Quasispecies dynamics in hepatitis C liver transplant recipients receiving grafts from hepatitis C virus infected donors

The limitation of organ supply for liver transplantation has led to the use of grafts from extended-criteria donors, such as HCV-positive donors. In these particular cases, superinfection with two different viral populations occurs, leading to the dominance of one strain over the other. In a previous study, we examined quasispecies dynamics during superinfection by cloning and sequencing, using a small number of clones which may limit the detection of the coexistence of competitors. This would require deep sequencing analysis. For this purpose, we included 6 HCV-infected patients who underwent liver transplantation with an HCV-infected graft and performed phylogenetic analysis of a fragment of the NS5B gene in donor and recipient serum samples collected prospectively before and after liver transplantation.