Wael Mansour1, Mathilde Lemoine2, Fernando Neri Pinto1, Marie Astrid Llabador de Royer2, Frédéric Le Gal1, Chadi Yazbeck3, Catherine Patrat4, Emmanuel Gordien5. 1. Laboratory of Bacteriology, Virology and Hygiene, University Hospital of Paris Seine-Saint-Denis, Avicenne, Associated with the National Reference Centre for Viral Hepatitis B, C and Delta in France, 125 rue de Stalingrad, Bobigny, France. 2. Bichat Claude Bernard Hospital, Reproductive Biology Department, 46 rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris, France; Paris Diderot University, 5 rue Thomas Mann, 75013 Paris, France. 3. Bichat Claude Bernard University Hospital, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine Department, 46 rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris, France. 4. Bichat Claude Bernard Hospital, Reproductive Biology Department, 46 rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris, France; Paris Diderot University, 5 rue Thomas Mann, 75013 Paris, France. Electronic address: catherine.patrat@bch.aphp.fr. 5. Laboratory of Bacteriology, Virology and Hygiene, University Hospital of Paris Seine-Saint-Denis, Avicenne, Associated with the National Reference Centre for Viral Hepatitis B, C and Delta in France, 125 rue de Stalingrad, Bobigny, France. Electronic address: emmanuel.gordien@avc.aphp.fr.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a satellite of HBV and needs this latter's envelope for its morphogenesis and propagation. An estimated 5-20% of HBV-infected patients are also infected with HDV. No studies have ever been performed to determine the presence of HDV in follicular fluid (FF) and semen of HDV-infected patients. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the presence of HDV markers in the FF or in the semen of two HDV-infected patients. DESIGN: Two unrelated HDV-infected patients, a woman and a man pursuing in vitro fertilization (IVF), participated in this study. FF was collected after analysis of oocyte retrieval. The supernatant of seminal plasma (SP) and the final pellet (FP) were fractionated from freshly ejaculated semen. Serological and molecular markers of HDV infection were searched for in these different samples. RESULTS: The woman was infected with an HDV-7 genotype strain and her HDV plasma viral load (VL) was 6 log copies/mL. HDV antibodies and RNA were also detected in the FF, however the RNA VL value there was lower by more than 4 log. The man was infected with an HDV-1 strain and his plasma VL was 6.7 log copies/mL. Total anti-HDV antibodies were positive in the serum, in the SP and in the FP, while IgM were detected only in the serum. However, HDV RNA was negative in the SP and in the FP. CONCLUSION: HDV markers can be found in the follicular fluid or in the semen of infected patients.
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a satellite of HBV and needs this latter's envelope for its morphogenesis and propagation. An estimated 5-20% of HBV-infectedpatients are also infected with HDV. No studies have ever been performed to determine the presence of HDV in follicular fluid (FF) and semen of HDV-infectedpatients. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the presence of HDV markers in the FF or in the semen of two HDV-infectedpatients. DESIGN: Two unrelated HDV-infectedpatients, a woman and a man pursuing in vitro fertilization (IVF), participated in this study. FF was collected after analysis of oocyte retrieval. The supernatant of seminal plasma (SP) and the final pellet (FP) were fractionated from freshly ejaculated semen. Serological and molecular markers of HDV infection were searched for in these different samples. RESULTS: The woman was infected with an HDV-7 genotype strain and her HDV plasma viral load (VL) was 6 log copies/mL. HDV antibodies and RNA were also detected in the FF, however the RNA VL value there was lower by more than 4 log. The man was infected with an HDV-1 strain and his plasma VL was 6.7 log copies/mL. Total anti-HDV antibodies were positive in the serum, in the SP and in the FP, while IgM were detected only in the serum. However, HDV RNA was negative in the SP and in the FP. CONCLUSION:HDV markers can be found in the follicular fluid or in the semen of infected patients.