ABSTRACT
HBV infection is a major health problem in Southeast Asia. Thailand is considered to be an endemic area of HBV infection(18). Prevalence of HBsAg carriers is 5.2 per cent in children, 9 per cent in adults and 5.6 per cent in pregnant women(19,20). We believe that the monoclonal antibody described in the present report will be useful to develop HBsAg-KIT for national serologic screening assay, as considered in terms of sensitivity, specificity and cost effectiveness.
Subject(s)
Animals , Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Hepatitis B/diagnosis , Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/immunology , Humans , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Microscopy, Electron , Sensitivity and Specificity , Serologic TestsABSTRACT
The antiviral effects of interferon (IFN) on varicella zoster virus (VZV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) in vitro were examined. The values for the 50% inhibitory dose (ID50) of IFN-alpha, beta and gamma determined by plaque reduction assay, were 0.813, 0.650 and 13.750 IU/ml, respectively, against VZV and 18.00, 10.38 and 115.0 IU/ml, respectively, against HSV. Thus IFN-alpha and beta were more effective than IFN-gamma against both VZV and HSV and VZV was more sensitive than HSV to the IFNs. Five mutants of VZV which were resistant to acyclovir (ACV), phosphonoacetic acid (PAA) or bromodeoxyuridine (BUDR) were also sensitive to IFN beta, their average ID50 being 1.31 IU/ml. Analysis of virus-specific proteins by the immunofluorescent technique with various antisera showed that IFN had a significant effect before early protein synthesis.