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Objective@#To investigate the genetic characteristics of Lamivudine-resistant mutation patterns and HBV S gene mutants in patients with chronic hepatitis disease of different disease progression.@*Methods@#Blood samples of LAM-resistant patients with chronic hepatitis disease were collected. HBV RT gene nucleotide sequences were obtained, and then differences in drug-resistant mutation patterns, drug susceptibility and HBV S gene mutants characteristics between the two groups were analyzed.@*Results@#Forty-seven chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and 16 HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC)/HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients were included in this study. M204I single point mutation and L180M+ M204I/V were the most common pattern during patients with chronic hepatitis disease (35/63, 55.56%). The numbers of resistant to three nucleos(t)ide analogues in LC/HCC group was higher than CHB group’s (62.50% vs 34.04%, P=0.046). In HBV S gene, more immune associated HBsAg-escape mutations were detected in LC/HCC group than that in CHB group (62.50% vs 31.91%, P=0.031). I126T/V and G145A (for LCC/HCC group, 60%), I126S/T and S117T (for CHB group, 46.67%) were showed as the most common form for HBsAg escape mutations in the two groups. The two groups both detected RT mutations concomitantly with stop codon mutations in S gene (rtA181T/sW172* and rtM204I/sW196*).@*Conclusions@#Different characteristics in Lamivudine-resistant mutations and associated HBV S gene mutants were found in patients with chronic hepatitis disease of different disease progression, and LC/HCC patients exhibit more multi-drug resistant variants and immune associated HBsAg-escape mutants than CHB patients.
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Objective To describe the clinical characteristics,CD4+ and CD8+ T cell counts as well as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA of acute HIV infection in men who have sex with men,and their correlations with the disease progression.Methods One hundred cases of acute HIV infection were followed up.Nuclear acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) was used for plasma HIV RNA screening.Flow cytometry was served to test the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell counts.Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-hepatits C virus (HCV) antibody were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Rapid plasma reagin was applied to screen for Treponema pallidum antibody.Antibody positive specimens were tested with Treponema pallidum particle assay for validation.The positive results were identified as infection.Results Ninety-six cases were aged between 20 and 50 years old.Among 100 cases,9 were HBsAg-positive; 4 were anti-HCV positive; 40 were co-infected with syphilis.During the follow-up period,the median CD4+ T cell counts in the 1st and 3rd month were 510/μL and 499/μL,respectively.The median HIV RNA in 1st,3rd,6th and 24th month were 4.37,4.00,4.31 and 4.43 lg copy/mL,respectively.CD8+ T cell counts did not show significant change during the study.Among 38 rapid progressors,the initial mean CD4+ T cell counts was (358.0± 134.6)/μL,which was significantly lower than that of the non-rapid progressors with a mean CD4+ T cell counts of (559.2±203.4)/μL.Meanwhile,the initial mean HIV RNA of the rapid progressors was 4.71 lg copy/ mL,while that of the non rapid progressor was 4.18 lg copy/mL.The initial CD8+ T cell counts of the rapid progressors and non rapid progressors were 1 250.1/μL and 1 247.2/μL,respectively.Conclusions Acute HIV-1 infected men who have sex with men tend to be young.The initial CD4+ T cell counts and HIV RNA during acute infection could be used to predict the disease progress.
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Objective To investigate the relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and cytokeratin 18 (CK18) phosphorylation.Methods Liver tissues were taken from 21 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients by liver biopsy and 14 healthy controls were collected.Immunofluorescence double staining and Western blotting were used to detect CK18 pSer33 and CK18 pSer52 phosphorylation.HepG2 cell line was transfected with either 1.3 mer HBV vector or empty control vector.CK18 pSer33 or CK18 pSer52 phosphorylation were tested using immunofluorescence double staining and Western blotting.Total mRNA was extracted from the cells.The expressions of cell division cycle 2 (cdc2) and protein kinase Cε (pKCε) were analyzed by realtime polymerase chain reaction relative quantification.Statistical analyzee were performed by using two-independent samples t test.Results Compared to healthy controls,phosphorylation of CK18 pSer33 in HBsAg stained hepatocytes was significantly higher in CHB patients (t=6.618,P=0.000).However,no difference was found in phosphorylation of pSer52 (t=2.429,P=0.051).Phosphorylation of CK18 pSer33 and expression of cdc2 mRNA in HBV transfected HepG2 were significantly higher in empty vector transfected HepG2 (t=5.365,P=0.006),while no difference was found in phosphorylation of pSer52 and expression of pKCε mRNA (t=1.098,P=0.334).Conclusion HBV infection is significantly associated with phosphorylation of CK18 pSer33.
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Objective To establish a mini-pool nucleic acid testing (NAT) assay using multiplex RT-nested PCR for the detection of HIV RNA, and apply it in screening for acute HIV infection among MSM. Methods Frozen EDTA plasma samples collected between Oct. 2008 and Mar. 2009 from 3 HIV infectors during window-period, a total of 30 HIV chronically infected individuals and 97 healthy subjects were used to develop the NAT assay. Plasma samples from 10 cases were pooled into one tube and centrifuged at high speed for the collection of viruses. HIV RNA was extracted. Two pairs of primers were designed according to two conserved regions of HIV RNA ( HXB2 nt 5783-nt 6228 and nt 1235-nt 2012).Multiplex RT-PCR and nested PCR were performed. Individual NAT-reactive samples were confirmed by commercially available NAT assays. The sensitivity and performance efficacy were also evaluated. The assay was then applied to 1 005 plasma specimens from MSM with negative or uncertain HIV antibody test results.These were collected in the same period as the other samples. Results ( 1 ) Two fragments of HIV were amplified successfully with the low detection limit of 162 copies/ml plasma; (2) Results of the mini-pool HIV NAT validation with samples from 3 HIV infectors during window-period were consistent with the expected values; (3) All 30 plasma samples from MSM with positive HIV antibody, which were tested by multiplex RT nested PCR, were found to be HIV RNA positive; (4) One out of 1 005 plasma samples was found to be HIV RNA positive, for this case acute infection was followed-up and sero-conversion was found. Conclusion Mini-pool NAT has good sensitivity, and may be applied to screening HIV RNA among MSM during window-period.
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Objective To reconstruct the initiative procedure of HIV-1 reverse transcription in vitro and establish a methodology of assessing activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) with real-time PCR Methods The tRNALys-3 gene was amplified from genome in healthy individuals through polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and then T7 transcription promoter was added in 5'-terminal of the tRNALys-3. The tRNA[Lys-3 cRNA product was obtained by applying T7 RNA polymerase through a transcription reaction. The 5'-LTR-PBS DNA was also obtained by transcription reaction from the HIV-1 infectious clone and inserted into pGEM-T easy vectors. 5'-LTR-PBS cRNA was obtained by applying SP6 RNA polymerase whose combining site was located in pGEM-T easy vectors. Then the two RNA samples was catalyzed by two kinds of standard reverse transcriptases (SuperScript Ⅲ and HIV-1 standard reverse transcriptase, respectively) and the cDNA was synthesised. The relative activity of RT was determined with the real-time PCR. Results The tRNALys-3 primer and the SP6-5'-LTR-PBS RNA were procured accurately, whose length were 93bp and 872 bp, respectively. After the following serial dilution of Super Script Ⅲ and HIV-1 standard reverse transeriptase:1 : 10, 1: 100, 1:1 000, 1:10 000, each step of reverse transcription process worked successfully. Real-time PCR results showed that Ct values of the two groups were 13.9, 18. 3, 20. 9, 24. 9 and 20. 4, 25. 5, 28. 7, 32. 5 respectively. Conclusion A novel real-time PCR method is developed to assay the RT activity directly through reconstructing the initiation of HIV reproduction, which may be helpful for clinical management, screening of new antiretroviral drugs, and drug resistance test.
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reproducible, and may cover the major circulating strains in China.