Absence of hepatitis C virus and detection of hepatitis G virus/GB virus C RNA sequences in the semen of infected men.

The identification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in semen remains controversial and that of hepatitis G virus (HGV) or GB virus C (GBV-C) has never been investigated. Serum and semen from 90 anti-HCV-positive drug users were tested (27 infected with HIV) for HCV and HGV/GBV-C RNAs by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, hybridization, and sequence analysis. Semen was processed into round cells, seminal plasma, and spermatozoa.

HIV-1 proviral DNA polymerase chain reaction detection in chorionic villi after exclusion of maternal contamination by variable number of tandem repeats analysis.

Objective: The study of the placental HIV infection in cases of seropositive pregnant women after exclusion of maternal contamination of chorionic villi samples by variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) analysis.

Methods: We studied 30 HIV-positive women: 17 terminated their pregnancy (11 in the first trimester and six in the second) and 13 delivered at term (one was a twin gestation). We selected chorionic villi and ruled out maternal contamination by VNTR analysis.