Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:32:59.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Hepatitis B core antigen synthesised in Escherichia coli: its use for antibody screening in patients attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

B. J. Cohen
Affiliation:
Virus Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
P. A. Litton
Affiliation:
Virus Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
P. P. Mortimer
Affiliation:
Virus Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
P. Simmons
Affiliation:
Special Clinic, Prince of Wales Hospital, London N15
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) synthesised in Escherichia coli by recombinant DNA techniques was compared with HBcAg prepared from infected livrer tissue. The two antigens were used in radioimmunoassays (RIA) to detect antibody to HBcAg (anti-HBc) in sera from patients attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases. Out of 2151 sera tested, 260 were anti-HBc positive with both HBcAg preparations but seven were positive with the liver-derived antigen alone. Reasons for these discrepant results are discussed. The slight loss of sensitivity of the anti-HBc RIA using E. coli HBcAg was not considered significant when compared with the potential advantages of a synthetic antigen.

The presence of other hepatitis B markers in the 267 anti-HBc positive sera was determined: 25 contained HBsAg, 220 anti-HBs and, of the 22 that were HBsAg/anti-HBs negative, 12 contained anti-HBe. In the 10 remaining sera, anti-HBc was the only hepatitis B marker that could be found.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

References

Aroher, A., Cohen, B. J. & Mortimer, P. P. (1983). The value of screening blood donors for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen. Journal of Clinical Pathology 36, 924928.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbara, J. A. J., Briggs, M., Cameron, C. H., Cleghorn, T. E., Dane, D. S. & Howell, D. R. (1977). A comparison of different methods of screening blood donations for HBsAg. Vox Sanguinis 32, 49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burrell, C. J., MacKay, P., Greenaway, P. J., Hofschneider, P. H. & Murray, K. (1979). Expression in E. coli of hepatitis B virus DNA sequences cloned in plasmid pBR322. Nature 282, 575579.Google Scholar
Cohen, B. J. & Cossart, Y. E. (1977). Application of a screening test for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen. Journal of Clinical Pathology 30, 709713.Google Scholar
Cohen, B. J., Hewish, R. A. & Mortimer, P. P. (1981). Comparison of radioimmunoassay and countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis for detection of antibody to HBcAg. Journal of Virological Methods 2, 181192.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. C., Waugh, M. & Dalton, R. (1977). Hepatitis B antigen and antibody in a male homosexual population. British Journal of Venereal Diseases 53, 132134.Google Scholar
Dike, A. E. (1981). Post-transfusion hepatitis B transmitted by HBsAg negative blood containing anti-HBc. Medical Laboratory Science 38, 415417.Google ScholarPubMed
MacKay, P., Pasek, M., Magazin, M., Kovacic, R. T., Allet, B., Stahl, S., Gilbert, W., Schaller, H., Bruce, S. A. & Murray, K. (1981). Production of immunologically active surface antigen of hepatitis B virus by Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Science 78, 45104514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacKay, P., Lees, J. & Murray, K. (1981). The conversion of hepatitis B core antigen synthesised in E, coli into e antigen. Journal of Medical Virology 8, 237243.Google Scholar
Mortimer, P. P., Vandervelde, E. M., Parry, J. V., Cohen, B. J. & Tedder, R. S. (1981). The anti-HBc IgM response in the acute and convalescent phases of acute hepatitis. Journal of Infection, 3, 339347.Google Scholar
Murray, K., MacKay, P., Burrell, C. J. & Schaller, H. (1981). The expression of hepatitis B virus antigen genes in Escherichia coli. Hepatitis B Vaccine INSERM Symposium no. 18, 289304 (ed. Maupas, P. and Guersy, P.). Elsevier/North HollandBiomedical Press.Google Scholar
Peutherer, J. F., MacKay, P., Ross, R., Stahl, S. & Murray, K. (1981). Use of the hepatitis B core antigen produced in Escherichia coli in an assay for anti-HBc. Medical Laboratory Science 38, 355358.Google Scholar
Stahl, S., MacKay, P., Magazin, M., Bruce, S. A. & Murray, K. (1982). Hepatitis B core antigen: Synthesis in Escherichia coli and application in diagnosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 79, 16001610.Google Scholar
Szmuness, W., Hoofnagle, J. H., Stevens, C. E. & Prince, A. M. (1976). Antibody against the hepatitis type B core antigen. A new tool for epidemiologic studies. American Journal of Epidemiology 104, 256262.Google Scholar
Tedder, R. S., Cameron, C. H., Wilson-Croome, R., Howell, D. R., Colgrave, A. & Barbara, J. A. J. (1980). Contrasting patterns of antibodies to surface, core and e antigens of hepatitis B virus in blood donors and male homosexual patients. Journal of Medical Virology 6, 323332.Google Scholar