FIG. 3.

Identification of HCV RNA in parallel samples of serum and PBMC by RT-PCR-NAH using both UTR and E2 region-specific primers. Total RNA was extracted from sera (S) and PBMC (P) from case 2, with self-limited acute infection, and from case 13, with therapeutically induced recovery from chronic hepatitis. Serum and PBMC from a healthy individual and a patient with clinically evident chronic hepatitis C (CH) served as negative and positive controls, respectively. Water (DW and NW) and cDNA-free mock (M) samples were included as contamination controls. Positive samples showed the expected 244-bp band for UTR and the 442-bp fragment for the E2 region by Southern blot hybridization analysis.