It has been made known that there isn't any significant regional difference in the frequencies of cases of viral hepatitis C by subtypes in our country. In the present study we investigated the subtypes in hepatitis C virus carring patients without blood transfusion history in the southern region of Ibaraki Prefecture to clarify the occurrence ratio of each subtype of the virus. The results of interferon therapy were also examined in those patients with chronic hepatitis C. The frequencies of subtypes 2, 3 and 4 were found to be 71%, 16% and 10%, respectively. Although these ratios were the same as the national average, a significantly high frequency (P>0.01) of subtype 3 was observed in the patients from Tsuchiura in the region, suggesting that there may have existed some particular source of infection other than blood transfusion. The effectiveness of interferon therapy was significantly higher (P>0.01) in the patients with subtype 3 (75%) than in those patients with subtypes 2 and 4 (23% and 43%, raspectively), suggesting that interferon is a remedy specific to subtype 3.

The liver mitochondrial redox state (the liver mitochondrial free NAD+/NADH ratio), which indicates hepatic energy charge, is known to parallel the ketone body ratio (acetoacetate/3-hydroxybutyrate) in liver tissue. Since the ketone body ratio in arterial blood was reported to correlate with that in liver tissue; the arterial ketone body ratio (AKBR) has been widely accepted as a useful measure of the liver function reserve. The liver mitochondrial redox state is known to decrease with the oxidation of ethanol in alcohol abusers. To evaluate whether AKBR reflected the effect of alcohol intake on the liver, AKBR was measured in normal controls (n=8), and patients with alcoholic liver injuries (n=14) and chronic active hepatitis (n=15). The mean AKBRs in the normal control subjects, in patients with chronic active viral hepatitis, and in those with alcoholic liver disease were 1.68±0.77, 2.22±1.02, and 1.55±0.79, respectively. Though the AKBR in patients with alcoholic liver disease tended to be lower than the other groups, there was no significant difference in AKBR among those three groups. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that AKBR was doubtful as an accurate parameter to estimate the changes in the liver mitochondrial redox state by alcoholic intake.