Prevalenza degli herpesvirus nel tessuto epatico da soggetti con epatite C

We report the results of a study on the search for herpesvirus DNA in liver biopsy from patients with chronic hepatitis C and from a control group without hepatitis. Thirty-four liver samples from hepatitis C patients were examined, 12 of which (35.3%) were positive for at least one herpesvirus DNA, whereas among the 19 control liver samples only 2 were positive (10.5%; p= 0.049). Liver biopsies from 7 patients, 3 with acute hepatitis of unknown origin, 3 with non alcoholic steatoheapatitis and 1 with autoimmune hepatitis were investigated too and three positive samples were found. The prevalence of herpesvirus DNA higher in patients with hepatitis C than in individuals without hepatitis is discussed and the possible influence of herpesviruses both on the clinical course and on the therapy of hepatitis C is considered.