TY - JOUR
T1 - Conserved core protein sequences in hepatitis B virus infected patients without anti-HBc
AU - Melegari, Margherita
AU - Jung, Maria Christina
AU - Schneider, Ralf
AU - Santantonio, Teresa
AU - Bagnulo, Serenella
AU - Luchena, Nicoletta
AU - Pastore, Giuseppe
AU - Pape, Gerd
AU - Scaglioni, Pier Paolo
AU - Villa, Erica
AU - Will, Hans
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forscbungsgemeinschhaft, and AIRC (Associazione If& iana per la Ricerca sul Canno). We thank Dr. Mary Home for crit~ally reading of the manuscript.
PY - 1991/9
Y1 - 1991/9
N2 - The absence of detectable anti-HBc antibodies in some hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients may be due to altered core-protein (HBc) sequences. To investigate this possibility we sequenced the pre-C/C-region of HBV isolated from 12 juvenile cancer patients who incurred a nosocomial infection of HBV during chemotherapy but did not develop anti-HBc antibodies or acute cytolytic episodes. The sequences demonstrated the highest sequence homology to the pre-C/C region of a previously cloned HBV genome (subtype ayw) and no deletions or striking mutations were detected. Up to 7 years after infection almost all the survivors developed low titers of anti-HBc antibodies but no clinical signs of hepatic damage. These results suggest that chemotherapy may induce a tolerance status to HBcAg, the most immunogenic HBV protein.
AB - The absence of detectable anti-HBc antibodies in some hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients may be due to altered core-protein (HBc) sequences. To investigate this possibility we sequenced the pre-C/C-region of HBV isolated from 12 juvenile cancer patients who incurred a nosocomial infection of HBV during chemotherapy but did not develop anti-HBc antibodies or acute cytolytic episodes. The sequences demonstrated the highest sequence homology to the pre-C/C region of a previously cloned HBV genome (subtype ayw) and no deletions or striking mutations were detected. Up to 7 years after infection almost all the survivors developed low titers of anti-HBc antibodies but no clinical signs of hepatic damage. These results suggest that chemotherapy may induce a tolerance status to HBcAg, the most immunogenic HBV protein.
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U2 - 10.1016/0168-8278(91)90813-Q
DO - 10.1016/0168-8278(91)90813-Q
M3 - Article
C2 - 1744423
AN - SCOPUS:0025873717
SN - 0168-8278
VL - 13
SP - 187
EP - 191
JO - Journal of Hepatology
JF - Journal of Hepatology
IS - 2
ER -