Isolation of a cDNA cLone Derived from a Blood-Borne Non-A, Non-B Viral Hepatitis Genome

Abstract

A random-primed complementary DNA library was constructed from plasma containing the uncharacterized non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH) agent and screened with serum from a patient diagnosed with NANBH. A complementary DNA clone was isolated that was shown to encode an antigen associated specifically with NANBH infections. This clone is not derived from host DNA but from an RNA molecule present in NANBH infections that consists of at least 10,000 nucleotides and that is positive-stranded with respect to the encoded NANBH antigen. These data indicate that this clone is derived from the genome of the NANBH agent and are consistent with the agent being similar to the togaviridae or flaviviridae. This molecular approach should be of great value in the isolation and characterization of other unidentified infectious agents.

Molecular study of HCV detection, genotypes and their routes of transmission in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan

“…Hepatitis C virus (HCV) was acknowledged in 1989 by Choo et al [1] and classified into the family Flaviviridae [2] . It is a single stranded enveloped RNA virus of 9.6 kb genome with three structural and six nonstructural proteins.…”

“…HCV is classified into 11 major genotypes and more than 100 subtypes. Genotypes [1][2][3] have worldwide distribution. The rest of the genotypes show definite geographic site predilections.…”

Epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma in areas of low hepatitis B and hepatitis C endemicity

“…Originally identified as a sequel to alcoholic cirrhosis, hemochromatosis, some metabolic disorders, certain types of drug injury (such as from oral contraceptives), or exposure to environmental toxins (such as aflatoxin), the cause of the bulk of cases remained obscure for many years, although linked in most instances to cirrhosis of unknown origin. This uncertainty held sway until the discovery of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the mid 1960s (Blumberg et al, 1965), and its subsequent association with HCC (Beasley et al, 1981), and the recognition about 20 years later of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) (Choo et al, 1989) with the subsequent evidence that it, too, was linked to HCC (Bruix et al, 1989). It, thus, became clear that the vast majority of cases of HCC were in fact a consequence of infection by one of these two viruses.…”

Hepatitis C virus and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9: a detrimental interaction to increase viral infectivity and disrupt lipid metabolism

“…Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a single‐stranded RNA virus with a particular tropism for the hepatocytes 1, 2. More than 185 million people (~3% of the world's population) are infected by HCV 3 with an incidence rate of HCV infection that is apparently decreasing in the last years 4.…”