Longitudinal analysis of hepatitis C virus infection and genetic drift of the hypervariable region.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in a cohort of chimpanzees were studied retrospectively. All animals had been inoculated intravenously with materials derived from a single-source chimpanzee plasma implicated in non-A, non-B hepatitis, prepared by extensive ultracentrifugation. Anti-HCV and HCV RNA were monitored by the confirmatory line immunoassay and by an RNA-capture polymerase chain reaction method, respectively.

Oral famciclovir against duck hepatitis B virus replication in hepatic and nonhepatic tissues of ducklings infected in ovo.

Detection of hepadnaviral DNA in extrahepatic tissues of human and animal models of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has raised the question of whether virus replication in organs other than the liver could be targeted for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Since duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) replication is dynamic in the liver, kidney, pancreas, and spleen of newly hatched ducklings infected in ovo, we used the duck model and the new antiherpesvirus agent, famciclovir (FCV), to determine whether antiviral effect of nucleoside analogues on DHBV replication is pluripotential. Day-old ducklings hatched from eggs laid by a DHBV-carrier duck were bled and administered FCV (25 mg/kg/bd) orally for periods of 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 days.

Chemical disinfection of duck hepatitis B virus: a model for inactivation of infectivity of hepatitis B virus.

The susceptibility of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) to the virucidal effects of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) was compared to hepatitis B virus (HBV) with the aim of using the duck as a model for studying HBV disinfection. Using viral DNA polymerase (DNAP) as a target, inhibition of DNAP activity by chlorine disinfectants was found to be concentration-dependent but independent of contact time. Two minute exposure of minimal effective concentrations of sodium hypochlorite (domestic bleach: 3600 ppm and industrial bleach: 3180 ppm) and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (3000 ppm available chlorine) to DHBV- and HBV-rich plasma totally inhibited DNA polymerase activity.

Hepadnaviruses, their infections and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ten years ago hepatitis B virus (HBV) was thought to be a unique virus, not included in any known family of viruses. Following the discovery of a number of HBV-like viruses that infect birds and mammals, the existence of a new family known as hepadnaviridae has been confirmed. Hepadnaviruses are small hepatotropic viruses that have a characteristic partially double stranded genome, exhibit a narrow host range and replicate by reverse transcription.

[Retrospective seroepidemiology of HIV-1].

Serum samples collected between 1974 and 1980 out of populations from the States of Pará and Goiás, Brazil, were tested for antibodies against HIV-1 through ELISA, immunofluorescence, and immunoblot. The aim was to describe the possibility of the virus presence in this country before the present epidemic. Four samples from an epidemiologically closed community, the Xicrin indians, gave positive reaction in the ELISA test, but were negative in the confirmatory tests.