Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80215, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Arch Virol. 2013 Jan;158(1):97-101. doi: 10.1007/s00705-012-1469-6. Epub 2012 Sep 15.
Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV) is an emerging flavivirus that was discovered in 1994-1995 in Saudi Arabia. Clinical manifestations of AHFV infection include hemorrhagic fever, hepatitis, and encephalitis, with a reported mortality rate as high as 25 %. Biological characteristics of this virus have not been well defined. Agglutination of erythrocytes (hemagglutination) is a laboratory tool for studying the attachment of viruses to cellular receptors. The envelope protein contains sites for attachment to host receptors to initiate the process of infection and is thus an essential component of the virion. In the present study, we examined the ability of AHFV to agglutinate erythrocytes of 13 mammalian and avian species (human group O+, camel, cow, sheep, goat, rabbit, guinea pig, mouse, rat, chicken, duck, goose and turkey) with and without trypsin-treatment. Without trypsin treatment, AHFV failed to agglutinate erythrocytes of all examined species. Following trypsin treatment, AHFV agglutinated erythrocytes of five species, namely, goose, human group O+, rat, guinea pig, and mouse, in descending order of sensitivity. This trypsin-dependent hemagglutination test has potential for use in serological and functional studies of AHFV.
阿尔及利亚出血热病毒（Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus，AHFV）是一种新兴的黄病毒，于 1994-1995 年在沙特阿拉伯发现。AHFV 感染的临床表现包括出血热、肝炎和脑炎，报告的死亡率高达 25%。该病毒的生物学特性尚未得到很好的定义。红细胞凝集（血凝）是研究病毒与细胞受体结合的实验室工具。包膜蛋白包含与宿主受体结合的部位，以启动感染过程，因此是病毒粒子的重要组成部分。在本研究中，我们研究了 AHFV 在有无胰蛋白酶处理的情况下凝集 13 种哺乳动物和禽类（人 O+组、骆驼、牛、绵羊、山羊、兔、豚鼠、鼠、鼠、鸡、鸭、鹅和火鸡）红细胞的能力。未经胰蛋白酶处理，AHFV 未能凝集所有检查物种的红细胞。胰蛋白酶处理后，AHFV 以敏感性递减的顺序凝集鹅、人 O+组、鼠、豚鼠和鼠的红细胞。这种依赖胰蛋白酶的血凝试验具有用于 AHFV 的血清学和功能研究的潜力。
