From the 1 Biotechnology Research Center , New Damietta City , Egypt.
Infect Dis (Lond). 2015 Aug;47(8):568-74. doi: 10.3109/23744235.2015.1042035. Epub 2015 Apr 29.
Perinatal exposure to hepatitis C virus (HCV) antigens during pregnancy may affect the developing immune system in the fetus. We aimed to study the perinatal transmission of HCV structural and non-structural antigens.
Sera from 402 pregnant mothers were tested for anti-HCV antibody and HCV RNA. HCV antigens were determined in sera from 101 HCV-infected mothers and their cord blood.
In both serum and cord blood samples, HCV NS4 (non-structural 4) at 27 kDa, E1 (envelope 1) at 38 kDa and E2 (envelope 2) at 40 kDa were identified, purified and quantified using western blotting, electroelution and ELISA. Maternal sera and neonate cord blood samples had similar detection rates for NS4 (94.1%), E1 (90.1%) and E2 (90.1%). The mean maternal serum levels (optical density, OD) of HCV NS4 (0.87 ± 0.01), E1 (0.86 ± 0.01) and E2 (0.85 ± 0.01) did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) from those of neonatal cord blood (0.83 ± 0.01, 0.87 ± 0.01 and 0.85 ± 0.01, respectively). Also, strong correlations (p < 0.0001) were shown between sera and cord blood sample levels of HCV NS4, r = 0.77; E1, r = 0.76 and E2, r = 0.80. The vertical transmission of these antigens in vaginal delivery did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) from those in caesarean section.
These findings indicate that vertical transmission of HCV NS4, E1 and E2 antigens was very high. Thus, exposure to these antigens may influence the developing immune responses to natural infection or future vaccination.
围产期暴露于丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）抗原可能会影响胎儿发育中的免疫系统。我们旨在研究 HCV 结构和非结构抗原的围产期传播。
检测 402 名孕妇的血清抗 HCV 抗体和 HCV RNA。检测 101 例 HCV 感染母亲及其脐血中的 HCV 抗原。
在血清和脐血样本中，使用 Western blot、电泳洗脱和 ELISA 鉴定和定量了 27 kDa 的 HCV NS4（非结构 4）、38 kDa 的 E1（包膜 1）和 40 kDa 的 E2（包膜 2）。母体血清和新生儿脐血样本对 NS4（94.1%）、E1（90.1%）和 E2（90.1%）的检出率相似。HCV NS4（0.87 ± 0.01）、E1（0.86 ± 0.01）和 E2（0.85 ± 0.01）的母体血清平均水平（光密度，OD）差异无统计学意义（p > 0.05）与新生儿脐血（分别为 0.83 ± 0.01、0.87 ± 0.01 和 0.85 ± 0.01）。此外，HCV NS4、E1 和 E2 血清与脐血样本水平之间呈强相关性（p < 0.0001），r = 0.77；E1，r = 0.76 和 E2，r = 0.80。阴道分娩与剖宫产的这些抗原的垂直传播差异无统计学意义（p > 0.05）。
这些发现表明 HCV NS4、E1 和 E2 抗原的垂直传播非常高。因此，暴露于这些抗原可能会影响对自然感染或未来疫苗接种的发育中的免疫反应。
