Seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies to human adenovirus type 5, human adenovirus type 26 and chimpanzee adenovirus type 68 in patients with chronic hepatitis B and patients with primary liver cancer

AIM: To investigate the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies to human adenovirus type 5 (AdHu5), human adenovirus type 26 (AdHu26) and chimpanzee adenovirus type 68 (AdC68) in the patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and the patients with primary liver cancer (PLC), and to provide guidance for developing safe and effective biotherapy vectors against CHB and PLC. METHODS: The blood samples from 196 patients with CHB and 193 patients with PLC were examined to assess the presence of neutralizing antibodies against AdHu5, AdHu26 and AdC68 by adenovirus neutralization assays. RESULTS: The seroprevalence rates of neutralizing antibodies to AdHu5, AdHu26 and AdC68 in the CHB patients were 84.7%, 58.2% and 39.8%, respectively. Among the patients with PLC, the prevalence rates of neutralizing antibodies were as follows: AdHu5, 75.1%; AdHu26, 66.8%; AdC68, 32.1%. CONCLUSION: The prevalence rates and titers of neutralizing antibodies against AdC68 were the lowest among the 3 adenoviruses. Therefore, AdC68 serves as more suitable biological therapy vectors for CHB and PLC than AdHu5 and AdHu26.