Cloning of serum RNA associated with hepatitis C infection suggesting heterogeneity of the agent(s) responsible for the infection.
Fifty-six lambda gt11-random-primed-cDNA recombinants of which translation products react with antibodies in the serum drawn from patients with hepatitis C (blood-borne non-A, non-B hepatitis) were cloned from serum pooled from donors presumably infected with hepatitis C. The specificity of these clones for hepatitis C infection was determined using 3 test panels. Of these 29 clones were determined to be specific for Japanese hepatitis C infection. However one of the 29 clones was positive for 1 out of 5 normals in an American test panel while 12 clones were positive for the American panel as well. The remaining 28 clones reacted well with serum from transfusion associated chronic hepatitis C comparing to the sporadic cases in the Japanese panel. When they were tested with normal donors, another clone reacted with a distinct donor group with which the other clones did not react. These results may suggest the presence of heterogeneity in Japanese hepatitis C.
Arima
T
T
First Department of Internal Medicine, Okayama University Medical School, Japan.
Mori
C
C
Takamizawa
A
A
Nakajima
T
T
Kanai
K
K
D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006518:Hepatitis Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*
D012367:RNA, Viral