Prevalence of hepatitis G virus RNA and anti-E2 in a Japanese haemodialysis population.

BACKGROUND: Patients on maintenance haemodialysis (HD) are at greater risk of parenterally transmitted infection with not only A-E hepatitis virus but also with hepatitis G virus (HGV) that has been recovered from patients with non A-E hepatitis. The prevalence of HGV infection in HD patients, which is based on the detection of HGV RNA using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction techniques, differs widely between countries. Recently, a new assay has been developed that detects an antibody to the envelope protein (E2) of HGV (anti-E2) that appears to be associated with the loss of HGV RNA from the serum and which may be a useful marker for previous HGV infection.
METHODS: To determine the actual prevalence of HGV infection in maintenance HD patients, we examined both HGV RNA and anti-E2 antibody in sera from 200 patients undergoing maintenance HD.
RESULTS: Thirty patients (15%) tested positive for HGV RNA, and 14 (7%) tested positive for E2 antibody. Of these, two individuals tested positive for both markers. Overall, 21% of these HD patients had been exposed to HGV. A logistic regression analysis failed to show any clinical feature associated with the detection of HGV RNA. The duration of HD and the presence of HCV RNA were associated with anti-E2. Male gender and HCV RNA were risk factors for the elevation of serum ALT activities. HGV RNA sequences of the patients were not identical to each other.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that HGV infection is prevalent in patients undergoing HD but that liver abnormalities are rare. The nosocomial transmission of HGV in the HD unit was not confirmed.