Potential roles of placental human beta‐defensin‐3 and apolipoprotein B mRNA‐editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide 3G in prevention of intrauterine transmission of hepatitis B virus

Abstract

Approximately 5% of newborns were infected by hepatitis B virus (HBV) via intrauterine transmission and this is the main reason for high prevalence of HBV in endemic regions. However, the mechanisms by which intrauterine transmission is avoided in most cases remain elusive and placental natural anti-microbial factors may play a role in the prevention of HBV intrauterine transmission. The expression levels of human β-defensin-3 (HBD-3), apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide 3G (A3G) and mannose binding lectin (MBL) were determined in the placenta of 30 HBV-seronegative pregnant women (controls), 7 HBV-seropositive pregnant women with infants infected via intrauterine transmission (infected group) and 30 HBV-seropositive pregnant women with non-infected infants (non-infected group). The expression of HBD-3, A3G, and MBL of placental trophoblast cell line Swan71 was determined after exposed to HBV. There were significant differences in placental HBD-3 and A3G levels among three groups, but the expression of MBL did not significantly differ. The expressions of HBD-3 and A3G were higher in non-infected group than controls and infected group, but not significantly different between infected group and controls. The exposure to HBV increased significantly the expression of HBD-3, A3G, and MBL by Swan 71. It may be concluded HBV up-regulates HBD-3 and A3G expression in vivo and in vitro in placental trophoblast and lack of this up-regulation is possibly associated with intrauterine transmission of HBV.

β-defensin 1 expression in HCV infected liver/liver cancer: an important role in protecting HCV progression and liver cancer development

“…α-defensin was shown to be increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with HCV infection 26 , on the other hand, β-defensin 3 has been shown to be upregulated by HBV and this upregulation actually prevented intrauterine transmission of HBV to infants 27 . While β-defensin 1 has been shown to be upregulated in cirrhotic liver, its expression in HCV-infected liver was still unknown 28 .…”

Antiviral and Immunomodulatory Properties of Antimicrobial Peptides Produced by Human Keratinocytes

“…Its expression could be then induced as early as 3 h postinfection with IAV, Sendai virus or, in a much lesser extent, HSV-1 (Ryan et al, 2011). Finally, hBD concentrations have been demonstrated to be elevated after exposure to Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) viruses as well as to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) (Bai et al, 2015;Aksoy et al, 2016;Mattar et al, 2016a). Concentrations of hBDs were shown to be significantly higher in HCV-infected patient sera, ranging from 900 to 21,120 ng/mL, compared to controls where they were less than 60 ng/mL (Mattar et al, 2016a).…”

New Insights into Upper Airway Innate Immunity

“…They have far-reaching antimicrobial properties, which are capable of affecting membrane permeabilization in both bacteria and fungi, and of exhibiting a wide range of antiviral effects, including directly attacking viral envelopes, capsids, and glycoproteins, inhibiting viral entry, and preventing viral replication. 5,[50][51][52] Defensin expression is upregulated in the airway epithelium on pathogenic bacterial or viral exposure, 53,54 and elevated levels of ␤-defensins correlate with inflammation in patients with cystic fibrosis. 42 Cathelicidins are another major class of antimicrobial peptides, although LL-37 is the only cathelicidin member found in humans.…”