BACKGROUND If transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection through parenteral exposure is well documented, sexual transmission of HCV is still debated. AIMS To perform extensive epidemiological and virological analysis in 24 couples in which each spouse was anti-HCV positive in order to delineate more precisely potential sexual transmission of HCV. PATIENTS Twenty four couples in which...

Abstract Successful clinical drug development requires rational design of combination treatments based on preclinical data. Anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) drugs exhibit significant diversity in antiviral effect. Dose-response assessments can be used to determine parameters profiling the diverse effect during treatment. In current study, a combined experimental and mathematical approaches were com...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known for the eminent global disease burden responsible for encumbering public health. Development of an effective vaccine is the major need of the day; however, several obstacles loom ahead of this objective. One of the major barriers is that as a RNA virus, it mutates rapidly resulting in high sequence divergence and several viral isolates in the world. T...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a plus stranded RNA virus which encodes 10 different genes. The HCV NS5B gene encodes a polymerase, which is responsible for the replication of the virus and is a potential target for the development of antiviral agents. HCV has a high mutation rate and is classified into six major genotypes. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to draw a representing con...

The clinical outcomes of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) range from acute resolving hepatitis to chronic liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Identification of the infecting virus genotype is indispensable for the exploration of many aspects of HCV infection, including epidemiology, pathogenesis, and response to antiviral therapy. 1419 individuals w...

Anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) cross-neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies, directed against conserved epitopes on surface E2 glycoprotein, are central tools for understanding virus-host interplay, and for planning strategies for prevention and treatment of this infection. Recently, we developed a research aimed at identifying these antibody specificities. The characteristics of one of these a...

UNLABELLED Information about HCV genotypes in infected patients from different regions of Mexico is limited. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of HCV genotypes in a group of HCV infected patients who attended a third level Hospital in Northeast of Mexico. METHODS Genotyping analysis was performed using the InnoLiPA-HCV genotype assay in 147 patients (65 males and 82 females, mean age 44...

Determination of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and subtypes has become increasingly important for the clinical management and prognosis of HCV infections. The aim of the present study was to assess the specificity and reliability of a newly developed, commercially available HCV genotyping kit (TRUGENE HCV 5'NC genotyping kit). This technique utilizes PCR fragments previously generated by th...

BACKGROUND Illegal commercial plasma and blood donation activities in the late 1980s and early 1990s caused a large number of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in rural areas of China. In the present study, we aimed to elucidate the risk factors of HCV RNA positivity and HCV genotype distribution in former blood donors. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was carried out in a former blood donat...

hepatitis c is a major cause of liver related morbidity and mortality worldwide and represents a major public health problem. depending on genomic organization, the virus is divided into six genotypes and a number of subtypes. different genotypes are seen in different parts of the world. genotype one is difficult to treat, while genotypes 2 and 3 are easy to treat. therefore, identification of ...