1993 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

Experimental infection and characterigation of hepatitis F

Research Project

Project/Area Number	03454176
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Experimental pathology
Research Institution	Nihon University
Principal Investigator	SHIKATA Toshio Nihon Univ., Medicine Professor, 医学部, 教授 (50009932)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	SUGITANI Masahiro Nihon Univ. Medicine Lecturer, 医学部, 講師 (40187654) ESUMI Mariko Nihon Univ. Medicine Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (60160363) UCHIDA Toshikazu Nihon Univ. Medicine Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (80060078)
Project Period (FY)	1991 – 1993
Keywords	Hepatitis F / Mutant of hepatitis B / X-gene
Research Abstract	Attempt was made to identify new virus responsible for non-A, non-B, non-C, non-D, non-E hepatitis, so-called hepatitis F.We have inoculated infectious materials into 4 chimpanzees. However, we failed to produce hepatitis in animals. We also failed to clone virus genome from sera of the patients with hepatitis F.However, we could find HBVDNA in sera of patients with hepatitis F about 80 % of those cases. This mutant hepatitis B virus genome showed typical mutation at X-region. Those mutation of X-region resulted reduced proliferation of hepatitis B virus and we could not find any markers of HBV in patients. In summary them, we found that so-called hepatitis F virus is actually mutant B virus.

(4 results)