Relation between viremia level and liver disease in patients with chronic HCV infection

AIM: To explore the relation between level of hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia and HCV-related chronic liver disease.

METHODS: Serum HCV RNA was measured by competitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (CRT-PCR) in 27 patients with chronic HCV infection.

RESULTS: Levels of serum HCV RNA were low (10²-10⁶ copies/50 μL serum) in patients with chronic HCV infection. Patients with chronic active hepatitis (10^{5.739 ± 0.25} copies/50 μL serum) and with cirrhosis (10^{5.803 ± 0.76} copies/50 μL serum) had higher levels of serum HCV RNA than patients with chronic persistent hepatitis (10^{5.068 ± 1.04} copies/50 μL serum) (P < 0.05). There was a positive relation between levels of serum HCV RNA and alanine aminotransferase.

CONCLUSION: All of these results suggest that viremia level is low in chronic HCV infection. HCV itself plays an important role in progress of chronic liver disease, and HCV replication is related to liver damage.