[Chronic infection of swine embryonal kidney cells (PS), caused by hepatitis C virus]

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) circulating in patient's blood acquired cytopathogenic properties after infection of suckling mouse brain cells. HCV infection of PS cells was studied for 11 months. Three stages of infection were distinguished; noncytocidal infection, poorly manifest destruction of PS cells, and intensive cytodestruction and cell repopulation. Persistent HCV was steadily released in PS culture and caused destruction of BHK-21, Vero, PS, HAK, and chick embryo cells. Infective titers of HCV in culture fluid collected from these cultures were 10.0 = 11.0 lg TCD50/0.2 ml. Cytopathogenic activity of HCV regularly confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction was neutralized by anti-HCV-positive sera of patients with hepatitis C. Persistent HCV formed heterogeneous plaques in chick embryo fibroblast cultures and agglutinated goose erythrocytes. Indirect immunofluorescence demonstrated that 25 to 45% of infected cells contained virus-specific antigens. The PS-HCV system holds the best promise for theoretical and practical studies of hepatitis C.