Sampietro M, Caputo L, Corbetta N, Annoni G, Ticozzi A, Lunghi G, Orlandi A, Vergani C, Fiorelli G
Department of Internal Medicine IRCCS, University of Milano, Italy.
Ital J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 1998 Oct;30(5):524-7.
At least 10% of post-transfusion and community-acquired hepatitis cases are not accounted for by the A to E viruses. Hepatitis G virus (HGV), a novel agent belonging to the Flaviviridae and distantly related to HCV has recently been identified. The epidemiology and clinical significance of this infection in the geriatric setting is still little known. Aim of the investigation was to assess the prevalence and clinical significance of HGV infection in the geriatric setting.
105 unselected consecutive patients (mean age 73.4 years).
HGV-RNA was detected by a single-tube reverse-transcription heminested polymerase chain reaction with primers from the 5' untranslated region of the virus. Anti-HGV antibodies were detected with a commercial anti-E2 immunometric assay.
3/105 patients (2.9%) were viraemic, without a history or clinical evidence of hepatitis. Anti-HGV antibodies were detected in 25 patients (23.8%), 40% of whom had associated anti-HCV antibodies. The presence of HGV-RNA and anti-HGV antibodies was mutually exclusive.
HGV infection is highly prevalent in our population and the cumulative risk of exposure is proportional to age. In most cases, HGV infection is self-limiting and clinically irrelevant. Immunity against E2 or other associated uncharacterized viral epitopes appears to be protective.
至少10%的输血后肝炎病例及社区获得性肝炎病例不能用A至E型病毒来解释。庚型肝炎病毒（HGV）是一种属于黄病毒科且与丙型肝炎病毒亲缘关系较远的新型病原体，最近已被鉴定出来。这种感染在老年人群中的流行病学及临床意义仍鲜为人知。本研究的目的是评估老年人群中HGV感染的患病率及临床意义。
105例连续入选的非选择性患者（平均年龄73.4岁）。
采用单管逆转录套式聚合酶链反应，用来自病毒5'非翻译区的引物检测HGV-RNA。用商用抗E2免疫分析检测抗HGV抗体。
105例患者中有3例（2.9%）病毒血症阳性，无肝炎病史或临床证据。25例患者（23.8%）检测到抗HGV抗体，其中40%同时伴有抗HCV抗体。HGV-RNA和抗HGV抗体的存在相互排斥。
HGV感染在我们的研究人群中高度流行，累积暴露风险与年龄成正比。在大多数情况下，HGV感染是自限性的，且与临床无关。针对E2或其他相关未鉴定病毒表位的免疫似乎具有保护作用。
