RESUMEN
The presence of antigens of HB virus and excretion of antibodies against the compounds of this virus in the urine of patients with acute and chronic hepatitis B was shown by the use of precipitation of polyethylenic glycol 6000 (PEG) and the immunoenzymatic method. The main compound of precipitating complexes in PEG excreted with the urine is the HBe antigen detected in the urine of patients both with acute and chronic virus B hepatitis.
Asunto(s)
Anticuerpos contra la Hepatitis B/orina , Antígenos de la Hepatitis B/orina , Hepatitis B/orina , Enfermedad Aguda , Adulto , Enfermedad Crónica , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Polietilenglicoles , Pruebas de PrecipitinaRESUMEN
Urine from 19 chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers was tested for markers of HBV infection. Hepatitis B surface and e antigens were excreted in the urine of about one-half of the patients, but not in any consistent pattern. HBV DNA, a much more sensitive indicator of infectivity, was found in only one specimen and then in very low concentration. We conclude that urine of chronic HBV carriers is not a major vehicle for the transmission of hepatitis B.
Asunto(s)
Portador Sano/diagnóstico , ADN Viral/orina , Antígenos de la Hepatitis B/orina , Antígenos de Superficie de la Hepatitis B/orina , Antígenos e de la Hepatitis B/orina , Hepatitis B/diagnóstico , Autorradiografía , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/inmunología , ADN Polimerasa Dirigida por ADN/orina , Femenino , Antígenos de Superficie de la Hepatitis B/análisis , Antígenos e de la Hepatitis B/análisis , Virus de la Hepatitis B/enzimología , Humanos , Trasplante de Riñón , Neoplasias Hepáticas/inmunología , MasculinoRESUMEN
Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) was not detected in sewage by means of a sensitive affinity chromatography method combined with radioimmunoassay. The antigen was also absent from the feces and urine of 23 patients with HBs Ag antigenemia; this observation indicates that HBs Ag is rarely discharged into sewage. The absence of HBs Ag from feces is ascribed to antagonists of an enzymatic nature or to carboxypeptidase A, which destroys the antigen. Antagonists with similar effects were produced by three species of Pseudomonas but were not produced by various other bacteria. HBs Ag was also destroyed by two subtilisin enzymes. When hepatitis B sera were incubated with these enzymes or with the antagonists, small spherical particles, tubules, and the coats of Dane particles disappeared first, and Dane cores disappeared later. Although sewage or activated sludge did not affect the stability of HBs Ag, the results indicate that even Dane cores are not excreted in feces and that sewage plays a negligible role in the spread of HBs Ag, Dane cores, and viral hepatitis type B.