Document 0392
 DOCN  M9550392
 TI    Human immunodeficiency virus infection as risk factor for
       mother-to-child hepatitis C virus transmission; persistence of
       anti-hepatitis C virus in children is associated with the mother's
       anti-hepatitis C virus immunoblotting pattern.
 DT    9505
 AU    Manzini P; Saracco G; Cerchier A; Riva C; Musso A; Ricotti E; Palomba E;
       Scolfaro C; Verme G; Bonino F; et al; Department of Gastroenterology,
       Molinette Hospital, Torino,; Italy.
 SO    Hepatology. 1995 Feb;21(2):328-32. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/95146032
 AB    To determine the rate of vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus
       (HCV), we prospectively studied 45 babies born to anti-HCV-positive
       women with or without concomitant infection with the human
       immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We performed a second-generation
       recombinant immunoblotting assay, alanine transaminase (ALT) evaluation,
       and HCV-RNA testing on sera from 27 infants of HCV+, HIV- mothers and 18
       babies of HCV+, HIV+ women, at birth and thereafter. After birth, HCV
       antibodies progressively disappeared within 12 months in all children
       but one, whose mother was HCV+, HIV+; this child was the only one who
       showed detectable levels of HCV-RNA and abnormal ALT values throughout
       the follow-up (range, 12 to 27 months). Viremia was persistently
       negative, and ALT levels were continuously normal in the remaining
       infants, showing that seronegative infection with HCV was absent in both
       groups. Clearance of passively acquired anti-HCV antibodies was found to
       be slower among babies born to HIV+ mothers (22.3% vs. 3.8% at 12
       months, P = .03) and children whose mothers showed three or four
       anti-HCV reactivities by immunoblotting maintained anti-HCV for longer
       periods compared with babies born to mothers with one or two anti-HCV
       reactivities (P = .0001). Seventeen of 27 babies born to HCV+, HIV-
       mothers were breast-fed, and none of them was infected, confirming the
       apparent safety for HCV of breast milk. In summary, according to our
       study, vertical transmission of HCV is an infrequent event, and the
       presence of HIV in the mother is not an important co-factor for
       transmission of HCV infection.
 DE    Alanine Aminotransferase/BLOOD  Comparative Study  *Disease
       Transmission, Vertical  Female  Hepatitis Antibodies/*BLOOD  Hepatitis
       C/BLOOD/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*TRANSMISSION  Hepatitis C
       Viruses/*GENETICS/*IMMUNOLOGY  Human  *HIV Seronegativity  HIV
       Seropositivity/*BLOOD  Immunoblotting  Infant, Newborn  Polymerase Chain
       Reaction  Pregnancy  Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/*BLOOD
       Prospective Studies  Risk Factors  RNA, Viral/*BLOOD  Time Factors
       JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
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