Studies on Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis Virus Related Nucleic Acids

我们已经报道了12个与非A基因相关的CDNA克隆。从从可能感染NANB肝炎病毒的供者血浆中随机扩增的lambda gtll-cDNA库中分离出一个克隆(克隆#14)，该克隆由114个核苷酸和38个氨基酸组成，对丙型肝炎感染具有高度的特异性。最近报道了丙型肝炎病毒的5‘末端序列。为了评价克隆表达产物的抗原性，我们用从核苷酸序列预测的合成肽进行了抗血清抗体(ARIMA 14Ab)的检测，并与Ortho的丙型肝炎病毒抗体(C-100Ab)的检测结果进行了比较。结果表明，ARIMA 14Ab对丙型肝炎病毒感染具有很高的特异性，但与C-100抗体的检测结果存在一定的差异。尤其在日本献血员和血友病患者中，ARIMA-14抗体比C-100抗体更敏感。更有趣的是。用聚合酶链式反应方法对ARIMA-14Ab阳性而C-100Ab阴性的高发慢性非淋巴病毒性肝炎(NANB)患者进行了丙型肝炎病毒基因组检测。结论：ARIMA-14Ab是一种丙型肝炎病毒核心抗体，对丙型肝炎病毒感染具有很高的特异性，对检测丙型肝炎病毒感染有重要意义。

We have already reported that twelve CDNA clones related to non-A. non-B(NANB)hepatitis infection were isolated from a random primed lambda gtll-cDNA library constructed from donors' plasma presumably infected by NANB hepatitis virus.Of these, one clone(clone #14)consisting of 114 nucleotides and 38 amino acids was determined to be highly specific for hepatitis C infection. Recently, 5'-terminal sequence of HCV was reported. And then it was proved that clone #14 had some homology to the structural(core)region of the virus.To evaluate the antigenie specificity of the expression product of the clone, we studied serum antibody against the product(Arima 14 Ab)by ELISA by using a systhetic peptide predicted from the nucleotide sequence and compared with the results of Ortho's HCV antibody(C-100 Ab)test.Our data suggest that Arima 14 Ab is highly specific for hepatitis C virus infection but there was some discrepancy in the results between C-100 Ab and Arima 14 Ab. Especially Arima 14 Ab was more sensitive than C-100 Ab in the cases of Japanese blood donors and hemophiliacs. More interestingly. HCV genome was detected in the cases of Arima 14 Ab positive but C-100 Ab negative patients with chronic NANB hepatitis with high incidence(more than 60 percent)by using polymerase chain reaction.In conclusion, Arima 14 Ab is a kind of HCV core antibody and it is highly specific for HCV and useful to detect HCV infection.