Hepatitis C virus populations in the plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and cerebrospinal fluid of HIV/hepatitis C virus-co-infected patients.

Background: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has occasionally been associated with diseases of the central nervous system, thus suggesting that the virus has a direct effect on cerebral function.

Objective: To investigate the presence and heterogeneity of HCV populations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of HIV-infected and anti-HCV-positive patients.

Methods: Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect HCV RNA in 21 paired CSF/plasma samples and 20 PBMC samples from HIV/HCV-positive patients.

Few modifications of the Cobas Amplicor HIV Monitor 1.5 test allow reliable quantitation of HIV-1 proviral load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Recent studies have suggested that monitoring the amount of HIV provirus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) may be a useful end point for HAART where, in combination with plasma viral load, it provides additional information as to the possibility of virus eradication. In the present study, a modified version of the Cobas Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test (CAHIM), currently used to quantify plasma viremia, have been evaluated to also measure the amount of proviral DNA in PBMCs. The analytical and clinical performance of the modified CAHIM test was assessed by quantifying different amounts of a standard HIV-DNA preparation obtained from the 8E5 cell line and by analysing 165 patients and controls samples.