Dynamics of defective hepatitis C virus clones in reinfected liver grafts in liver transplant recipients: ultradeep sequencing analysis.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) reinfects liver allografts in transplant recipients by replicating immediately after transplantation, causing a rapid increase in blood serum HCV RNA levels. We evaluated dynamic changes in the viral genetic complexity after HCV reinfection of the graft liver; we also identified the characteristics of replicating HCV clones using a massively parallel ultradeep sequencing technique to determine the full-genome HCV sequences in the liver and serum specimens of five transplant recipients with genotype 1b HCV infection before and after liver transplantation. The recipients showed extremely high genetic heterogeneity before transplantation, and the HCV population makeup was not significantly different between the liver and blood serum specimens of the individuals. Viral

SUBMITTER: Ohtsuru S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3889746 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature