Prevalence of hepatitis G virus RNA in French blood donors and recipients

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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recently, cases of chronic hepatitis were linked to the presence of genomic sequences of a newly described RNA virus termed hepatitis G virus (HGV) and belonging to the Flaviviridae family. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The presence of HGV RNA was searched for by polymerase chain reaction in a population of blood donors and in patients who had received multiple blood component transfusions and/or intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusions. RESULTS: Twenty‐one (4.2%) of 500 donors were positive for HGV RNA as were 21 (10.7%) of 196 nonimmunosuppressed patients who had received multiple transfusions of packed red cells, 4 (8.7%) of 46 common variable immune deficiency (CVID) patients who had received only IVIG, and 22 (24.7%) of 89 bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients who had received IVIG and cellular components. The proportion of HGV‐positive individuals was significantly higher in the immunosuppressed recipients (CVID and BMT patients) than in the nonimmunosuppressed patients who were multiply transfused with packed red cells (p < 0.03). The proportion of HGV‐ positive individuals was significantly higher in the BMT patients who had received IVIG and cellular components than in the CVID patients who had received IVIG only (p < 0.03). Eight (17.0%) of the 47 HGV‐positive recipients and 48 (16.9%) of the 284 HGV‐negative recipients had a serum alanine aminotransferase level higher than the upper limit of normal (nonsignificant difference). The medical history of HGV‐positive donors failed to reveal a particular at‐risk event. The large majority of HGV‐infected patients had a normal serum alanine aminotransferase level, and the proportion of patients with elevated alanine aminotransferase was the same in HGV‐positive and in HGV‐negative recipients. CONCLUSION: The pathological significance of HGV infection remains unelucidated, and the classification of HGV as a new hepatitis virus was perhaps premature.