• Perspectives in Nursing Science
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.50-54
• /
• 2010

The studies of M. Colombo (1989) and W. Lange (1992) showed that 30~40% of people became chronic after suffering from hepatitis B virus (HBV) and C virus (HCV) infection, and about 50% of the chronic cases transformed into primary liver cancer. There have been few studies done in Mongolia on hepatitis infection among health professionals, particularly in nurses. In a study done by Chimedsuren (8), the study showed that 19.4% of people with identified surface hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to hepatitis C virus and 8% of people with the identified nucleotide of RNA for the hepatitis C virus (polymerase chain reaction) had an acute form of hepatitis C. Studies on the hepatitis virus genome damaging effect on liver cells showed that genotype 8 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, TTV) had the most damaging effect on liver cells (Hahn and Faeka, 2007). Several studies have shown a relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and a lack of compliance regarding safety regulations and rules by medical personnel. Results of a study from the Maternal and Child Health Research Center showed that tests done to detect hepatitis B virus antigen and antibodies to C virus did not reveal anything. Both antigen and antibodies in 69% cases did not show, and separately, B virus and antibodies to hepatitis C virus were identified in 13% and 9%, respectively. Results of the tests taken from health personnel in Shastin Central Hospital showed that in 76% of the cases, the B virus antigen with C virus antibodies was not identified. In 8% of the cases, the B virus antigen was present on its own. The combination of B the virus antigen and C virus antibodies were present in 8% of nurses and doctors, respectively. 82% of the cases had negative results for the detection of a combination of B virus antigen and C virus antibodies taken from health personnel from the State Central Clinical Hospital whereas the B virus antigen and C virus antibodies by themselves were present in 7% and 14% of the cases, respectively. Combined cases of the B virus antigen and C virus antibodies were identified in 4% of the personnel. Results of the tests taken from the health personnel in the Hospital of the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs showed that in 79% of the cases, the B virus antigen with C virus antibodies were not identified. Separately, the B virus and antibodies to hepatitis C virus were identified in 8% and 13% of the cases, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.386-392
• /
• 1999

A large-scale culture of hepatitis A virus in human diploid MRC-5 cells was conducted. In a roller bottle culture, the virus was grown to a maximum titer in 3 weeks after infection. Over 95％ of the cell-associated virus was excreted after culturing the infected cells in suspension media without fetal bovine serum for 3 days. The cultured virus was inactivated with formalin, concentrated by ultrafiltration, and partially purified by ultracentrifugation in a non-ionic gradient medium of Renocal. Two separate peak fractions showing high anti-HAY ELISA titer were pooled and about 40％ of HAV antigen was recovered by this purification procedure. Of the partially purified vaccine, the protein pattern in SDS-PAGE and immunogenicity in mice were compared with a commercial HAV vaccine. In SDS-PAGE, the purified vaccine in this study and the commercial vaccine showed almost the same protein pattern. The seroconversion rate of the purified vaccine in mice was not different from that of the commercial vaccine. Therefore, we could prepare a good grade of HAV vaccine by a simple purification procedure although the purification itself was not completed.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.43-54
• /
• 2013

Viral hepatitis is the inflammation of liver cells caused by viruses, and still one of the major health-care problems worldwide. A number of viruses to cause hepatitis are type A, B, C, D, E or G. Among these viruses leading to hepatitis, B and C are more troublesome being more prone to chronic illness which can cause the potentially fatal conditions of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and/or liver failure. If immediate treatment is not initiated, liver transplant is the only option left. Over the past few decades there has been remarkable progress in diagnose and monitor all hepatitis virus infections for treatment and prevention. Nonetheless, important challenges remain to develop more effective and safe vaccines for prevention as well as antiviral agents to reduce viremia/viral load by inhibiting viral replication. The development and evaluation of antiviral agents through carefully designed clinical trials over the last 25 years has heralded a new dawn in the treatment of patients chronically infected with the hepatitis B and C viruses, but not so for the D virus. The introduction of Direct Acting Antivirals (DDAs) for the treatment of HBV carriers has permitted the long term use of these compounds for the continuous suppression of viral replication. This review aims to summarize the current status and development approaches of antiviral drugs for the treatment of viral hepatitis and future perspectives.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.320-325
• /
• 2012

Rotavirus and hepatitis A virus (HAV) spread by the fecal-oral route and infections are important in public health, especially in developing countries. Here, two antigenic epitopes of the HAV polyprotein, domain 2 (D2) and domain 3 (D3), were recombined with rotavirus VP7, generating D2/VP7 and D3/VP7, cloned in a baculovirus expression system, and expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda 9 (Sf9) insect cells. All were highly expressed, with peak expression 2 days post-infection. Western blotting and ELISA revealed that two chimeric proteins were antigenic, but only D2/VP7 was immunogenic and elicited neutralizing antibody responses against rotavirus and HAV by neutralization assay, implicating D2/VP7 as a multivalent subunit-vaccine Candidate for preventing both rotavirus and HAV infections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.7
• /
• pp.1336-1344
• /
• 2017

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. With recent identification of HBV receptor, inhibition of virus entry has become a promising concept in the development of new antiviral drugs. To date, 10 HBV genotypes (A-J) have been defined. We previously generated two murine anti-preS1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), KR359 and KR127, that recognize amino acids (aa) 19-26 and 37-45, respectively, in the receptor binding site (aa 13-58, genotype C). Each mAb exhibited virus neutralizing activity in vitro, and a humanized version of KR127 effectively neutralized HBV infection in chimpanzees. In the present study, we constructed a humanized version (HzKR359-1) of KR359 whose antigen binding activity is 4.4-fold higher than that of KR359, as assessed by competitive ELISA, and produced recombinant preS1 antigens (aa 1-60) of different genotypes to investigate the binding capacities of HzKR359-1 and a humanized version (HzKR127-3.2) of KR127 to the 10 HBV genotypes. The results indicate that HzKR359-1 can bind to five genotypes (A, B, C, H, and J), and HzKR127-3.2 can also bind to five genotypes (A, C, D, G, and I). The combination of these two antibodies can bind to eight genotypes (A-D, G-J), and to genotype C additively. Considering that genotypes A-D are common, whereas genotypes E and F are occasionally represented in small patient population, the combination of these two antibodies might block the entry of most virus genotypes and thus broadly neutralize HBV infection.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.13-20
• /
• 2006

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural protein 5A protein (NS5A), which consists of three functional domains, is involved in regulating viral replication, interferon resistance, and apoptosis. Recently, the three-dimensional structure of the domain 1 was determined. However, currently the molecular basis for the domains 2 and 3 of HCV NS5A is yet to be defined. Toward this end, we expressed, purified the domain 2 of the NS5A (NS5A-D2), and then performed biochemical and structural studies. The purified domain 2 was active and was able to bind NS5B and PKR, biological partners of NS5A. The results from gel filtration, CD analysis, 1D $^1H$ NMR and 2D $^1H-^{15}N$ heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) spectroscopy indicate that the domain 2 of NS5A appears to be flexible and disordered.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.263-272
• /
• 2022

Objectives: Infections with hepatitis B, C, and D virus (HBV, HCV, and HDV) are a major public health problem and lead to serious complications such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HCV, anti-HDV immunoglobulin G, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and dual and triple hepatitis virus infections in Mongolia. Methods: A total of 2313 participants from urban and rural regions were randomly recruited for this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was used to identify the risk factors for hepatitis virus infections, and the seromarkers were measured using immunoassay kits. Results: Among all participants, the prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HDV was 15.6%, 36.6%, and 14.3%, respectively. The infection rates were significantly higher in females and participants with a lower education level, rural residence, older age, and a history of blood transfusion. HBV and HCV co-infection was found in 120 (5.2%) participants and HBV, HCV, and HDV triple infection was detected in 67 (2.9%) participants. The prevalence of elevated AFP was 2.7%, 5.5%, and 2.6% higher in participants who were seropositive for HBsAg (p=0.01), anti-HCV (p<0.001), and anti-HDV (p=0.022), respectively. Elevated AFP was more prevalent in participants co-infected with HBV and HCV (5.8%, p=0.023), HBV and HDV (6.0%, p<0.001), and triple-infected with HBV, HCV, and HDV (7.5%) than in uninfected individuals. Conclusions: Nearly half (49.8%) of the study population aged ≥40 years were infected with HBV, HCV, or HDV, and 22.4% had dual or triple infections.

• Korean Journal of Family Medicine
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.360-363
• /
• 2018

Background: Acute alcoholic intoxication patients (AAIP) are a common public health problem. The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive laboratory analysis for these patients to investigate the co-morbid medical problem. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed laboratory findings of AAIP who were transferred to the emergency department (ED) from January 2017 to June 2017. Results: A total of 160 male patients were enrolled. Sixteen patients (16/160, 10.0%) and three patients (3/160, 1.9%) had macrocytic anemia and microcytic anemia, respectively. A total of 33 patients (33/160, 20.6%) showed thrombocytopenia ($<150{\times}10^9/L$). Twelve patients (12/159, 7.5%) showed low serum albumin level (<3.5 g/dL). Three patients (3/160, 1.9%) had chronic kidney disease stages 3-4 based on estimated glomerular filtration rate. Six patients (6/27, 22.2%) had high hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level (>7.0%). Positive rates of hepatitis B surface antigen and antiHBs antibody (anti-HBs Ab) were 3.5% (5/141) and 49.0% (68/141), respectively. Conclusion: Patients with AAIP who were transferred to ED had various laboratory abnormalities (anemia, thrombocytopenia, high HbA1c). They had low positive rate of anti-HBs Ab. This might be a public health problem, suggesting the need of hepatitis B virus vaccination program for AAIP. Our data suggest the need of further nationwide studies.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.130-136
• /
• 1996

Evaluation of plant extracts that might inhibit hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication was performed to find potent anti-HBV agents. Eighty-five species of plants from forty-three families were tested for their anti-HBV activities using HBV-producing HepG2-derived 2.2.15 cells. The anti-HBV activity of plant extracts was measured by slot blot hybridization technique and cytotoxicity was determined by crystal violet staining procedure. All plants were extracted with methanol and the extracts were partitioned into n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous layer. The ethyl acetate fractions of Rhus verniciflua $(stem:\;EC_{50},\;8.2{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;9.4{\mu}g/ml)$, Gastrodia elata $(root:\;EC_{50},\;17.7{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;>20{\mu}g/ml)$, Raphanus sativus $(seeds:\;EC_{50},\;17.3{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;>20{\mu}g/ml)$, and Angelica gigas $(root:\;EC_{50},\;8.3{\mu}g/ml;\;CC_{50},\;15.6{\mu}g/ml)$ revealed the anti-HBV activity in 2.2.15 cell culture system and these fractions are under the process of further sequential fractionation by column chromatography to find the active principles against HBV.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.41 no.9
• /
• pp.640-644
• /
• 2008

The preS1 surface protein of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a key factor involved in initial viral entry into hepatocytes. It has been long postulated that an anti-HBV effect should be achievable using peptide fragments of the preS1. Recent reports demonstrated that several preS1-derived lipo-peptides in genotype D HBV exhibit nano to picomolar inhibitory activity against HBV infection. In this study, an acylated analog of a preS1 fragment, a 21-residue lipo-peptide (named 7524 BVS7) with a sequence of palmitoyl-GMGTNLSVPNPLGFFPDHQLDC-$NH_2$, from genotype C HBV was produced base upon a previous structural study and was shown potently inhibits HBV infection with an $IC_{50}$ of $\approx$ 20 nM.