Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) can coinfect the same hepatocyte in the liver of patients with chronic HCV and occult HBV infection

Abstract

In this work, we have shown that hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) can coexist in the same hepatocyte using double fluorescent in situ hybridization in liver biopsy samples from patients with chronic HCV infection with occult HBV infection. Digital image analysis of hybridization signals showed that the HBV DNA levels in coinfected hepatocytes were lower than those in cells infected only with HBV. This finding supports the hypothesis of inhibition of HBV replication by HCV. Furthermore, HCV RNA levels were lower in coinfected cells than in cells infected only with HCV, suggesting that HBV may also inhibit HCV replication.

FIG. 1.

Fluorescent in situ hybridization images of the liver section from two different patients (patient A, a to c; patient B, d to f) obtained using the green filter (a and d), the red filter (b and e), and both filters (c and f). Thin arrows indicate cells infected only by HBV (green), thick arrows indicate cells infected only by HCV (red), and arrowheads show cells infected by both viruses. Sections were counterstained with 4′,6′-diamidino-2-phenylindole to show cell nuclei. Original magnification, ×1,000.

FIG. 2.

Histogram representations of the intrahepatic HBV DNA (A) and HCV RNA (B) levels (means ± SEMs) measured in arbitrary units in single-infected and coinfected hepatocytes from the six patients with chronic hepatitis C and occult HBV infection.