Quantification of hepatitis C virus by competitive reverse transcription—polymerase chain reaction: Increase of the virus in advanced liver disease

We developed a quantitative method of hepatitis C virus RNA by competitive reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. With this method, 36 patients with type C chronic liver disease were analyzed for the copy number of circulating hepatitis C virus in 50 μl of serum. The amounts of hepatitis C virus RNA ranged from 101 to 107 copies in the 36 patients. The average amount of hepatitis C virus RNA was 103.3 ± 2.2 copies in 12 patients with chronic persistent hepatitis, 105.7 ± 1.6 copies in 12 patients with chronic active hepatitis and 106.0 ± 1.6 copies in 12 patients with cirrhosis (including 4 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma). The amount of hepatitis C virus RNA in serum was significantly less in patients with chronic persistent hepatitis than in patients with chronic active hepatitis or cirrhosis (p