Influence of CD4+ lymphocyte counts on GB virus C/hepatitis G virus carriership in HIV-positive individuals.

The duration of the GB virus C or hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) carriership varies according to the patient group studied. The immune competence of the host may be important. GBV-C/ HGV was studied in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons and an attempt was made to correlate the presence of viral RNA or E2 antibodies with CD4+ lymphocyte counts. Of 138 HIV-positive subjects, 30 were GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive and 20 others were E2 antibody-positive, whereas in healthy GBV-C/HGV-infected persons, the proportion of E2 antibody carriers was much higher. On the other hand, a relationship was not found between CD4+ lymphocyte counts and the presence of GBV-C/HGV RNA in the HIV-infected persons. This result does not necessarily imply that the CD4+ lymphocyte count does not affect viral clearance, but the results could be due to the trans-sectional nature of this study. A longitudinal assessment should clarify this point.