Prevalence of hepatitis G virus RNA in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-positive intravenous drug users

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of the new human flavivirus hepatitis G virus (HGV) in Italian intravenous drug users (IDUs) and its interaction with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Seventy-nine IDUs with different clinical stages of HIV-1 infection and 20 non-IDU patients with chronic HCV infection were included in the study. HGV RNA was detected by means of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) used for the amplification of two HGV-related sequences included in the 5'-noncoding (NCR) and NS5a regions.

Eighteen (22.8%) of the 79 IDUs were positive for plasma HGV RNA; there was no difference in mean serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels between the HGV-positive and HGV-negative patients. No significant correlation was observed between HGV and other viral markers (hepatitis B virus [HBV], HCV, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type II [HTLV-II]) or HCV genotype. The number of patients with symptomatic HIV-1 infection in whom HGV RNA was detected was significantly lower than the number of those who were asymptomatic (6 of 49 [12.2%] versus 12 of 30 [40%]; P = 0.004). The mean plasma HGV RNA titer was higher in the asymptomatic than in the symptomatic patients (4.6 versus 3.2 log PCR-amplified units in 1 mL of plasma sample [PU/mL]; P = 0.03).

Our results show a considerable spread of HGV levels among Italian HIV-1-positive IDUs and do not indicate that HGV infection enhances liver impairment. We suggest that the greater prevalence of HGV RNA in IDUs with asymptomatic HIV-1 infection may reflect the relatively recent HGV infection in this population.