Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0038002 (splenomegaly)
 9,873 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Avian hepatitis E virus (avian HEV), recently identified from a chicken with hepatitis-splenomegaly syndrome in the United States, is genetically and antigenically related to human and swine HEVs. In this study, sequencing of the genome was completed and an attempt was made to infect rhesus monkeys with avian HEV. The full-length genome of avian HEV, excluding the poly(A) tail, is 6654 bp in length, which is about 600 bp shorter than that of human and swine HEVs. Similar to human and swine HEV genomes, the avian HEV genome consists of a short 5' non-coding region (NCR) followed by three partially overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) and a 3'NCR. Avian HEV shares about 50 % nucleotide sequence identity over the complete genome, 48-51 % identity in ORF1, 46-48 % identity in ORF2 and only 29-34 % identity in ORF3 with human and swine HEV strains. Significant genetic variations such as deletions and insertions, particularly in ORF1 of avian HEV, were observed. However, motifs in the putative functional domains of ORF1, such as the helicase and methyltransferase, were relatively conserved between avian HEV and mammalian HEVs, supporting the conclusion that avian HEV is a member of the genus Hepevirus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that avian HEV represents a branch distinct from human and swine HEVs. Swine HEV infects non-human primates and possibly humans and thus may be zoonotic. An attempt was made to determine whether avian HEV also infects across species by experimentally inoculating two rhesus monkeys with avian HEV. Evidence of virus infection was not observed in the inoculated monkeys as there was no seroconversion, viraemia, faecal virus shedding or serum liver enzyme elevation. The results from this study confirmed that avian HEV is related to, but distinct from, human and swine HEVs; however, unlike swine HEV, avian HEV is probably not transmissible to non-human primates.
 ...
PMID:Determination and analysis of the complete genomic sequence of avian hepatitis E virus (avian HEV) and attempts to infect rhesus monkeys with avian HEV. 1516 45

Avian hepatitis E virus (HEV) was identified from chickens with hepatitis-splenomegaly syndrome. In this study, the complete genomic sequence of an apparently avirulent strain of avian HEV was determined to be 6649 nt in length, excluding the poly(A) tail, which is 5 nt shorter than the prototype avian HEV. Sequence analyses revealed that the ORF1 has 89.6% nucleotide sequence identity, with numerous non-silent mutations and deletions, compared to the prototype strain. The ORF2 capsid gene showed 90.7% sequence identity with six non-silent mutations, and ORF3 had four non-silent mutations with 97% sequence identity. Overall, the apparently avirulent strain shares only 90.1% nucleotide sequence identity with the prototype strain. The identification of significant non-silent mutations in the capsid gene and other regions suggests that these mutations may play a role in HEV attenuation. This is the first report of the full-length sequence of an apparently avirulent strain of HEV.
 ...
PMID:Analysis of the complete genomic sequence of an apparently avirulent strain of avian hepatitis E virus (avian HEV) identified major genetic differences compared with the prototype pathogenic strain of avian HEV. 1741 84

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a small, non-enveloped, single-strand, positive-sense RNA virus of approximately 7.2kb in size. HEV is classified in the family Hepeviridae consisting of four recognized major genotypes that infect humans and other animals. Genotypes 1 and 2 HEV are restricted to humans and often associated with large outbreaks and epidemics in developing countries with poor sanitation conditions, whereas genotypes 3 and 4 HEV infect humans, pigs and other animal species and are responsible for sporadic cases of hepatitis E in both developing and industrialized countries. The avian HEV associated with Hepatitis-Splenomegaly syndrome in chickens is genetically and antigenically related to mammalian HEV, and likely represents a new genus in the family. There exist three open reading frames in HEV genome: ORF1 encodes non-structural proteins, ORF2 encodes the capsid protein, and the ORF3 encodes a small phosphoprotein. ORF2 and ORF3 are translated from a single bicistronic mRNA, and overlap each other but neither overlaps ORF1. Due to the lack of an efficient cell culture system and a practical animal model for HEV, the mechanisms of HEV replication and pathogenesis are poorly understood. The recent identification and characterization of animal strains of HEV from pigs and chickens and the demonstrated ability of cross-species infection by these animal strains raise potential public health concerns for zoonotic HEV transmission. It has been shown that the genotypes 3 and 4 HEV strains from pigs can infect humans, and vice versa. Accumulating evidence indicated that hepatitis E is a zoonotic disease, and swine and perhaps other animal species are reservoirs for HEV. A vaccine against HEV is not yet available.
 ...
PMID:Hepatitis E virus: animal reservoirs and zoonotic risk. 1936 37

Turkey hemorrhagic enteritis virus (THEV) is a member of the genus Siadenovirus and causes disease in turkey poults characterized by splenomegaly, bloody diarrhoea and death. The mechanism responsible for intestinal lesion formation and mortality is not known, although there is strong evidence that it is immune-mediated. All strains of THEV are serologically indistinguishable, although there are naturally occurring avirulent strains of THEV that replicate efficiently in turkeys without the intestinal haemorrhage or mortality associated with more virulent strains. The purpose of this study was to determine which viral genes are involved in virulence. The full-length genome of an avirulent vaccine strain was sequenced and compared with the genome of a virulent field isolate from Israel that was sequenced in 1998. Comparison of the two 26.3 kb genomes revealed 49 nucleotide differences resulting in 14 putative amino acid changes within viral proteins. Sequencing of the regions surrounding the 14 missense mutations revealed variations in ORF1, E3 and the fiber (fib) knob domain in five additional strains with varying degrees of virulence. Complete sequences of these genes were determined in a total of 11 different strains of THEV. All strains had at least one missense mutation in ORF1, and all but two of the strains had one missense mutation in E3. At least one missense mutation was found in the fiber knob domain in six out of seven virulent strains. Sequence variation of ORF1, E3 and fib in strains of THEV with different phenotypes strongly indicates that these genes are the key factors affecting virulence.
 ...
PMID:Comparison of 12 turkey hemorrhagic enteritis virus isolates allows prediction of genetic factors affecting virulence. 1938 86