Role of viral infection in porphyria cutanea tarda.

HIV infection is associated with abnormal porphyrin metabolism. While HCV infection alone is thus far not associated with significant abnormal porphyrin levels, it does contribute to further elevation of porphyrin levels in patients already infected with HIV. These infections alone are not sufficient to induce the development of clinical porphyria. However, they render patients susceptible to having symptomatic porphyria upon exposure to other porphyrinogenic agents.