INVESTIGADORES
MATHET Veronica Lidia
artículos
Título:
Dynamics of a hepatitis B virus e antigen minus population ascribed to genotype F during the course of a chronic infection despite the presence of anti-HBs antibodies.
Autor/es:
MATHET VL ,; LOPEZ JL,; RUIZ V,; SANCHEZ DO,; CARBALLAL G,; CAMPOS RH,; OUBINA JR.
Revista:
VIRUS RESEARCH
Editorial:
Elsevier Science
Referencias:
Lugar: Ámsterdam, Netherlands; Año: 2007 vol. 123 p. 72 - 85
ISSN:
0168-1702
Resumen:
The in vivo evolution of genotype F HBV variants was recorded in a chronically infected patient throughout a 3-year observation period.Fluctuating levels of HBs Ag and anti-HBs antibodies were recorded, both of them cocirculating in peripheral blood samples at given times. Fifty S gene derived clones were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. As expected, some amino acid replacements within the S ORF were also observed within the P ORF while others were silent for the former. Such change was statistically significant for both S and P overlapping genes, which clearly indicates the appearance of a positive selection pressure. Supporting this notion, amino acid replacements were documented at both B and T cell epitopes in samples from 1997 and 1998. Several mutations were documented within and outside the a determinant in the major hydrophilic region. Such substitutions might have resulted from the attempt of HBV to evade both humoral and/or cellular immune response. To the best of our knowledge this unusual profile of HBV variants in presence of usually neutralizing anti-HBs antibodies was examined in vivo for the first time.