Prevalence of GBV-C RNA in HIV infected individuals inTehran, Iran

Background: gb virus c (gbv-c) is a flavivirus that was characterized in 1995. the prevalence of gbv-c rna in hivinfectedsubjects has not been previously studied in iran and was therefore determined.methods: we have investigated serum samples of 80 patients from imam khomeini hospital, tehran, iran, whose hiv infectionwas confirmed in our laboratory by western-blotting. we used nested-pcr to detect gbv-c/hgv rna in their sera.results: gbv-c/hgv rna was detected in 15 (18.8%) of 80 patients. there was no significant difference in gbv-c/hgv rnaprevalence between males and females, in different age groups and hiv viral loads groups.conclusion: the prevalence of gbv-c rna was high in hiv-infected patients. there was no association between gbv-crna prevalence and specific gender, age, and hiv viral loads groups.