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TITLE: Absence of hepatitis C virus and detection of
hepatitis G virus/GB virus C RNA sequences in the semen of infected
men.
The identification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in semen remains
controversial and that of hepatitis G virus (HGV) or GB virus C
(GBV-C) has never been investigated. Serum and semen from 90
anti-HCV-positive drug users were tested (27 infected with HIV) for
HCV and HGV/GBV-C RNAs by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay,
hybridization, and sequence analysis. Semen was processed into
round cells, seminal plasma, and spermatozoa. Fifty-six patients
were HCV-viremic, but HCV-RNA was not identified in their seminal
fractions. However, PCR inhibitors were found in the semen of 34 of
these men. Twenty-eight patients had HGV/GBV-C RNA in their blood
and for 24 of them, ejaculates were available for analysis.
HGV/GBV-C RNA was found in the seminal plasma of 6 of 12 samples
free from PCR inhibitors. These results agree with the low risk of
sexual transfer of HCV and provide preliminary evidence for the
presence of HGV/GBV-C in semen.
AUTHOR: Semprini AE, Persico T, Thiers V, Oneta M, Tuveri R,
Serafini P, Boschini A, Giuntelli S, Pardi G, Brechot C, Department
of Obstetrics and Gynecology, San Paolo Biomedical Institute,
University of Milan Medical School, Italy. reprodun@tin.it;SOURCE:
J Infect Dis 1998 Apr;177(4):848-854
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