Borna Disease Virus Antibody and RNA from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Race Horses and Jockeys in Korea

OBJECTIVE: During the last two decades, Borna disease virus (BDV) has received much attention as a possible zoonotic agent, particularly as a cause of psychiatric disease. Although several studies have shown that BDV is present in Asia, BDV has not been detected in Korea. This study was designed to further investigate the presence of BDV infection in Korea. METHODS: Blood samples were taken from 39 race horses and 48 jockeys. Antibody to BDV was detected by indirect immunofluorescence antibody test and RNA of BDV by real time reverse transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR). RESULTS: No evidence of BDV was detected in either the horses or the jockeys group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BDV infection may not be endemic in Korea. Further studies with novel diagnostic tools are required to clarify the prevalence of BDV infection in Korea.

Failure to Detect Borna Disease Virus Antibody and RNA from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Psychiatric Patients

OBJECTIVE: Borna disease virus (BDV) is a highly neurotropic agent causing various neuropsychiatric symptoms in animals. Over the past two decades, it has been suggested that BDV might be associated with human psychiatric diseases. We aimed to investigate whether BDV is associated with psychiatric patients in Korea. METHODS: We recruited 60 normal controls and 198 psychiatric patients (98 patients with depressive disorder, 60 with schizophrenia, and 40 with bipolar disorder). We used an indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test for the BDV antibody and a real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay for p24 and p40 RNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). RESULTS: Neither the BDV antibody nor p24, p40 RNA was detected in controls and patients groups. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BDV might not be associated with psychiatric patients in Korea.

Failure to Detect Borna Disease Virus Antibody and RNA from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Psychiatric Patients

OBJECTIVE: Borna disease virus (BDV) is a highly neurotropic agent causing various neuropsychiatric symptoms in animals. Over the past two decades, it has been suggested that BDV might be associated with human psychiatric diseases. We aimed to investigate whether BDV is associated with psychiatric patients in Korea. METHODS: We recruited 60 normal controls and 198 psychiatric patients (98 patients with depressive disorder, 60 with schizophrenia, and 40 with bipolar disorder). We used an indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test for the BDV antibody and a real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay for p24 and p40 RNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). RESULTS: Neither the BDV antibody nor p24, p40 RNA was detected in controls and patients groups. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BDV might not be associated with psychiatric patients in Korea.

Degradation of the Retinoblastoma Tumor Suppressor Protein by the Human Papillomavirus-16 E7 Variants

Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) plays an etiological role in benign and malignant epithelial tumors. A critical event in HPV transformation of human cells is the inactivation of retinoblastoma protein (pRB) by the E7 protein. The metabolic half-life of pRB is decreased in cells that express high-risk HPV E7 proteins. The present study investigated the frequency of HPV-16 E7 variants in Korean women and compared the pRB degradation activity of E7 variant proteins. Of the 40 HPV-positive specimens from a total of 91 tissue specimens, 21 HPV-16 positive specimens were studied by sequencing analysis to determine the variation of E7 gene. The most frequent E7 variant was N29S (57%). The HPV-16 E7 variant was more prevalent in invasive cervical cancer tissue specimens than in those from low grade clinical stage. The degradation of pRB in HaCaT cells by HPV-16 E7 variant proteins was investigated by western blot analysis. There was no significant difference in pRB degradation activity between the HPV-16 E7 prototype protein and E7 variant proteins. The pRB degradation activity did not differ among HPV-16 E7 variants. These results suggest that the E7-induced degradation of pRB is important in cervical tumorigenesis; however, there was no relation between the pRB degradation activity and the variations in HPV-16 E7 protein among Korean women.

Genomic Analysis of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 in Cervical Cancer

To study the correlation of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection with clinical stage in cervical abnormalities, 17 cases of normal cervical tissue and 69 cases of abnormal cervical tissue (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cervical cancer) was examined by PCR with HPV-specific consensus primers. One case (5.9%) of normal cervical tissue and 42 cases (60.9%) of abnormal cervical tissues harbored HPV. To investigate the integration of HPV genome in 24 cases of HPV 16 positive cervical cancer, E2 gene of HPV 16 was amplified. Integration of HPV 16 was found in 7 cases (29.2%) with E2 disruption. All samples with E2 disruption were from invasive cervical cancer. A multiplex PCR for the mapping of integrated HPV 16 genome with an anchor primer and indicator primers showed that 11 cases (45.8%) were disrupted somewhere in HPV genome but E6, E7, and LCR regions were conserved in all cases. Seven types of integrated HPV genome from long- (7,062 bp) to short-conserved type (3,204 bp) with various deletions were detected by the multiplex PCR. These results show that integration can be detected more accurately by multiplex PCR than by E2 PCR, and E2 disruption is not a critical event of integration