期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1977
卷号：74
期号：5
页码：2149-2151
DOI：10.1073/pnas.74.5.2149
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Sera containing hepatitis B surface antigen from 30 asymptomatic blood donors were assayed for e antigen (HBeAg) and antibody to e antigen (anti-HBe) by rheophoresis. Fourteen samples (47%) had detectable HBeAg, ten (33%) had anti-HBe, and six (20%) had neither. DNA was extracted from 26 of these sera and assayed for its ability to anneal to a [32P]-DNA probe that is a copy of Dane particle DNA. All 10 HBeAg-positive samples tested contained DNA that formed specific hybrids with the DNA probe, as did one of 10 anti HBe-positive samples. Hybridization was not detected in nine sera containing anti-HBe and six sera without HBeAg or anti-HBe. Because the Dane particle is thought to be the hepatitis B virus, this association between HBeAg positivity and Dane particle DNA strongly supports the hypothesis that e antigen is a marker of the presence of the virus and, consequently, potential infectivity.
