Lack of influence of hepatitis G virus infection on alcohol-related hepatic lesions

Background: The purposes of this study were to analyse the prevalence and histologic impact of hepatitis G virus (HGV), a newly discovered virus, in alcoholic patients, a population known to be at risk for viral hepatitis. Methods: One hundred and thirty-nine consecutive alcoholics admitted to our liver unit (106 men and 33 women; mean age, 47.1_10.9 years) were included in the study. All patients had consumed more than 60 g of ethanol per day for at least 1 year. One hundred healthy blood donors constituted a control group. Antibodies to HGV E2 protein and HGV-RNA testing by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers derived from the NS5 coding region were performed in all serum samples. Results: A significantly higher seroprevalence of anti-E2 antibodies was observed in alcoholic patients than in healthy blood donors (41 (29.5%) versus 8 (8%); P < 0.0001). Moreover, the prevalence of HGV-RNA was significantly higher in alcoholic patients (13 (9.3%) versus 1 (1%); P = 0.01)....