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. 1992 Apr;102(4 Pt 1):1306-8.

Absence of hepatitis C viral RNA from saliva and semen of patients with chronic hepatitis C

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  • PMID: 1312976

Absence of hepatitis C viral RNA from saliva and semen of patients with chronic hepatitis C

M W Fried et al. Gastroenterology. 1992 Apr.

Abstract

Body fluids from 14 patients with chronic hepatitis C were analyzed for the presence of hepatitis C viral RNA using the polymerase chain reaction. Nucleic acids were extracted from serum, saliva, and semen in guanidinium thiocyanate, subjected to reverse transcription, and then amplified by a double polymerase chain reaction technique using "nested" primers from the highly conserved 5' non-coding region of the hepatitis C virus genome. Hepatitis C viral RNA was found in the serum of all patients in titers ranging between 10(-1) and 10(-3). The hepatitis C viral genome was not detected in any saliva or semen sample. These findings suggest that body fluids of patients with chronic hepatitis C are rarely, if ever, contaminated with the hepatitis C virus. This may help to explain the infrequent transmission of this disease by sexual or close physical contact.

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