[The prevalence of hepatitis G virus in patients with hepatitis B and C virus infections].

GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) is a recently identified flavivirus, which has been frequently detected in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. In this study, the prevalence of HGV-RNA and antibodies to E2 envelope antigen (anti-E2) which is a marker of past infection, have been investigated in the samples of patients with HCV and HBV infections, and the prevalence rates were compared with the control group. The study group consisted of 50 patients with HBV and 50 patients with HCV infections, who did not have any risk for parenteral transmission, and 60 healthy control subjects. Serum samples were tested for the presence of HGV-RNA by real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and for anti-E2 by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). As a result, HGV-RNA and anti-HGV-E2 positivity rates in HBV and HCV infected patients were found as; 4% and 6%, 4% and 4%, respectively. Although the prevalence of HGV-RNA in patients with HBV and HCV infections were higher than the control group (1.66%), there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). The prevalence of anti-E2 antibodies in patients with HBV and HCV infections did not revealed any difference in comparison to the control group (6.66%) (p>0.05). In conclusion, GBV-C/HGV infection prevalence was found low in patients with HBV and HCV infections, supporting that although parenteral route is the most effective way, other routes such as sexual contact and intra-familial contact may also play role in HGV transmission.