ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is an acute febrile disease caused by Hantaan virus. It is believed that various kinds of inflammatory mediators and cytokines might be involved in its pathogenesis. METHODS: We studied the expression of adhesion molecules, including ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on Hantaan virus-infected human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with ELISA. RESULTS: Hantaan antigen increased gradually 48 hours after virus infection, ICAM-1 increased rapidly 3 hours after virus infection and VCAM-1 increased rapidly 4 hours after infection, a little later than ICAM-1. The patterns of the change of reaction were similar between the different concentrations of virus solution that had been adsorbed on HUVECs, but the expression of ICAM-1 or VCAM-1 was greater when HUVECs were infected with stock virus rather than when infected with tenfold diluted virus. CONCLUSION: We report the quantification using ELISA of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression of HUVECs that have been infected by Hantaan virus. Increase of their expression would play an important role in the pathogenesis of HFRS.