Zhang X, Shinzawa H, Shao L, Ishibashi M, Jiang Q, Saito K, Misawa H, Togashi H, Takahashi T
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Japan.
J Med Virol. 1998 Apr;54(4):237-42.
The aim of this work was to study the prevalence, potential risk factors, clinical and laboratory features of GB virus C (GBV-C) infection in general population from an area endemic for hepatitis C. A reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of GBV-C RNA was used to examine the prevalence of GBV-C RNA in both hepatitis C virus (HCV) endemic (R town) and nonendemic areas (M town) in Yamagata prefecture, Japan. In R town, GBV-C RNA was detected in 23 (2.9%) out of the 800 residents, whereas anti-HCV and HCV-RNA were found in 226 (28.3%) and 163 (20.4%), respectively. The prevalence of GBV-C RNA in R town (2.9%) was higher than that in M town (1.0%), although the difference was not statistically significant. The individuals with anti-HCV had significantly higher frequency of active GBV-C-infection than those without anti-HCV in both towns. No evidence indicating that GBV-C infection affected the severity of hepatitis C was obtained. The multivariate analysis revealed that the young anti-HCV positive individuals with a history of blood transfusion had higher incidence of active GBV-C infection. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the GBV-C isolates from both R and M towns were divided into two separate branch groups designated HG and Asia GB groups.
本研究旨在调查丙型肝炎流行地区普通人群中GB病毒C（GBV-C）感染的患病率、潜在危险因素、临床及实验室特征。采用逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）检测GBV-C RNA，以调查日本山形县丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）流行地区（R镇）和非流行地区（M镇）GBV-C RNA的患病率。在R镇，800名居民中有23人（2.9%）检测到GBV-C RNA，而抗-HCV和HCV-RNA阳性率分别为226人（28.3%）和163人（20.4%）。R镇GBV-C RNA的患病率（2.9%）高于M镇（1.0%），但差异无统计学意义。在两个镇中，抗-HCV阳性个体的GBV-C活动性感染频率均显著高于抗-HCV阴性个体。未发现GBV-C感染影响丙型肝炎严重程度的证据。多因素分析显示，有输血史的年轻抗-HCV阳性个体GBV-C活动性感染发生率较高。系统发育分析表明，来自R镇和M镇的GBV-C分离株分为两个独立的分支组，即HG组和亚洲GB组。
