Inactivation of a hepadnavirus by electrolysed acid water.
Glutaraldehyde is used as a disinfectant for endoscopes, but is an irritant and so should be replaced by an alternative. Electrolysed acid water (EAW) has a bactericidal effect, and an endoscopic washing device using EAW has been developed in Japan. To investigate the effect of EAW on the infectivity of viruses, we treated duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV), which has similar properties to hepatitis B virus, with EAW, and determined the number of remaining infectious virus particles in a bioassay system. One-day-old Pekin ducks were inoculated with duck serum containing 10(5.5) ID(50) DHBV; the serum had previously been incubated with 100 volumes of EAW or ion-exchanged water at room temperature for 7 min. DHBV infection was indicated by detection of viral DNA in duck serum samples 1-8 weeks after inoculation. Treatment of serum with EAW diminished DHBV infectivity whereas treatment with ion-exchanged water did not. The virus load was estimated to have been reduced to 10(1)-10(3) ID(50) during the first 1 min and to <10(0.5) ID(50) in the next 6 min of incubation when compared with the control. Thus, EAW directly inactivates DHBV and its clinical application is recommended.
Tagawa
M
M
First Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. masami@med.m.chiba-u.ac.jp
Yamaguchi
T
T
Yokosuka
O
O
Matsutani
S
S
Maeda
T
T
Saisho
H
H
D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004203:Disinfection / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004372:Ducks; D004572:Electrolysis; D018347:Hepadnaviridae Infections / Q000821:virology; D015611:Hepatitis B Virus, Duck / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D014867:Water
D004279:DNA, Viral; D014867:Water