Ultrastructure of hepatorenal cell populations in patients with HCV and HBV infection markers. Hepatorenal associations.

Hepatorenal cell populations were studied in patients with HCV and HBV infection markers and renal dysfunction. Pronounced mosaicism of ultrastructural changes in hepatocytes was associated with polymorphic cytopathic effects caused by RNA-genome hepatitis C virus and DNA-genome hepatitis B virus. The destructive component of the tubular compartment predominated in renal biopsy specimens from patients, with subsequent degeneration of the tubular epithelium associated with progressive interstitial fi brosis.