HGV-HCV/HBV co-infection in India: A pilot study

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is newly identified virus, transmitted by infected blood and blood products. Effect of HGV infection on liver diseases is not well known. AIMS: Co-infection of HGV with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been reported however; very limited data is available from India. Therefore, we have performed a pilot study for the presence of co-infection of HGV in chronic liver disease patients. SETTING AND DESIGN: The study was performed in research laboratory at P.D. Hinduja National hospital and Medical research center, Mahim, Mumbai. Prospective study was designed. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Forty HBV, HCV related chronic liver disease patients were studied. Forty randomly selected voluntary healthy blood donors visiting our blood bank were included as controls. Serum bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were estimated. HGV infection was detected by using reverse transcriptase molony murine leukemia virus (M-MLV) with the help of HGV 340/625IC kit (Sacace, Italy). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: One HCV positive patient had infection with HGV among 40 HBV/HCV chronic liver disease patients.