Ahn Jeong-Min, Kang Sang-Gyun, Lee Deog-Yong, Shin Sung Jae, Yoo Han Sang
Department of Infectious Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Shinlim-dong, Kwanak-Gu, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
J Clin Microbiol. 2005 Jul;43(7):3042-8. doi: 10.1128/JCM.43.7.3042-3048.2005.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) was originally identified as the causative agent of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis. Recently, HEV isolates were subsequently identified in humans and swine in many countries, including Korea. Also, public concerns regarding HEV as a potential zoonotic agent have been increasing. Therefore, we attempted to identify HEV from Korean sera and compare the nucleotide sequences with those of previously identified HEV isolates from other countries. In our study, viral RNA was purified from 568 human sera collected from different regions of Korea. Nested PCR and reverse transcriptase PCR were developed based on the nucleotide sequences of open reading frame 2 (ORF 2) of U.S. and Japanese HEV isolates from humans and Korean HEV isolates from swine. After amplification of the HEV ORF 2 gene from 14 serum samples that were collected mainly from rural areas (2.64% prevalence of HEV viremia), the gene was cloned and sequenced. The isolates were classified into seven different strains, all of which belonged to genotype III. The human isolates we identified were closely related to three Korean swine isolates, with 99.2 to 92.9% nucleotide sequence homology. Our isolates were also related to the Japanese and U.S. HEV isolates, with 99.6 to 97.9% amino acid sequence homology. Human sera were collected from 361 individuals from community health centers and medical colleges. With respect to seroprevalence, 11.9% of the Korean population had anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG). In individuals ranging in age from 40 to over 60 years, the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG was demonstrated by a seroprevalence of almost 15%, especially among populations in rural areas. This is the first report on the identification of human HEV in Korea. Overall, this study demonstrates that subclinical HEV infections may prevail in human populations in Korea and that there is a strong possibility that HEV is a zoonotic agent.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）最初被确定为经肠道传播的非甲非乙型肝炎的病原体。最近，包括韩国在内的许多国家在人类和猪中相继发现了HEV毒株。此外，公众对HEV作为一种潜在人畜共患病原体的担忧也日益增加。因此，我们试图从韩国血清中鉴定HEV，并将其核苷酸序列与先前从其他国家鉴定出的HEV毒株的序列进行比较。在我们的研究中，从韩国不同地区收集的568份人类血清中纯化出病毒RNA。基于来自美国和日本人类HEV毒株以及韩国猪HEV毒株的开放阅读框2（ORF 2）的核苷酸序列，开发了巢式PCR和逆转录PCR。从主要采集自农村地区的14份血清样本（HEV病毒血症患病率为2.64%）中扩增出HEV ORF 2基因后，将该基因克隆并测序。这些分离株被分为七个不同的毒株，均属于基因型III。我们鉴定出的人类分离株与三个韩国猪分离株密切相关，核苷酸序列同源性为99.2%至92.9%。我们的分离株也与日本和美国的HEV分离株相关，氨基酸序列同源性为99.6%至97.9%。从社区卫生中心和医学院的361名个体中采集了人类血清。就血清阳性率而言，11.9%的韩国人群具有抗HEV免疫球蛋白G（IgG）。在年龄在40岁至60岁以上的个体中，抗HEV IgG的血清阳性率几乎为15%显现出来，尤其是在农村地区人群中。这是韩国关于人类HEV鉴定的首次报告。总体而言，这项研究表明亚临床HEV感染可能在韩国人群中普遍存在，并且HEV很有可能是人畜共患病原体。
