Human platelets antigens influence the viral load of platelets after the interaction of the platelets with HCV and HIV in vitro.

INTRODUCTION In this study, we evaluated hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - platelet interactions in vitro as well as human platelets antigen (HPA) polymorphisms. METHODS Platelets were obtained from 100 healthy HPA-genotyped volunteer donors and incubated with HIV or HCV. The viral load after in vitro exposure was detected. RESULTS The viral load in the platelets after exposure to the virus was higher in the HIV exposure than in the HCV exposure. CONCLUSIONS HIV-platelet ligation could be more efficient than HCV-platelet interaction. Further, the HPA-1b allele seems to influence the interaction of platelets with HCV.