Porphyria cutanea tarda and antibodies to hepatitis C virus.

Lacour, J P; Bodokh, I; Castanet, J; Bekri, S; Ortonne, J P · Br J Dermatol · 1993

case_series · Level IV

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Abstract

We have studied the prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV) in 13 patients suffering from sporadic porphyria cutanea tarda. The sera were tested by Abbott second-generation enzyme immunoassay; seropositivity was confirmed by Ortho second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay. Ten cases (76.1%) were anti-HCV positive; one patient was also seropositive for HIV. This preliminary study suggests that HCV could be a frequent triggering factor for sporadic porphyria cutanea tarda.

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