Abstract
This study was carried out to evaluate the diagnostic value of nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for HEV (hepatitis E virus) RNA detection relative to anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. One hundred and twenty six (126) patients with sporadic acute hepatitis E were included in this study. We focused on the popular genotype I and IV of HEV-positive patients in China, and selected the conserved region located in ORF2 for designing a set of nested RT-PCR primers. HEV RNA was detected in 53.2% (67/126) of patients, while all control subjects were negative for HEV RNA. The total agreement between IgM and nested RT-PCR detection was 80.9%, showing a fine coincidence. The results further suggested that there was a significant difference between nested RT-PCR detection and IgM ELISA: 3 cases with positive results for HEV RNA showed negative anti-HEV IgM at the early phrase, and presented positive IgM reaction in succession after the trail of detection. HEV RNA was detected in serum samples from sporadic acute hepatitis patient usually by day 1 to 12 after the onset of symptoms, but showed a decreasing sensitivity with the increasing disease course. From these experiments, we can conclude that HEV RNA detection is of great clinical significance, which has an obvious advantage in diagnosis of early infection of HEV. Key words: Hepatitis E virus, nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), RNA, antibody.
Highlights
Hepatitis E (HE) remains an important public health problem in developing countries, and is diagnosed in some developed countries with sporadic cases (Emerson and Purcell, 2003)
Since only genotypes 1 and 4 of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) were causing pandemic in China, we focused on genomic sequences of genotypes I (EMBL ID: D11092, L08816, L25547, M94177) and IV (EMBL ID: AB108537, AJ 272108) and selected the conserved region located in ORF2 for designing a set of nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) primers
Nested reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR for HEV was performed on 20 HAV patients, 30 HBV patients, 30 HCV patients and 30 healthy persons
Summary
Hepatitis E (HE) remains an important public health problem in developing countries, and is diagnosed in some developed countries with sporadic cases (Emerson and Purcell, 2003). The HEV (hepatitis E virus) target population is young to middle aged adults, 15 to 40 years of age. The disease is self-limiting and generally no chronic sequelae has been reported (Emerson and Purcell, 2003). Increased morbidity and mortality is observed in chronic liver disease patients superinfected with HEV. A unique clinical feature is its increased incidence and severity in pregnant women, with mortality rates of 15 to 20% (Kumar et al, 2004). Research on the discovery and validation of biomarkers of hepatitis E patients and their association with disease severity would be important
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
