HCV-infected patients.
最近的报告显示，丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染不仅局限于肝细胞。就像乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）在早期分子和细胞研究中也被认为严格嗜肝一样，HCV在体内对淋巴细胞的感染也已得到证实。我们通过在逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）中使用链特异性寡核苷酸引物检测正链和负链HCV RNA，表明慢性HCV感染患者的外周血白细胞全部被感染。这些细胞也代表病毒复制的肝外部位，这通过用丝裂原刺激细胞后将[3H] - 尿苷掺入新生RNA得以证明。此外，使用HCV阳性血清可在体外感染未感染个体的外周血单个核细胞（PBML）。可以证明HCV RNA在这些细胞中复制。对PBML不同亚群的检查显示，在HCV疾病期间B淋巴细胞感染占主导。此外，在所有慢性HCV感染患者中约50%检测到T淋巴细胞感染。
