SEARCH FOR NEW HEPATITIS AGENTS

在中，巨细胞性肝炎的一种可能的副粘病毒病原学是 建议，基于在肝脏中看到的电子显微变化 患有这种疾病的病人。合作研究，包括尝试 将疾病传播给灵长类动物的研究正在进行中。 意大利撒丁岛的地中海贫血患者每月接受血液治疗 输血作为治疗手段。这些患者中的许多人已经发展成慢性 肝炎。大多数病例可以确定为乙肝或肝炎。 C，但有些病毒缺乏这两种病毒的标志。这些病人 正在研究以前未被发现的肝炎的证据 病毒。同样，来自急性或慢性疾病患者的临床样本 美国非甲型、乙型、丙型、丁型、戊型肝炎将进行研究 传播剂的生物学、血清学或分子证据。 暴发型非甲、非乙型肝炎患者一般没有 感染任何公认的肝炎病毒的证据。仅仅是关于 10%可以被确认为患有暴发型丙型肝炎，其余90% 仍然是一个诊断之谜，可能感染了一个或多个 以前未被识别的病毒。在合作研究中，我们 试图将疾病传播给灵长类动物。 另一种水媒肝炎病毒存在的证据 来自肠道传播非甲病毒的血清流行病学研究， 印度的非乙型肝炎。从16年50%-100%的肝炎病例 水媒肝炎流行是由HEV引起的，但1例水媒肝炎 疫情不是由甲型和戊型肝炎病毒引起的。一种肝炎病毒是 几年前被报道可从非甲非乙型肝炎传播 对猴子的忍耐。这名特工被称为GB特工，可能是 在绒猴中连续传播，并具有部分特征。 然而，血清学测试不能被开发，而真正的起源 这种病毒从未得到令人满意的确定。以前对这方面的研究 使用GB代理的实验室正在重新激活，并在合作中 随着研究的深入，人们正在尝试克隆病毒基因组。 该项目的目标是确定和描述新的 肝炎的病原体和开发有用的诊断方法 感染和血清流行病学研究。更长期的目标是 对这些疾病的被动和主动免疫预防的研究进展 重要的人类病原体。

In 1989 a possible paramyxovirus etiology for giant cell hepatitis was proposed, based on electron micrographic changes seen in the livers of patients with this disease. Collaborative studies, including attempts to transmit the disease to primates, are in progress. Patients with thalassemia in Sardinia, Italy, receive monthly blood transfusions as therapy. Many of these patients have developed chronic hepatitis. Most cases could be identified as hepatitis B or hepatitis C, but some lacked markers of either of these viruses. These patients are being studied for evidence of previously unrecognized hepatitis viruses. Similarly, clinical samples from patients with acute or chronic non-A,B,C,D,E hepatitis in the United States are to be studied for biological, serological or molecular evidence of transmissible agents. Patients with fulminant non-A, non-B hepatitis generally do not have evidence of infection with any recognized hepatitis virus. Only about 10% can be identified as having fulminant hepatitis C. The remaining 90% remain a diagnostic enigma and may be infected with one or more previously unrecognized viruses. In collaborative studies, we are attempting to transmit the disease to primates. Evidence for the existence of an additional water-borne hepatitis virus has come from seroepidemiologic studies of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis in India. From 50-100% of hepatitis cases in 16 epidemics of water-borne hepatitis were caused by HEV but 1 water-borne epidemic was caused by neither HAV nor HEV. A hepatitis virus was reported some years ago to be transmissible from a non-A, non-B hepatitis patient to marmoset monkeys. The agent, called the GB agent, could be serially transmitted in marmosets and was partially characterized. However, serologic tests could not be developed and the true origin of the virus was never satisfactorily determined. Previous studies in this laboratory with the GB agent are being reactivated and, in collaborative studies, cloning of the viral genome is being attempted. The objectives of this project are to identify and characterize new etiologic agents of hepatitis and to develop useful assays for diagnosis of infection and seroepidemiologic studies. A longer term objective is the development of passive and active immunoprophylaxis for these important human pathogens.