ABSTRACT
Two strains of leukocyte hepatitis virus (LHV) which had undergone 13 and 16 passages, respectively, in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated cultures of leukocytes from normal donors were studied in experiments with labelled precursors (3H-uridine and 14C-amino acids). The buoyant density of the virus (1,26 g/ml) and sedimentation constant of RNA (46 S) were determined. LHV was shown to be capable of reproduction in human kidney cell culture. The immunofluorescence test could be used with labeled convalescent sera for examinations of blood smears from patients for diagnosis of hepatitis A in foci of infection. In these tests, fluorescence was detected in the cytoplasm of lymphocytes and granulocytes but not in the nucleus. The immunofluorescence test with convalescent sera was successfully used for the examinations of smears of cultures of PHA-stimulated leukocytes of normal donors infected with LHV in order to prove the specificity of this virus in hepatitis A.
Subject(s)
Hepatitis A/microbiology , Hepatovirus/isolation & purification , Leukocytes/microbiology , Alanine Transaminase/blood , Blood Donors , Clinical Enzyme Tests , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Hepatitis A/diagnosis , Hepatovirus/analysis , Humans , In Vitro Techniques , Kidney , RNA, Viral/analysis , Virion/analysis , Virus Cultivation , Virus ReplicationABSTRACT
As the result of primary re-immunization with small-pox vaccine of eight years' old children chromosome aberrations were observed in their peripheral blood lymphocytes, the frequencies being 5.3% and 7.9% on the seventh day and in a month after the reimmunization respectively. Chromosome aberrations were significantly more rare in children with a high level of immunity retained after the preceding immunization as compared to those whose immunity was weakened with time. After the elapse of 6 months following the re-immunization the frequency of chromosome aberrationd did not exceed the initial level. The changes observed in the chromosome apparatus of lymphocytes are not specific for the small-pox vaccine alone, but are the evidence of the disturbance of homeostasis of the microorganism as the result of the effect of an alien antigen.
