Establishment of a robust rat hepatitis E virus fecal-oral infection model and validation for antiviral studies.
Antiviral Res
; 216: 105670, 2023 08.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37451630
ABSTRACT
The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major cause of hepatitis, with an estimated 3.3 million symptomatic cases annually. There is no HEV-specific treatment besides the off-label use of ribavirin and a vaccine is only available in China and Pakistan. To aid the development of therapeutic and preventive strategies, there is a need for convenient HEV infection models in small laboratory animals. To this end, we make use of the rat hepatitis E virus. Human infections with this virus have been reported in recent years, making it a relevant pathogen for the establishment of a small animal infection model. We here report that oral gavage of a feces suspension, containing a pre-defined viral RNA load, results in a reproducible synchronized infection in athymic nude rats. This route of administration mimics fecal-oral transmission in a standardized fashion. The suitability of the model to study the effect of antiviral drugs was assessed by using ribavirin, which significantly reduced viral loads in the feces, liver, and other tissues.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Virus de la Hepatitis E
/
Hepatitis E
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Antiviral Res
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Bélgica