Infection of peripheral mononuclear blood cells by hepatitis C virus. |
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| Authors: | A L Zignego D Macchia M Monti V Thiers M Mazzetti M Foschi E Maggi S Romagnani P Gentilini C Bréchot |
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| Affiliation: | Hybridotest, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. |
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| Abstract: | We investigated the infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) by hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 5 patients with HCV-related chronic hepatitis. The presence of HCV-RNA-positive and -negative strands was tested with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. In all subjects, HCV-RNA was shown in PBMNC. In 3 cases, HCV-RNA was shown in the T- and B-cell populations, with viral RNA also present in the monocyte-macrophage fraction of two of these. HCV-RNA-negative stranded molecules, indicative of the viral multiplication, were significantly increased in cells maintained in cultures with PHA/PMA stimulation. The results indicate that HCV infect blood mononuclear cells, thus suggesting that this cellular tropism may play a role in HCV infection. |
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