Consensus oligonucleotide primers for the detection of GB virus C in human cryptogenic hepatitis

Recently, sequences from a putative member of the Flaviviridae, GB virus C (GBV-C), were isolated from the serum of patients with cryptogenic hepatitis. These sequences were 83-99% identical at the nucleotide level. Because of the divergence between these GBV-C isolates, it is likely that the PCR-based detection assay yields false negatives, underestimating dramatically the true prevalence of GBV-C in human hepatitis. We report the design of a GBV-C consensus oligonucleotide primer pair that is superior to those originally described. These primers identify GBV-C sequences in cases of cryptogenic hepatitis, allowing a better estimation of the prevalence of this virus in human populations.