The influence of a maternal chronic hepatitis B virus infection on the repertoire of transcribed T-cell receptor beta chain variable region genes in human cord blood
✍ Scribed by Dr William G. H. Abbott; Arie Geursen; John D. Fraser; John Marbrook; Margot A. Skinner; Paul L. J. Tan
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1995
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 638 KB
- Volume
- 22
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0270-9139
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
We used an anchor polymerase chain reaction method to compare the repertoires of transcribed T-cell receptor p chain variable region Cvp) genes in cord blood T cells from neonates of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive (n = 40) and HBsAg negative (n = 40) women.
Fifteen of the HBsAg positive women were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive, and 25 were HBeAg negative. The percentage of Vp7.4 transcripts was lower in cord blood T cells from neonates of HBsAg-positive relative to HBsAg-negative women (9.7% f 0.5% vs. 12.7% t 0.6%, P = .002). The percent of Vp5.1 transcripts was higher in cord blood T cells from neonates of HBeAg-positive relative to HBeAg-negative women (9.3% ? 0.7% vs. 7.0% 5 0.3%, P < .001). There were no correlations between neonatal maturity at birth and Vp repertoire. In summary, a maternal chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with changes in the repertoire of transcribed T-cell receptor genes in neonatal cord blood T cells. It is possible that the T-cell response to the HBV is associated with a limited repertoire of Vp genes. The mechanism of vertical chronic HBV infection in human neonates may involve changes in the T-cell response to the virus that are induced in utero.