Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, CIBUS-Facultad de Biología, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
Viruses. 2019 Jul 5;11(7):618. doi: 10.3390/v11070618.
The hepatitis E virus (HEV) affects almost 20 million individuals annually, causing approximately 3.3 million acute liver injuries, 56,600 deaths, and huge healthcare-associated economic losses. Shellfish produced close to urban and livestock areas can bioaccumulate this virus and transmit it to the human population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of HEV in molluscan shellfish, in order to deepen the knowledge about HEV prevalence in Galicia (northwestern Spain), and to investigate this as a possible route of HEV transmission to humans. A total of 168 shellfish samples was obtained from two different Galician rías (Ría de Ares-Betanzos and Ría de Vigo). The samples were analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). RT-nested PCR and sequencing were used for further genotyping and phylogenetic analysis of positive samples. HEV was detected in 41 (24.4%) samples, at quantification levels ranging from non-quantifiable (<10 copies of the RNA genome (RNAc)/g tissue) to 1.1 × 10 RNAc/g tissue. Phylogenetic analysis based on the open reading frame (ORF)2 region showed that all sequenced isolates belonged to genotype 3, and were closely related to strains of sub-genotype e, which is of swine origin. The obtained results demonstrate a significant prevalence of HEV in bivalve molluscs from Galician rías, reinforcing the hypothesis that shellfish may be a potential route for HEV transmission to humans.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）每年影响近 2000 万人，导致约 330 万例急性肝损伤、5.66 万人死亡，并造成巨大的与医疗保健相关的经济损失。靠近城市和牲畜区生产的贝类可能会生物积累这种病毒，并将其传播给人类。本研究旨在评估贝类中 HEV 的存在，以加深对加利西亚（西班牙西北部）HEV 流行率的了解，并调查其作为人类感染 HEV 的可能途径。从两个不同的加利西亚 rias（Ares-Betanzos 里亚和 Vigo 里亚）共采集了 168 个贝类样本。采用逆转录定量 PCR（RT-qPCR）对样本进行分析。对阳性样本进行 RT-巢式 PCR 和测序，用于进一步的基因分型和系统进化分析。在 41 个（24.4%）样本中检测到 HEV，定量水平从无法定量（<10 个 RNA 基因组（RNAc）/g 组织）到 1.1×10 RNAc/g 组织。基于开放阅读框（ORF）2 区的系统进化分析显示，所有测序分离株均属于基因型 3，与猪源 sub-genotype e 的株系密切相关。研究结果表明，加利西亚 rias 的双壳贝类中存在显著的 HEV 流行率，这进一步证实了贝类可能是人类感染 HEV 的潜在途径。
