Anti-GOR antibodies in anti-hepatitis C virus positive subjects with and without virus replication and liver disease

Serum Immunoglobulin G Antibodies to the GOR Autoepitope Are Present in Patients with Occult Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection despite Lack of HCV-Specific Antibodies

“…However, because HCV infection may be associated with extrahepatic autoimmune disorders (20), such as cryoglobulinemia (5) and autoimmune hepatitis (15), the presence of serum factors associated with inflammatory conditions that could interfere with GOR antibody detection needs to be ruled out. Prior studies have found anti-GOR responses in a small percentage of individuals with chronic liver disease but without HCV RNA (28,32), but none of these have investigated the patients for the presence of occult HCV. To date there have been no data on the detection of anti-GOR in patients with occult HCV infection.…”