LOCALIZATION OF HANTAAN VIRAL ENVELOPE GLYCOPROTEINS BY MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES IN RENAL TISSUES FROM PATIENTS WITH KOREAN HEMORRHAGIC FEVER-H

The role of viruses in several renal diseases is not documented clearl y. The authors attempted to localize envelope glycoproteins of Hantaan virus in biopsy specimens from patients with Korean hemorrhagic fever (KHF) as evidence of direct viral invasion of renal tissues. The auth ors studied sequential sections of kidney biopsy specimens from 23 of 35 patients with serologically confirmed KHF diagnosed between June 19 85 and December 1989. The sections were stained with the avidin-biotin -peroxidase complex method with monoclonal antibodies to G1 and G2 env elope glycoproteins. Control antibodies of the same isotype were used to rule out nonspecific staining, and hyperimmune rabbit sera or conva lescent sem of patients with KHF were used for blocking tests. Normal renal tissues and kidney biopsy tissues from minimal-change nephrotic syndrome were used as negative control sections. The kidney biopsies w ere performed between the fifth and thirtieth days after onset of feve r. The authors detected viral glycoproteins in renal tissues from 22 o f the 23 patients. The viral glycoproteins were localized in the cytop lasm of the tubular epithelial cells, and the distribution of viral gl ycoproteins in the tubules was focal. Glycoproteins also were localize d in the cytoplasm of the sloughed renal tubular epithelial cells, whe re tubular degenerative changes were prominent. These findings suggest the direct invasion of renal tubules by the vims and may partly expla in the pathogenesis of acute renal failure in KHF.