Liver histology in co-infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Hepatitis G virus (HGV)

• Main Authors: STRAUSS Edna, GAYOTTO Luiz Carlos da Costa, FAY Fabian, FAY Oscar, FERNANDES Helena Sabino, CHAMONE Dalton de Alencar Fischer
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2002
• Subjects: Hepatitis C; Hepatitis G; Liver fibrosis; Inflammatory activity; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/0c4abfc923ee48cfba026937fe309d68

As little is known about liver histology in the co-infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis G virus (HGV), HGV RNA was investigated in 46 blood donors with hepatitis C, 22 of them with liver biopsy: co-infection HCV / HGV (n = 6) and HCV isolated infection (n = 16). Besides staging and grading of inflammation at portal, peri-portal and lobular areas (Brazilian Consensus), the fibrosis progression index was also calculated. All patients had no symptoms or signs of liver disease and prevalence of HGV / HCV co-infection was 15.2%. Most patients had mild liver disease and fibrosis progression index, calculated only in patients with known duration of infection, was 0.110 for co-infection and 0.130 for isolated HCV infection, characterizing these patients as "slow fibrosers". No statistical differences could be found between the groups, although a lesser degree of inflammation was always present in co-infection. In conclusion co-infection HCV / HGV does not induce a more aggressive liver disease, supporting the hypothesis that HGV is not pathogenic.