Elnaz Agi - Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
Saber Asghari - Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Ali Namvar - Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
Niloofar Khairkhah - Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
Niloofar Naderi - Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
Ali Anvar - Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
Alireza Azizi Saraji - Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
Azam Bolhassani - Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran

Introduction: A new pathological form of HCV named as occult HCV infection (OCI) has been recently characterized by the presence of HCV RNA in liver biopsy and/or peripheral blood mononuclear cell specimens (PBMCs) and the absence of detectable circulating HCV RNA in plasma samples. In this study, we investigated the presence of HCV RNA in PBMCs and plasma samples of ۱۰۰ hemophilia patients with negative serum HCV RNA. Methods: One hundred hemophilia participants receiving IFN-free direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) regimens as a treatment of HCV infection participated in this study. PBMCs were separated with Ficoll before RNA extraction. The HCV genotypes of the positive specimens were also analyzed by RT-PCR assay. Finally, data analysis was performed by SPSS software. Results: Our data revealed that out of ۱۰۰ hemophilia patients, three (۳%, ۹۵% CI: ۰.۰۰۶-۰.۰۸۵) were positive for OCI, showing a significant association between OCI and genotype۳/drug regimens (p = ۰.۰۲۰۳). There was no significant increase at ALT and AST levels in patients with OCI. Moreover, a genotype difference was observed between plasma and PBMCs samples of ۱% (۱/۱۰۰) of patients. Conclusion: Generally, HCV genotyping in PBMCs along with plasma subtyping before beginning the therapy is vital due to the possibility of OCI detection.

Hemophilia, Occult HCV, Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs)