RT Journal Article
T1 Evaluation of hepatitis C viral RNA persistence in HIV-infected patients with long-term sustained virological response by droplet digital PCR.
A1 Frias, Mario
A1 Rivero-Juarez, Antonio
A1 Tellez, Francisco
A1 Palacios, Rosario
A1 Jimenez-Arranz, Alvaro
A1 Pineda, Juan A
A1 Merino, Dolores
A1 Gomez-Vidal, Maria Amparo
A1 Perez-Camacho, Ines
A1 Camacho, Angela
A1 Rivero, Antonio
K1 AGS - Campo de Gibraltar Oeste
AB Several studies have reported the persistence of HCV RNA in liver and/or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in spite of undetectable viremia in patients who have achieved sustained virological response (SVR). This event, defined as occult HCV infection, remains controversial and low titers of persistent virus may be underestimated because it has not yet been analyzed by a highly sensitive test such as droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). This method provides an alternate ultra-sensitive detection technique for very low numbers of copies of viral RNA or DNA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the persistence of HCV in HIV-coinfected patients with long-term SVR using ddPCR. For each patient, the presence of HCV RNA in serum and PBMCs at baseline was determined by nested RT-ddPCR. Patients with HCV RNA in PBMCs at baseline were followed until the end of the study. One hundred and twenty-three patients were analyzed for persistence of HCV RNA in serum and PBMCs. Persistence of HCV was not found in serum in any patient. HCV RNA was detected in PBMCs in one patient (0.81%; 95% CI: 0.04-3.94) and resolved spontaneously during follow-up. Persistence of HCV RNA in PBMCs is not a common event in HIV/HCV co-infected patients with long-term SVR evaluated by RT-ddPCR.
PB Nature Publishing Group
YR 2019
FD 2019-08-13
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/14458
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/14458
LA en
NO Frías M, Rivero-Juárez A, Téllez F, Palacios R, Jiménez-Arranz Á, Pineda JA, et al.  Evaluation of hepatitis C viral RNA persistence in HIV-infected patients with long-term sustained virological response by droplet digital PCR. Sci Rep. 2019 Aug 29;9(1):12507
NO This work was supported by the Fundación Progreso y Salud, Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (grants for health research projects: refs. PI0036/2010; PI0187/2013), the Ministerio de Sanidad (RD12/0017/0012) integrated in the Plan Nacional de I+D+I, and cofnanced by the ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), the Fundación para la Investigación en Salud (FIS) del Instituto Carlos III (PI15/01017), and the Red de Investigación en SIDA de España ISCIII-RETIC (Grant Number: RD16/0025/0034). A. Rivero Juárez and M. Frías are the recipient of a Miguel Servet and Sara Borrell postdoctoral perfection grants by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain (CP18/00111) and (CD18/00091), respectively.
DS RISalud
RD Apr 11, 2025