Abstract
To evaluate the clinical significance of anti-GOR testing at a regular check-up, we examined 188 serial stored sera from 55 patients with abnormal liver function, who visited our hospital for a regular check-up. Twelve sera from 5 cases were positive for anti-Gor. Of the 5 cases, 2 were positive for both anti-GOR and anth-C100-3, but another 2 were negative for anti-C100-3. The remaining case soon became negative for anti-GOR. The serum level of ALT was high at the first regular check-up in two cases with anti-GOR. In the other 3 cases with anti-GOR, the corresponding level was within normal limits at the first regular check-up, but was increased at the second check-up and thereafter. Anti-GOR was detected even when the results of liver function tests were normal and when anti-C100-3 was negative.
Thus, anti-GOR seems to be more useful than anti-C100-3 as a marker of hepatitis C virus (HCV). We speculate that anti-GOR and HCV-related antibody testing at regular check-ups would reveal the prevalence of silent HCV carriers, the period and mode of their virus acquisition and the mechanism of progression from the silent carrier state to clinically symptomatic hepatitis.
