Hepatitis delta virus cDNA sequence from an acutely HBV‐infected chimpanzee: Sequence conservation in experimental animals

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) RNA was isolated from the serum of a chimpanzee acutely infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and superinfected with HDV. Interference of HDV with HBV resulted in decreased HBV DNA levels in the serum. This interference did not change the size of the two HBV specific RNAs present in the liver of the chimpanzee. The complete cDNA sequence of the HDV RNA (5th passage) was determined. Comparison of this cDNA sequence with our previously published sequence (4th passage), located in the variable domain of HDV, was highly conserved. The HDV strain used for these infections originated from a human HDV isolate also used for five to seven HDV passages in chronic HBV carrier chimpanzees (subtypes adw and ayw) or woodchucks chronically infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV). The complete HDV cDNA sequence showed an extreme conservation (up to 99.8% homology) with the previously published animal‐derived HDV cDNA sequences irrespective of passage number and animal species. In contrast a markedly lower homology (85–89%) was found when compared with 3 human‐derived HDV cDNA sequences. Comparison of our complete cDNA sequence with the human‐derived cDNA sequences showed that the nucleotide changes in the human‐derived isolates were restricted to specific regions on the genome and to specific basepair substitutions. The hepatitis Delta antigen (HDAg) is highly conserved both in the human‐ and animal‐derived cDNA sequences showing mainly conservative amino acid changes.