Smedile A, Rizzetto M, Denniston K, Bonino F, Wells F, Verme G, Consolo F, Hoyer B, Purcell R H, Gerin J L
Hepatology. 1986 Nov-Dec;6(6):1297-302. doi: 10.1002/hep.1840060612.
Hepatitis D virus is a defective human pathogen that requires hepatitis B virus for its replication. A hybridization-based assay for the 1.75 kb RNA genome of hepatitis D virus was developed using as probe a radiolabeled transcript of a cloned cDNA fragment (pKD3 hepatitis D virus DNA). Sera from 120 chronic carriers of HBsAg with confirmed hepatitis D virus infection were analyzed for the presence of hepatitis D virus RNA. Serum hepatitis D virus RNA was detected in 43 of 74 (58%) patients with chronic liver disease; some patients were positive for hepatitis D virus RNA in multiple samples over a period of several years. Serum hepatitis D virus RNA was present in 17 of 28 (61%) patients during the acute phase of clinical hepatitis and was not detected after recovery from acute disease or in 18 asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers with antibody to hepatitis D virus. The presence of hepatitis D virus RNA correlated with other known markers of active hepatitis D virus replication; all chronic active liver disease patients with serum hepatitis D virus RNA were positive for antihepatitis D antigen IgM, and 34 of 37 (92%) had hepatitis D antigen in their liver biopsy specimens. The assay for hepatitis D virus RNA provides a direct and noninvasive method for the detection of hepatitis D virus in serum and will be useful in the study of the natural history of type D hepatitis, the identification of chronic hepatitis D virus carriers likely to transmit hepatitis D virus and the selection and monitoring of patients for potential antiviral therapy.
丁型肝炎病毒是一种有缺陷的人类病原体，其复制需要乙型肝炎病毒。利用克隆的cDNA片段（pKD3丁型肝炎病毒DNA）的放射性标记转录本作为探针，开发了一种基于杂交的检测丁型肝炎病毒1.75 kb RNA基因组的方法。对120例确诊为丁型肝炎病毒感染的HBsAg慢性携带者的血清进行分析，以检测丁型肝炎病毒RNA的存在。在74例慢性肝病患者中，有43例（58%）检测到血清丁型肝炎病毒RNA；一些患者在数年的时间里多个样本中的丁型肝炎病毒RNA呈阳性。在临床肝炎急性期，28例患者中有17例（61%）血清中存在丁型肝炎病毒RNA，急性病恢复后未检测到，18例无症状慢性HBsAg携带者且有丁型肝炎病毒抗体者也未检测到。丁型肝炎病毒RNA的存在与其他已知的丁型肝炎病毒活跃复制标志物相关；所有血清丁型肝炎病毒RNA阳性的慢性活动性肝病患者抗丁型肝炎抗原IgM均为阳性，37例患者中有34例（92%）肝活检标本中有丁型肝炎抗原。丁型肝炎病毒RNA检测方法为血清中丁型肝炎病毒的检测提供了一种直接且非侵入性的方法，将有助于研究丁型肝炎的自然史、识别可能传播丁型肝炎病毒的慢性丁型肝炎病毒携带者以及选择和监测可能接受抗病毒治疗的患者。
