Porphyria cutanea tarda and antibodies to hepatitis C virus

We have studied the prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV) in 13 patients suffering from sporadic porphyria cutanea tarda. The sera were tested by Abbott second-generation enzyme immunoassay; seropositivity was confirmed by Ortho second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay. Ten cases (76.1%) were anti-HCV positive; one patient was also seropositive for HIV. This preliminary study suggests that HCV could be a frequent triggering factor for sporadic porphyria cutanea tarda.