It is stated in the study titled "Diagnostic Efficacy of Serological Antibody Detection Tests for Hepatitis Delta Virus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" by Zhenzhen Pan et al. (2023) that hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a blood-borne pathogen that relies on the envelope protein of hepatitis b virus (HBV) for the assembly and release of infectious virus particles. I am curious on why HDV is dependent on HBV and what are its key viral and host factors.
Good day Ms.Sulit!
HBV surface proteins are necessary for the hepatitis D virus (HDV) to produce mature virion particles, which is why HDV is categorized as a satellite virus. As a result, HDV may either co-infect or superinfect with HBV, but it is unable to disseminate or package infectious virions when HBV is not present. Preliminary research using cell cultures and mouse models has shown that encapsulated viruses other than HBV may produce infectious delta virus particles, but as of yet, there is no concrete proof of the therapeutic relevance of these findings. Though they usually recover from both viruses, coinfected patients may experience acute hepatitis. The risk of developing chronic HDV infection and its associated comorbidities increases when an HBV carrier with a chronic infection is superinfected with HDV.
Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9781095/#:~:text=Hepatitis%20D%20virus%20(HDV)%20is,absence%20of%20HBV%20%5B26%5D.
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