Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 21, 2015; 21(3): 862-867
Published online Jan 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i3.862
Experimental infection of Z:ZCLA Mongolian gerbils with human hepatitis E virus
Yan Hong, Zhuo-Jing He, Wei Tao, Ting Fu, Yan-Kun Wang, Yong Chen
Yan Hong, Zhuo-Jing He, Wei Tao, Ting Fu, Yan-Kun Wang, Yong Chen, Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Science, Hangzhou 310013, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Hong Y, He ZJ, Tao W, Fu T and Chen Y designed the study; Hong Y, He ZJ, Tao W, Fu T and Wang YK performed the experiments; Tao W, Fu T and Wang YK analyzed the data; Hong Y, He ZJ and Chen Y wrote the paper.
Supported by Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province No. 2011F20015; and Health and Family Planning Commission of Zhejiang Province, No. XKQ-010001.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yan Hong, Professor, Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Science, 182 Tianmushan Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310013, Zhejiang Province, China. hongy1008@163.com
Telephone: +86-571-88215588 Fax: +86-571-88215588
Received: May 27, 2014
Peer-review started: May 27, 2014
First decision: June 27, 2014
Revised: July 22, 2014
Accepted: September 5, 2014
Article in press: September 5, 2014
Published online: January 21, 2015
Abstract

AIM: To investigate whether Z:ZCLA Mongolian gerbils are readily susceptible to infection by human hepatitis E virus (HEV).

METHODS: Z:ZCLA Mongolian gerbils were infected with a clinical HEV strain isolated from an acute hepatitis E patient, and virus pathogenesis was assessed in this host. Non-infected gerbils served as the control group. Feces samples from gerbils were collected weekly for reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction. Serum anti-HEV IgG and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. At sacrifice, each animal’s liver, spleen and kidney were collected for histopathologic examination.

RESULTS: HEV-infected gerbils showed fatigue, with histopathological changes observed in the liver, spleen and kidney. HEV RNA was detected in fecal samples taken at day 7 after inoculation and the detectable levels lasted out to day 42 after inoculation. Interestingly, ALT levels were only moderately increased in the HEV-infected animals compared with the non-infected control group.

CONCLUSION: Z:ZCLA Mongolian gerbils are susceptible to human HEV.

Keywords: Hepatitis E virus, Mongolian gerbils, Infection, Interspecies transmission, Zoonosis

Core tip: Z:ZCLA Mongolian gerbils were infected with human hepatitis E virus (HEV). Feces samples from gerbils were collected weekly for reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction. Serum anti-HEV IgG and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) detection was carried out by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. At sacrifice, liver, spleen and kidney were collected from infected animals and non-infected controls for histopathologic examination. Detectable HEV RNA in fecal samples appeared at post-inoculation day 7 and persisted through day 42. Interestingly, ALT levels were only moderately increased in infected animals compared with control animals. These findings indicate that Z:ZCLA Mongolian gerbils are susceptible to human HEV.