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Serological and molecular studies on subclinical hepatitis E virus infection using periodic serum samples obtained from healthy individuals
Author(s) -
Mitsui Takehiro,
Tsukamoto Yukie,
Suzuki Shigeru,
Yamazaki Chikao,
Masuko Kazuo,
Tsuda Fumio,
Takahashi Masaharu,
TsatsraltOd Bira,
Nishizawa Tsutomu,
Okamoto Hiroaki
Publication year - 2005
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.20393
Subject(s) - virology , subclinical infection , serology , virus , hepatitis e virus , hepatitis , medicine , hepatitis a virus , immunology , antibody , biology , gene , genetics , genotype
Subclinical hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among healthy individuals was studied serologically and molecularly. Serum samples collected at screening between March and April 2004 (or just before retirement) from 266 medical staff members (35 males, 231 females) who had been working for 8.8 ± 8.5 (mean ± standard deviation, range, 0.3–35.1) years in a city hospital in Japan and serum samples that had been collected from these staff members at the start of employment were tested for IgA, IgM, and IgG antibodies to HEV (anti‐HEV) by in‐house enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. Overall, six subjects (2.3%) tested positive for anti‐HEV IgG at the screening; among them, four subjects (1.5%) had already been positive for anti‐HEV IgG at the start of employment and two subjects (0.8%) seroconverted after initiation of employment. Periodic serum samples that had been collected from the two seroconverted subjects were tested for HEV antibodies and HEV RNA. The two subjects became positive for anti‐HEV IgG in 1978 or 2003, respectively, with no discernible elevation in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level, and continued to be seropositive up through the screening date. Although anti‐HEV IgM was not detectable in the two subjects, one was infected transiently with Japan‐indigenous HEV strain of genotype 3 and the other was positive transiently for anti‐HEV IgA. The present study indicates that even an individual with subclinical HEV infection had evidence of transient viremia in the absence of ALT elevation and that anti‐HEV IgA detection may be useful for serological diagnosis of recent subclinical HEV infection. J. Med. Virol. 76:526–533, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.