Table 3. Serological and virological characteristics of subjects with occult hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

N	SEX	AGE	DISEASE	HBV status	AST ALT*	GGT ALP**	Liver functional tests***	HCV antibodies	HCV-RNA plasma	HCV-RNA PBMCs	HCV genotype	VIRAL LOAD PBMCs§ (IU/ml)
1	M	71	SE	neg	−/−	−/−	normal	−	−	+	n.d.	1,55E+02
2	M	57	SE	neg	−/−	−/−	normal	−	−	+	n.d.	6,47E+01
3	M	69	SE	POS	−/−	−/−	normal	−	−	+	n.d.	1,40E+02
4	F	28	PV	neg	+/+	−/−	normal	−	−	+	2a/2c	1,71E+04
5	F	81	SE	neg	−/−	−/−	normal	−	−	+	1b	3,24E+02
6	M	73	SE	POS	−/−	−/−	normal	−	−	+	1b	2,39E+05

^*AST and ALT values at recruitment; −/−: normal values of AST: below 40 IU/L and 32 IU/L for men and women respectively, and ALT: below 50 IU/L and 35 IU/L for men and women respectively. +/+ altered levels of AST and ALT.

^**GGT and ALP values; −/−: normal values of GTT: below 50 IU/L and 35 IU/L for men and women respectively, and ALP: below 128 IU/L and 141 IU/L for men and women respectively.

^***Liver functional tests: total plasma protein, albumin, cholesterol, total and fractionated bilirubin, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and international normalised ratio.

^§PBMCs viral load on baseline sample.

Abbreviations: SE, secondary erythrocytosis; PV, polycythemia vera; HBV, hepatitis B virus; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; GGT, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase, n.d., not determined because the amplification resulted in a very weak fragment and sequence analysis did not succeed; PBMCs, peripheral blood mononuclear cells.