Coberley S S, Herbst L H, Brown D R, Ehrhart L M, Bagley D A, Schaf S A, Moretti R H, Jacobson E R, Klein P A
Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA.
J Clin Microbiol. 2001 Oct;39(10):3572-7. doi: 10.1128/JCM.39.10.3572-3577.2001.
Lung-eye-trachea disease-associated herpesvirus (LETV) is linked with morbidity and mortality in mariculture-reared green turtles, but its prevalence among and impact on wild marine turtle populations is unknown. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for detection of anti-LETV antibodies and could distinguish LETV-exposed green turtles from those with antibodies to fibropapillomatosis-associated herpesvirus (FPHV). Plasma from two captive-reared green turtles immunized with inactivated LETV served as positive controls. Plasma from 42 healthy captive-reared green turtles and plasma from 30 captive-reared green turtles with experimentally induced fibropapillomatosis (FP) and anti-FPHV antibodies had low ELISA values on LETV antigen. A survey of 19 wild green turtles with and 27 without FP (with and without anti-FPHV antibodies, respectively) identified individuals with antibodies to LETV regardless of their FP status. The seroprevalence of LETV infection was 13%. The presence of antibodies to LETV in plasma samples was confirmed by Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. These results are the first to suggest that wild Florida green turtles are exposed to LETV or to an antigenically closely related herpesvirus(es) other than FPHV and that FPHV and LETV infections are most likely independent events. This is the first ELISA developed to detect antibodies for a specific herpesvirus infection of marine turtles. The specificity of this ELISA for LETV (ability to distinguish LETV from FPHV) makes it valuable for detecting exposure to this specific herpesvirus and enhances our ability to conduct seroepidemiological studies of these disease-associated agents in marine turtles.
肺-眼-气管疾病相关疱疹病毒（LETV）与养殖绿海龟的发病和死亡有关，但其在野生海龟种群中的流行情况及其影响尚不清楚。开发了一种酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）来检测抗LETV抗体，并能区分接触过LETV的绿海龟和携带纤维乳头瘤病相关疱疹病毒（FPHV）抗体的绿海龟。两只用灭活LETV免疫的圈养绿海龟的血浆用作阳性对照。42只健康圈养绿海龟的血浆以及30只患有实验性诱导纤维乳头瘤病（FP）并带有抗FPHV抗体的圈养绿海龟的血浆在LETV抗原上的ELISA值较低。对19只患有FP和27只未患有FP的野生绿海龟（分别带有和不带有抗FPHV抗体）进行的一项调查发现，无论其FP状态如何，都有携带LETV抗体的个体。LETV感染的血清阳性率为13%。通过蛋白质印迹和免疫组织化学分析证实了血浆样本中存在抗LETV抗体。这些结果首次表明，佛罗里达野生绿海龟接触过LETV或除FPHV之外的抗原性密切相关的疱疹病毒，并且FPHV和LETV感染很可能是独立事件。这是首个开发用于检测海龟特定疱疹病毒感染抗体的ELISA。该ELISA对LETV的特异性（区分LETV和FPHV的能力）使其在检测对这种特定疱疹病毒的接触方面具有价值，并增强了我们对海龟中这些疾病相关病原体进行血清流行病学研究的能力。
