Newkirk M M, Downe A E, Simon J B
Gastroenterology. 1975 Oct;69(4):982-7.
The fate of ingested hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) in two mosquito species and two Hemiptera species was compared with the rate of blood meal digestion by these insects. In both mosquito species HBsAg was detected by radioimmunoassay for only a few hours after ingestion, disappearing well before the time of blood meal digestion. Production of a protease by the mosquito midgut may have been responsible for destruction of the antigen. In contrast, in the bedbug HBsAg remained detectable throughout a 5-week testing period. Moreover, titers rose during the last week, when blood meal digestion was complete, suggesting possible replication of the antigen. At no time was antigen detected in eggs or feces of any species tested, but juvenile bedbugs fed HBsAg when in the fourth or fifth instar stage still contained antigen after molting. These studies suggest that bedbugs may potentially be a more dangerous source of hepatitis B transmission than mosquitoes.
将两种蚊子和两种半翅目昆虫摄取的乙肝抗原（HBsAg）的命运与这些昆虫的血餐消化率进行了比较。在两种蚊子中，摄取后仅通过放射免疫测定法在数小时内检测到HBsAg，在血餐消化之前就消失了。蚊子中肠产生的蛋白酶可能是抗原破坏的原因。相比之下，在臭虫中，在为期5周的测试期内始终可检测到HBsAg。此外，在血餐消化完成的最后一周，滴度上升，表明抗原可能复制。在任何测试物种的卵或粪便中均未检测到抗原，但在四龄或五龄阶段喂食HBsAg的幼年臭虫在蜕皮后仍含有抗原。这些研究表明，臭虫可能比蚊子更有可能成为乙肝传播的危险来源。
