doiSerbia

Search for the presence of occult hepatitis C in patients with treatment-induced viral clearance using an ultrasensitive assay

Dzekova-Vidimliski Pavlina (University Hospital of Nephrology, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia)
Nikolov Igor G. (University Hospital of Nephrology, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia)
Matevska-Geshkovska Nadica (Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia)
Boyanova Yana (St Ivan Rilski University Hospital, Clinic of Gastroenterology, Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria)
Nikolova Nina (St Ivan Rilski University Hospital, Clinic of Gastroenterology, Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria)
Antonov Krasimir (St Ivan Rilski University Hospital, Clinic of Gastroenterology, Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria)
Mateva Lyudmila (St Ivan Rilski University Hospital, Clinic of Gastroenterology, Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria)
Dimovski Aleksandar (Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia)
Rostaing Lionel (Department of Nephrology, Dialysis and Organ Transplantation, CHU Rangueil, Toulouse, France)
Šikole Aleksandar (University Hospital of Nephrology, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia)

Introduction. Occult hepatitis C is defined by the presence of virus in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and/or liver cells, in the absence of serum viremia. Objective. To detect the persistence of occult hepatitis C in hemodialysis (HD) patients and patients without renal disease (non-renal) with treatment-induced clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, using assays with a very low detection limit of viremia. Methods. A group of 13 HD patients and a group of 43 non-renal patients, with treatment-induced HCV infection clearance were investigated in the study. The HD patients were treated with pegylated interferon alpha (PEG-IFN-α) only, while the non-renal patients were treated with a combination therapy of PEGIFN- α and ribavirin. Detection of a possible persistence of HCV RNA in the PBMCs and plasma samples was assessed by an ultrasensitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay (2 IU/ml). Results. HCV RNA was not detected in the PBMCs and plasma samples of HD patients and of non-renal patients, when assessed by the ultrasensitive RT-PCR assay. Conclusion. When a sensitive RT-PCR assay was applied, to determine if treatment induced clearance of HCV infection had been successful, occult hepatitis C could not be detected by an ultrasensitive assay, neither in HD nor in non-renal patients.

Keywords: hepatitis C virus, treatment, pegylated interferon α, ribavirin, hemodialysis, mononuclear leukocytes