Variations of influenza A (H1N1) viruses in Shanghai area in the winter of 2010 / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To understand the genetic and antigenic variations of influenza A (H1N1) isolates in Shanghai area in winter of 2010.Methods A total of 137 throat swabs were collected from patients with influenza-like illness in the sentinel hospital in Shanghai area from December 2010 to January 2011,then inoculated into Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells.The types of influenza were identified by direct immunofluorescence assay (DIF) and influenza A (H1N1) subtype was determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).The mutations of gene and amino acid locus were analyzed through the whole genome sequencing of hemagglutinin (HA),neuraminidase (NA) and polymerase (PB2) segments from some influenza A (H1N1) isolates.Results Total of 53 human influenza virus strains were isolated including 48 influenza A (H1N1) virus strains.Nineteen strains were selected for sequencing by simple random sampling.The phylogenetic tree of HA gene revealed that the latest isolates and most of influenza A (H1N1) viruses isolated before June 2010 were not in the same stem.Analysis of amino acid residues in HA protein showed that mutations were found in antigenic determinant region in some strains.Residues at the enzyme active sites of NA protein were strictly conservative,no change was observed in amino acid residues which were related to drug resistance against oseltamivir and zanamivir.The 627 and 701 residues in PB2 protein were glutamic acid and aspartic acid,respectively,which was still the feature of avian influenza virus,but E677G mutation was detected.Conclusion Compared to influenza A (H1N1) strains isolated in spring and summer,some variations have been detected in the strains isolated in Shanghai area in winter of 2010,some antigen drift and adaptive evolution in mammalian hosts have appeared.