

@article {9988,
	title = {{Detection of hepatitis A viral RNA in sera of patients with acute hepatitis A.}},
	journal = {Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology},
	volume = {15},
	number = {9},
	year = {2000},
	month = {sep},
	pages = {1043{\textendash}7},
	abstract = {<p>{BACKGROUND AND AIMS The Detection of hepatitis A virus (HAV) is important for diagnosis and epidemiological studies of hepatitis A. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique is a sensitive test to detect HAV-RNA in specimens. The aims of the present study were to clarify the detection rate of serum HAV-RNA by PCR and the natural history of HAV viraemia, and to determine the correlation between viraemia and the clinical characteristics in patients with acute hepatitis A. METHODS Hepatitis A virus RNA was tested in 74 serum samples which were serially collected from 27 patients with acute hepatitis A. A nested reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for HAV-RNA was performed with primer sets located at the VP1 region of the HAV genome and the PCR products were electrophoresed on a 1.5{\%} agarose gel. RESULTS Hepatitis A virus RNA was found in 18 of 27 (67{\%}) patients with hepatitis A. There were no significant differences between groups positive and negative for HAV-RNA in clinical and laboratory data, except the time interval between clinical onset and initial serum sampling for RT-PCR (10 +/- 6 vs 19 +/- 14 days) and the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level at initial serum sampling for RT-PCR (1436 +/- 1416 vs 518 +/- 432 IU/L). The mean duration of HAV viraemia was 30 +/- 19 days (range, 5-59 days). The duration of HAV viraemia and duration of abnormal ALT levels from clinical onset were positively correlated (r = 0.685</p>
},
	issn = {0815-9319},
	url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11059935},
	author = {Lee, C H and Kwon, O S and Byun, K S and Yeon, J E and Park, S H and Kim, J S and Kim, J H and Bak, Y T and Kim, J H}
}
