Hepatic porphyrin concentration and uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity in hepatitis C virus infection.

Previous studies have shown a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT). The aim of this study was to assess hepatic porphyrin concentrations (HPC) and hepatic uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (UROD) activity in HCV-infected patients free of PCT. Thirty-two HCV-infected patients (20 M, 12 F, mean age 51 years) and seven control patients (4 M, 3 F, mean age 59 years) free of liver disease, were studied.

Quantitation of hepatitis C virus RNA in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic hepatitis treated with interferon-alpha.

We quantified hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA at different times in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in 51 patients with chronic hepatitis C undergoing interferon-alpha2a (IFN-alpha2a) therapy. HCV RNA loads in plasma correlated with those in PBMC before and during the treatment (P<0.001).

Descriptive epidemiology of non-Hodgkin lymphomas in a southwestern French hematology center: absence of significant relationship with hepatitis C virus infection.

From January 1995 to June 1998, 136 new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) were seen in our center which serves all the French Basque Country (300000 inhabitants). The crude and standardized incidence rates were respectively 13.2 and 7.

[Appearance of hepatitis C virus replication and increase of aminotransferase activity after corticoid treatment of presumed autoimmune hepatitis. 2 cases].

Autoimmune-related and hepatitis C virus-related chronic hepatitis are sometimes difficult to differentiate. We report two cases of chronic hepatitis with high levels of serum anti-smooth muscle antibodies, positive hepatitis C virus serology, and negative serum RNA, which were first treated with corticotherapy. Both patients responded with marked increases in aminotransferase levels, and positive RNA.