title: Humoral immune responsiveness in duck hepatitis B virus-infected ducks.
abstract: Immunofluorescence assays with fixed tissue sections were used to characterize antibody reactivity in sera obtained from duck hepatitis B virus-infected ducks. Under conditions of experimental infection, antibody to core antigen but not to surface antigen was detectable. A majority of the ducks infected at 8 days after hatching and a minority of those infected at 1 day after hatching showed a transient anti-core antigen humoral response; this response was stronger in the antibody-positive ducks infected on day 8 than in those infected on day 1. Antiviral antibody was not detected in the sera of ducks congenitally infected with duck hepatitis B virus. Several of the infected ducks, but none of the uninfected ducks, exhibited autoantibody reactivity for alpha-islet-cell-associated antigen.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000378:metabolism; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D004372:Ducks / Q000382:microbiology*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens