SUMMARYThe acid stability of unpurified and highly purified hepatitis A virus (HAV) was tested and compared with that of poliovirus type l, coxsackievirus types A9 and B 1 and echovirus type 9. Only HAV had a high residual infectivity after 2 h of exposure to pH 1 at room temperature, remaining infectious for up to 5 h. At 38 °C, pH 1, HAV remained infectious for 90 min. Highly purified HAV was found to be infectious for 8 h at pH 1 and room temperature. This indicates that the increased stability is not due to protection by cellular material attached to the virus, but is a virus-specific marker. Under the same conditions, at pH 1 and room temperature, unpurified and highly purified HAV antigens were traceable for 5 and 4 h respectively.

SUMMARYInfection of human embryo fibroblasts with hepatitis A virus (HAV), a picornavirus, leads to an inapparent, persistent infection; cultures can be passed serially with consistent recovery of the virus in the supernatant. All of the cells of a HAV carrier culture are infected and proliferate. Subcultivation under HAV-immune serum cannot achieve a cure or even a reduction in the number of infected cells in HAV carrier cultures. No interferon activity can be detected during HAV infection and persistence. Addition of exogenous interferon eliminates HAV infection in vitro. Persistence of HAV in vitro appears to contradict the clinical course of HAV infection in vivo. The system presented offers the possibility of evaluating the role of immunological injury of HAV-infected cells, an injury which may lead to damage of these cells and to elimination of HAV during an HAV infection in vivo.

SUMMARYWe have applied a peroxidase enzyme-labelled antigen (ELA) for the detection of IgM antibodies to cytomegalovirus: microtitre plates were coated with antiIgM immunoglobulin. The IgM fraction of human serum was selectively bound to the precoated plates and the virus-specific IgM antibody was then detected by the enzyme-labelled antigen. A very efficient technique for the labelling of virus antigen is described. The IgM antibody was detected simply and specifically, Rheumatoid factor IgM did not interfere with this test.

An autologous in vitro model was developed to analyze the immunologic cause of liver tissue injury during hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection. Human T lymphocytes infiltrating the livers of two patients with acute HAV infection were isolated from liver biopsy cores, cloned, and expanded in vitro. Procedures using a cell culture system with HAV-infected autologous skin fibroblasts demonstrated that 42% and 53% of the liver-infiltrating CD8+ clones were HAV-specific and that they kill HAV-infected skin fibroblasts in a human leukocyte antigen-restricted manner. Data show virus-specific killing by liver-infiltrating T lymphocytes in man and support the hypothesis that liver cell injury in acute HAV infection is mediated by HAV-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes and is not caused by a cytopathic effect of the virus itself.

The hepatitis A virus (HAV) is the most common etiological cause of acute hepatitis infections in humans in industrialized countries. Investigations into the viral load during HAV viremia, however, are rare. Therefore, correlation studies between viral load, biochemical, and specific serological markers have been undertaken. The group of sera comprised a series of multiple consecutive blood samples drawn from 11 patients at different times after onset of the disease. During the period up to 70 days after the onset of icterus, the individual range was at 1 x 10(3) to 3 x 10(4) HAV genome equivalents/ml. From day 75 until 120 after onset of the disease, the levels traced were at 10(3). In one case, it was possible to trace 1.25 x 10(4) genome equivalents/ml up to 180 days after onset of icterus and in two cases even up to 408 and 490 days viral load levels of 5 x 10(3) and 4 x 10(4) were detected, respectively. The same sera were used to measure IgM class antibodies to hepatitis A virus and the total anti-HAV. The results demonstrate that a direct correlation to peak levels of viral load exists with peak serum transaminase levels, but neither with peak anti-HAV IgM levels nor with total anti-HAV. Decreasing amounts of anti-HAV IgM tend to occur with decreasing amounts of HAV genome equivalents; and, vice versa, increasing amounts of total anti-HAV are accompanied by decreasing amounts of HAV genome equivalents. The longest duration of viremia was found in patients infected with HAV genotype IA.