       Document 0869
 DOCN  M9440869
 TI    Hepatitis C virus infection in anti-HIV positive and negative French
       homosexual men with chronic hepatitis: comparison of second- and
       third-generation anti-HCV testing.
 DT    9404
 AU    Marcellin P; Colin JF; Martinot-Peignoux M; Pham BN; Lefort V; Picault
       AB; Degott C; Erlinger S; Benhamou JP; Service d'Hepatologie, Hopital
       Beaujon, Clichy, France.
 SO    Liver. 1993 Dec;13(6):319-22. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/94125904
 AB    To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in
       homosexuals with chronic hepatitis, we tested for anti-HCV antibodies
       113 (47 anti-HIV positive) French non-drug-addicted homosexual men
       admitted for chronic viral hepatitis. Anti-HCV were detected with
       second- and third-generation ELISAs (ELISA2 and ELISA3) and RIBAs (RIBA2
       and RIBA3). Chronic hepatitis was related to non-A, non-B infection in
       four, to hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection in five and to hepatitis B
       virus (HBV) infection in 104 patients. Anti-HCV positivity was found in
       50.4% and 12.4% of the 113 patients, with ELISA2 and ELISA3,
       respectively. Positivity with RIBA2 and RIBA3 was found in only six of
       the 57 ELISA2 positive patients (all six were ELISA3 positive). The high
       prevalence of positivity with ELISA2 not confirmed by RIBA2 or RIBA3
       suggests false-positive results. ELISA2 positive results were more
       frequent with frozen serum samples than with fresh serum samples (62% vs
       23.5%, p = 0.0003). However, even with fresh serum, ELISA2-positive
       RIBA-negative results remained frequent in anti-HIV positive patients.
       ELISA3 seems to give more specific results. We conclude that the
       prevalence of HCV infection, as assessed with RIBA, was 5.3% among
       French homosexual men with chronic hepatitis (3.8% after exclusion of
       transfused patients). This low prevalence suggests that homosexual
       transmission of HCV is relatively uncommon.
 DE    Adult  Comparative Study  Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/METHODS
       False Positive Reactions  France/EPIDEMIOLOGY  Hepatitis
       Antibodies/*ANALYSIS  Hepatitis C/DIAGNOSIS/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION
       Hepatitis C Viruses/*IMMUNOLOGY  Hepatitis, Chronic
       Active/DIAGNOSIS/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  *Homosexuality  Human  *HIV
       Seronegativity  *HIV Seropositivity  Immunoblotting/METHODS  Male
       Prevalence  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

