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Background Although controversial, some authorities have implicated hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a cause of anti‐phospholipid syndrome (APLS). Anti‐cardiolipin antibodies (anti‐CLAbs) in APLS are cofactor‐dependent (‘pathogenic’ antibodies). We conducted a study in order to determine the prevalence of anti‐CLAbs in HCV patients, and furthermore to address whether these autoantibodies are cofactor‐dependent or not and whether they are associated with features of APLS. Patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) were also evaluated in order to assess whether there are differences in the prevalence and the clinical significance of anti‐CLAbs between these two major types of chronic viral hepatitis.

Materials and methods One hundred and seventy‐four consecutive HCV patients, 50 HBV patients and 267 healthy were investigated for the presence of anti‐CLAbs and antibodies against beta2‐glycoprotein I (β2 …