GB Virus C Overview: Insights into Clinical Implication

Abstract

GB virus C (GBV-C) is a single stranded positive sense RNA virus, which is a member of the Flaviviridae, discovered in 1995 and it is the most closely related human virus to hepatitis C virus (HCV). Unlike HCV, GBV-C considered to be lymphotropic and related to the viral population infecting CD8 T cells and B cells. GBV-C infection has not been convincingly associated with any known human disease; however, several studies have found an association between persistent GBV-C infection and improved survival with slower disease progression in GBV-C/HIV co-infected patients. GBV-C infection is relatively common and has a worldwide distribution and 1-5% of healthy blood donors in developed countries have GBV-C RNA in their sera. In this review we discuss the GB virus C natural history, epidemiology and its prevalence in different population, focusing on the disease associations and interaction with HIV infection.