Absence of the negative strand of GBV-C/HGV RNA from the liver

Background/Aims: The pathogenic role of the human virus GBV-C/HGV remains unclear as information on tissue specific tropism and sites of replication of GBVC/HGV is limited and controversial. The aim of this study was to determine whether the liver is the site of GBV-C/HGV replication. Methods: We utilized the strand-specific Tth RT-PCR assay to investigate the presence of the positive- and negative-strand of GBV-C/HGV RNA in liver and serum samples from 12 patients with chronic GBV-C/HGV infection; four were infected with GBV-C/HGV alone, six were coinfected with HCV and two with HBV. A control group of six patients infected with HCV alone was included. The presence of the positive- and negative-strand of HCV RNA was also investigated in the same samples. Results: All liver specimens were negative for the presence of the replicating negative-strand of GBV-C/HGV RNA. Positive-strand GBV-C/HGV RNA was found in 6 of the 12 liver samples and was detectable only at low levels, most probably reflecting serum contamination. By contrast, the negative strand of HCV RNA was detected in high titers in the liver of all HCV-infected and -coinfected subjects with less than a 100-fold difference from the positive strand. In serum samples only the positive strands of GBV-C/HGV and HCV RNA were detected in comparable titers. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that GBV-C/HGV is not replicating in the liver and, taken together with the bulk of evidence against hepatopathogenicity, they argue against the new agent being a hepatotropic virus. We suggest that the acronymic term of this agent GBV-C/HGV is used with the understanding that it is not a hepatitis virus.