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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

A Protocol for Analyzing Hepatitis C Virus Replication
Published on: June 26, 2014
[Analysis on the decline of hepatitis C virus RNA in the blood using a mathematical model]
Zu-Jiang Yu1, Quan-Cheng Kan, Yun He
1Department of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
Objective:
To establish a mathematical model of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication and develop a working theory for antiviral therapy in order to understand the dynamics of HCV replication.
Methods:
Peripheral blood cells of 4 hepatitis C patients were cultured. Quantities of the HCV were detected every 15 min by real-time PCR. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. A mathematical functional relationship between HCV RNA and the time lapse was established.
Results:
The quantity of HCV RNA declined and it fell into a mathematical model: Y=3E+0.8e(-0.5467x) (r=0.9547). The estimated virion half-life was 45 min on the average.
Conclusions:
The decline of HCV RNA in the blood is not of a linear trend and the HCV RNA lasts a longer time although the speed of the decline is faster than that in vivo.
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