title: Nucleotide sequences of the hepatitis C virus core region in patients without anti-core antibody.
abstract: Second-generation assays for detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection that include reactivity of antibodies to core, NS3, NS4 are used because of their high sensitivity. Among these antibodies, anti-core antibody seems to be the most sensitive. However, there are some patients without anti-core antibodies, although HCV RNA is detectable by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and branched DNA assay. The mechanism for the absence of anti-core antibody on its own is unclear. We therefore determined the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the core region obtained from two anti-core antibody-negative patients with HCV RNA (genotype 1b) and compared them with those of four anti-core antibody-positive patients and a previously reported sequence. Amino acids spanning 1-47, which seemed to exist in major B cell epitopes, were found to be completely conserved among these patients. Furthermore, the predictive binding motif to HLA DR4 (a.a 81-90) was completely conserved in both of the anti-core antibody-negative patients. There were various mutations in the residual amino acids spanning 49-108, but specific mutations could not be found in anti-core antibody-negative patients. These data indicate that the absence of anti-core antibody in two patients is not due to the presence of some formerly unknown viral variants, but due to a possible defect in the host's immune system.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagasaka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hige
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurosawa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Karino
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toyota
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsushima
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asaka
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000737:chemistry*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D014758:Viral Core Proteins