Absence of hepatitis C viral RNA from saliva and semen of patients with chronic hepatitis C
Fried, M.W.; Shindo, M.; Fong, T.L.; Fox, P.C.; Hoofnagle, J.H.; Di Bisceglie, A.M.
Gastroenterology 102(4 Part 1): 1306-1308
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0016-5085 PMID: 1312976 Document Number: 399814
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.