Virus-like particles associated with reverse transcriptase activity in acute sporadic non-A,non-B hepatitis.

Castillo I, Carreño V, Bartolomé FJ, Porres JC, Mora I, Herrera MI.

Department of Gastroenterology, Fundacion Jimenez Diaz, Madrid, Spain.

Reverse transcriptase activity was tested in 65 patients with non-A,non-B hepatitis, with positive results in 2 acute sporadic cases with favorable outcome. Virus-like particles were observed in ultra-thin sections of successive serum samples from one of the reverse transcriptase activity-positive patients by electron microscopy. These results suggest that some non-A,non-B hepatitis types could be related to a virus-like agent associated with a reverse transcriptase activity.