AEGiS-13IAC: TT virus and GB virus C / hepatitis G virus infections in HIVupositive patients co-infected or not with hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus.

13th International AIDS Conference

Durban, South Africa - July 9-July 14, 2000

TT virus and GB virus C / hepatitis G virus infections in HIVupositive patients co-infected or not with hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus.

Int Conf AIDS 2000 Jul 9-14; 13:(abstract no. WeOrA529)

Dos Santos G, Abel S, Martial J, Bera O, Cabi A, Sobesky G, Saire RC
R.C.~Saire, Laboratoire de Virologie-Immunologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, 97200 Fort-de-France, Martinique, Tel.: +596 75 79 00, Fax: +596 75 29 14, E-mail: cesaire.raymond@wanadoo.fr

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV), GB virus C / Hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) and TT virus (TTV) can be transmitted by the parenteral route. In HIV positive patients, HCV infection is usually acquired by injection drug use (IDU) and the sexual route is much less efficient. We examined the respective importance of the parenteral and the sexual transmission for GBV-C/HGV and TTV.

METHOD: A total of 101 HIV positive patients were included in the study, 52 of them being coinfected with HCV. The HIV-1 infection was acquired through heterosexual intercourse, homosexual intercourse, intravenous drug use and blood transfusion in 40, 16, 36 and 9 patients, respectively. The GBV-C/HGV status was assessed by using RT-PCR for GBV-C/HGV RNA detection and an anti-E2 serological assay (Boehringer). TTV infection was detected using 3 separate PCR experiments (2 heminested PCR in the ORF1 and 1 nested PCR in the ORF2). Samples were regarded as viremic if results were positive with at least 1 set of primers.

RESULTS: The frequency of HGV RNA detection appears to be lower in patients with sexual exposure (16%) than in patients with parenteral exposure (33%), but the difference is not statistically significant. Anti-E2 antibodies are detected in 32% and 37% of the patients with sexual exposure and parenteral exposure respectively. The TTV frequency is 62% and 59% in the sexual and parenteral risk groups. We found an association between TTV viremia and GBV-C/HGV RNA (p = 0.02) and anti-E2 positivity (p = 0.02) but not with HCV seropositivity, HCV RNA detection or anti-HBc positivity. TTV viremia was not associated with significant modifications of the CD4 and CD8 counts and HIV viral load. Discussion: In HIV positive patients, TTV viremia is associated with GBV-C/HGV infection but not with HCV infection. Sexual exposure, likewise parenteral exposure, plays an important role in the epidemiology of GBV-C/HGV and TTV.

Keywords: AEGIS, GB virus C, Transfusion-Transmitted Virus, Hepacivirus, Hepatitis B Virus, Viremia, HIV Infections, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Blood Transfusion, Greece, Human
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