Hepatitis C virus in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda: relationship to HCV-genotypes.

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is a rare metabolic disorder characterized by an abnormal porphyrin metabolism and typical cutaneous lesions. Recently a strong association between PCT and hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been proposed. Studies in south Europe have shown high prevalence (53 to 91%) of HCV markers in patients with PCT. We studied HCV genotypes in 72 subjects: 40 with PCT and 32 patients with chronic liver disease. A high rate of HCV-RNA positive PCT patients (84%) was observed, reflecting an active HCV replication, the genotypes study showed a prevalence of genotype 1b in PCT patients (61.2%). These findings implicate HCV in the aetiology of PCT-associated liver disease suggesting that hepatitis C serological and virological testing could be indicated in all patients with PCT.