title: Antibodies to the Novel Human Pegivirus 2 Are Associated with Active and Resolved Infections.
abstract: A novel blood-borne human pegivirus (HPgV), HPgV-2, was recently identified in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected individuals and individuals who had received multiple transfusions. Robust serological assays capable of detecting antibodies in HPgV-2-infected individuals are needed to establish global seroprevalence rates and potential disease associations. The two objectives of this study were to determine the utility of mammalian cell-expressed HPgV-2 E2 glycoprotein or bacterium-expressed nonstructural protein 4AB (NS4AB) in detecting past or present infections and to compare the total prevalence (antibody and RNA positive) of HPgV-2 with that of the other human pegivirus, HPgV-1 (GB virus C [GBV-C]). HPgV-2 E2 antibodies were detected in 13 (92.86%) of 14 HPgV-2-viremic cases, and NS4AB antibodies were detected in 8 (57.14%) of 14 cases. The HPgV-2 seroprevalence was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) among HCV-infected individuals (3.31% [24 of 726 samples]) than among non-HCV-infected individuals (0.30% [4 of 1,348 samples]). Of 31 anti-E2-positive samples, 22 had supplemental supporting data; 12 samples were HPgV-2 RNA positive and 10 nonviremic samples were antibody positive for peptides or NS4AB. The total prevalence of HPgV-1 (35.00%) was significantly higher than that of HPgV-2 (1.33%) in all populations tested (P < 0.0001). For HPgV-1, codetection of antibodies to E2 and RNA was infrequent (5.88%). In contrast, antibodies to E2 were detected in most HPgV-2-viremic individuals (92.86%), as is observed among individuals chronically infected with HCV, most of whom are antibody positive for HCV E2. Our studies indicate that HPgV-2 circulates with HCV and displays a profile similar to the serological profile of HCV-infected persons, although the pathogenicity of this virus has yet to be established.
authors.affiliation: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA kelly.coller@abbott.com.
authors.forename: Kelly E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Coller
authors.affiliation: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frankel
authors.affiliation: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Kenn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Forberg
authors.affiliation: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Surani
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, San Francisco, California, USA Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Charles Y
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2915-2094
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hackett
authors.affiliation: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: George J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Dawson
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins