Lack of detectable reverse transcriptase activity in human and chimpanzee sera with a high infectivity for non-A, non-B hepatitis.

A serum sample from a patient with hepatitis and samples from two experimentally infected chimpanzees, all with a high infectivity for non-A, non-B hepatitis, were tested for reverse transcriptase. Biopsy confirmed that the hepatocytes of the chimpanzees that received these sera contained the characteristic tubular structures associated with non-A, non-B hepatitis. None of these three sera revealed detectable enzyme activity. We have not been able to confirm the association of reverse transcriptase activity with non-A, non-B hepatitis reported recently.