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. 1995 Dec;69(12):8079–8083. doi: 10.1128/jvi.69.12.8079-8083.1995

Lack of detection of negative-strand hepatitis C virus RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and other extrahepatic tissues by the highly strand-specific rTth reverse transcriptase PCR.

R E Lanford 1, D Chavez 1, F V Chisari 1, C Sureau 1
PMCID: PMC189758  PMID: 7494326

Abstract

To further explore the controversial potential for extrahepatic replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV), the highly strand-specific rTth method of reverse transcriptase PCR was used to examine sera, liver, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and other extrahepatic tissues from HCV-infected chimpanzees and humans. Positive-strand HCV RNA was present in the liver at approximately 10-fold-higher levels than negative-strand HCV RNA. No negative-strand RNA was detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells or other extrahepatic tissues despite the presence of abundant positive-strand RNA. These data demonstrate that within the limits of sensitivity of this highly strand-specific reverse transcriptase PCR method, no extrahepatic replication of HCV was detected.

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Selected References

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