Korean J Hepatol.  2000 Mar;6(1):82-90.

Prevalence of Hepatitis G Virus Infection in Patients with Chronic Renal Failure

• Shin WW
• Song KH
• Cho JH
• Ahn HS
• Lee SW
• Keum DJ
• Bae SJ
• Kim ST
• Chang KY
• Park JH
• Noh MH
• Kim SE
• Han SY
• Choi SR
• Kim KH

Abstract

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: To investigate the prevalence and clinical implications of hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection in patients with chronic renal failure, a cross-sectional study of 131 hemodialysis patients and 33 kidney transplantation recipients was conducted.
METHODS
HGV RNA was amplified by reverse-transcription (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with primers from the 5'-untranslated region of the viral genome.
RESULTS
The prevalence of HGV infection in patients with chronic renal failure was 25%(41/164). The following factors were taken into consideration: the mean age(43.15+/-11.97 years vs 46.46+/-13.08 years), the male to female ratio(2.15:1 vs 1.86:1), the mean of the dialysis duration(4.58+/-3.18 years vs 3.90+/-3.31 years), transfusion history (75.6% vs 62.6%), the mean of the ALT level during the prior 6 months(25.78+/-21.50 IU/L vs 23.00+/-59.49 IU/L), and the amount of transfusion(6.22+/-8.03 units vs 5.74+/-9.44 units). The anti-HCV(4.88% vs 8.94%) showed no difference between HGV RNA positive and negative group. The HBsAg positive ratio was 19.5% and 5.81% in HGV RNA positive group and negative group, respectively.
CONCLUSION
The prevalence of HGV infection in patients with chronic renal failure was 25%. There was a higher rate of HBsAg positivity in the HGV RNA positive group rather than in the negative group. HGV infection did not seem to be associated with clinically significant hepatitis.

Keyword

Hepatitis/Viral; Epidemialogy; HGV RNA; Chronic renal failure; Hemodialysis; Kidney transplantation recipients

MeSH Terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Dialysis
Female
GB virus C*
Genome, Viral
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
Hepatitis*
Humans
Kidney Failure, Chronic*
Kidney Transplantation
Male
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Prevalence*
Renal Dialysis
RNA
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
RNA