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Virus‐like particles in the liver of a patient with fulminant hepatitis and antibody to hepatitis E virus
Author(s) -
Shavrina Asher Ludmila V.,
Innis Bruce L.,
Shrestha Mrigendra P.,
Ticehurst John,
Baze Wallace B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.1890310310
Subject(s) - virology , fulminant hepatitis , hepatitis a virus , virus , hepatitis virus , antibody , hepatitis a , fulminant , medicine , hepatitis e virus , hepatitis , hepatitis c virus , hepatitis b virus , biology , immunology , genotype , gene , biochemistry
In earlier studies, hepatitis E virus (HEV) particles were detected in the stools of patients with enterically transmitted non‐A, non‐B (ENANB) hepatitis, and HEV was etiologically associated with this disease. Such particles have not been observed in the liver, however. We describe the pathological findings in the liver of a young pregnant woman from Nepal who died as a result of fulminant NANB hepatitis. IgM antibody to HEV was detected in the patient's serum by immune electron microscopy, suggesting that she was acutely infected with that virus. On light microscopic examination of the liver we observed cholestatic hepatitis with proliferation of bile ductules and pseudoglandular arrangement of hepatocytes around distended bile canaliculi. Three types of virus‐like particles were detected by electron microscopy. The most frequently observed particles were in cells lining small bile ductules; they measured 32–37 nm and were enclosed by a membrane. Particles of a second type were seen in clusters in the sinusoidal cells; they were uniform in size, without a membrane, and measured about 32 nm in diameter. Particles of a third type (65 nm) were found in epithelial cells of the small bile ductules. Among the particles we detected, the 32 nm particles most closely resembled those of HEV.