Evaluation of cross-reactive antibody response to HVR1 in chronic hepatitis C.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the presence and cross-reactive antibodies against hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients and its relationship with the progression of the disease.


METHODS
Sixteen representative HVR1 proteins selected from a unique set of 1600 natural sequences were used to semiquantitate the cross-reactivity of HVR1 antibodies in the sera of HCV patients. Fifty-five chronic HCV patients including 23 with asymptomatic mild hepatitis, 18 with chronic hepatitis and 16 with liver cirrhosis patients were studied.


RESULTS
The degree of the cross-reactivity of anti-HVR1 antibodies in 23 patients with mild asymptomatic hepatitis was 3.09 ± 2.68, which was significantly lower than in those with chronic hepatitis (5.44 ± 3.93, P < 0.05) and liver cirrhosis (7.44 ± 3.90, P < 0.01). No correlation was observed between the broadness of the cross-reactivity anti-HVR1 antibodies and patient's age, infection time, serum alanine aminotransferase activity, or serum HCV-RNA concentration. It was the breath of cross-reactivity rather than the presence of anti-HVR1 antibody in HCV sera that was associated with the progression of liver disease.


CONCLUSIONS
The broadly cross-reactive HVR1 antibodies generated in natural HCV patients can not neutralize the virus, which results in persistent infection in patients with chronic hepatitis.
Xiu
Bing-Shui
BS
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China.
Feng
Xiao-Yan
XY
He
Jing
J
Wang
Guo-Hua
GH
Zhang
Xiang-Ying
XY
Zhang
He-Qiu
HQ
Song
Xiao-Guo
XG
Chen
Kun
K
Ling
Shi-Gan
SG
Zhu
Cui-Xia
CX
Wei
Lai
L
Rao
Hui-Ying
HY
D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
C400562:HVR1 protein, Hepatitis C virus; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D014764:Viral Proteins