title: HBe antibody unrelated to 'e minus' hepatitis B virus variant infection in patients with chronic type D hepatitis.
abstract: The presence of HBV-DNA sequences was evaluated in DNA extracted from serum samples, peripheral blood lymphocytes and liver biopsy specimens of five HBsAg/anti-HBe-positive carriers with chronic HDV infection. DNAs were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification technique using two pairs of oligonucleotide primers specific for the preC/C and S regions of the HBV; viral sequences were found exclusively in liver extracts and only in three out of the five cases. The direct sequencing of the amplified preC/C regions showed wild-type sequences in two cases, while in the third case a combination of 'wild' and 'e minus variant' viral populations was observed. Moreover, liver DNA of one positive case was electrophoresed through a low melting agarose gel and the following amplification, performed on DNA re-extracted from three different fragments of the gel, showed the presence of free HBV genomes but the absence of replicative intermediate forms. These results show that anti-HBe positivity is not constantly related to precore mutant HBV infection and suggest that HDV inhibits HBeAg production. Moreover, as it was observed in 'e minus' HBV variants, also during a chronic HBV wild-type infection, the viral replication might be suppressed to undetectable levels.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Università di Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raimondo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodinò
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brancatelli
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sardo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campo
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Smedile
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Villari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pernice
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Squadrito
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002353:Carrier State; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003699:Hepatitis D / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides