Laboratory of Immunology, Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, LT-47181 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, LT-47181 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Viruses. 2021 Apr 13;13(4):670. doi: 10.3390/v13040670.
Seroprevalence rates and molecular characterization of hepatitis E virus (HEV) prevalent in the Lithuanian human population has not yet been evaluated. Immunosuppressed individuals have been recognized as a risk group for chronic hepatitis due to HEV genotype 3 (HEV-3) infections. The objectives of the present study were to determine prevalence rates of anti-HEV antibodies among inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients, to isolate and characterize HEV strain present in the Lithuanian human population, and to investigate its capacity to infect non-human primate (MARC-145 and Vero), swine (PK-15) and murine (Neuro-2a) cells in vitro. In the present study, the significant difference of anti-HEV IgG prevalence between healthy (3.0% (95% CI 0-6.3)) and immunosuppressed individuals (12.0% [95% CI 8.1-15.9]) was described. Moreover, our findings showed that anti-HEV IgG seropositivity can be significantly predicted by increasing age (OR = 1.032, < 0.01), diagnosis of IBD (OR = 4.541, < 0.01) and reception of SOT (OR = 4.042, <0.05). Locally isolated HEV strain clustered within genotype 3i subtype of genotype 3 and was capable of infecting MARC-145 cells. This study demonstrates higher HEV seroprevalence in the risk group compared to healthy control individuals without confidence interval overlap. The high level of genetic homology between human and animal strains in Lithuania and the capacity of locally isolated strains to infect cells of non-human origin suggests its potential for zoonotic transmission.
在立陶宛人群中，尚未评估血清阳性率和流行的戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）的分子特征。免疫抑制个体已被认为是由于 HEV 基因型 3（HEV-3）感染而导致慢性肝炎的风险群体。本研究的目的是确定炎症性肠病（IBD）患者和实体器官移植（SOT）受者中抗-HEV 抗体的流行率，分离并鉴定存在于立陶宛人群中的 HEV 株，并研究其感染非人类灵长类动物（MARC-145 和 Vero）、猪（PK-15）和鼠（Neuro-2a）细胞的能力。在本研究中，描述了健康人群（3.0%（95%CI 0-6.3））和免疫抑制个体（12.0%[95%CI 8.1-15.9]）之间抗-HEV IgG 流行率的显著差异。此外，我们的研究结果表明，抗-HEV IgG 血清阳性率可以通过年龄增加（OR=1.032，<0.01）、IBD 诊断（OR=4.541，<0.01）和 SOT 接受（OR=4.042，<0.05）来显著预测。本地分离的 HEV 株聚集在基因型 3 的 3i 亚型内，并且能够感染 MARC-145 细胞。本研究表明，与健康对照组相比，风险组中的 HEV 血清阳性率更高，置信区间没有重叠。立陶宛人与人畜株之间的遗传同源性较高，以及本地分离株感染非人类来源细胞的能力表明其具有潜在的人畜共患病传播能力。
