Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an intestinally transmitted viral hepatitis pathogen that can infect humans and a variety of animals across species and has been isolated to date in a variety of animals including pigs, rabbits, deer, cows, goats, camels, rats, and ferrets. It is transmitted mainly by the fecal-oral route, but can also be transmitted by other routes, such as blood-borne, contact, vertical transmission, and organ transplantation. The lack of suitable animal models for HEV research has limited the study of its pathogenesis.

HEV is currently not available for in vitro tissue culture, but chimpanzees, macaques, rhesus monkeys, African green monkeys, and bearded marmosets are sensitive to HEV and can be used for in vivo culture and isolation of the virus. Ace Therapeutics can provide customization services for hepatitis E virus models, including macaque HEV models, porcine HEV models, mouse HEV models, rabbit HEV models, and avian HEV models. These models can be used to understand the pathogenesis of HEV infection, tissue and organ lesions, and immune response, and to further study the development and screening of drugs and vaccines.

Customization Service Options for Animal Models of Hepatitis E Infection

• Macaque HEV models

[Model characteristics] Macaques are a particularly suitable experimental animal for HEV studies. Infection with HEV results in detectable hepatitis, viremia, and fecal excretion of the virus in animals with higher virus copy numbers in feces than in serum. In the experimental macaque model of hepatitis E, the macaque is promising for human hepatitis E research because of the occurrence of viremia, the ability of the liver to produce HEVAg and secrete HEV or VLPs into the bile and feces, the biochemical and histological characteristics of hepatitis, and the production of anti-HEV antibodies.

• Porcine HEV models

[Model characteristics] Domestic pigs are susceptible to HEV and have a characteristic appearance of jaundice, enlarged liver and mesenteric lymph nodes, and hepatitis. The hepatic inflammatory response and hepatocyte necrosis peaked 20 d after infection with the human HEV strain and persisted until d 55, whereas in pigs infected with the porcine HEV strain, hepatitis lesions were barely detected or resolved spontaneously within 55 d. The extent and persistence of hepatitis lesions caused by human HEV infection in pigs are greater than that of porcine HEV.

• Mouse HEV models

[Model characteristics] HEV viruses have cross-species transmission characteristics, and antibodies to HEV can be detected in both domestic and wild mice, so it is generally accepted that rodents can be used as a potential model for HEV infection. Infection of nude mice with a porcine HEV strain resulted in detectable viral RNA and antigen in their liver, spleen, kidney, jejunum, ileum, and colon, leading to severe hepatitis, splenic rupture, and enlargement, and elevated serum aspartate aminotransferase activity, and alkaline phosphatase activity. Mice can be used as a complement to large animals as an animal model of HEV.

• Rabbit HEV models

[Model characteristics] Rabbit is not susceptible to human HEV, whereas its infection with rabbit HEV triggers viremia and fecal detoxification, with high levels of detectable viral antigens in the serum and subsequent development of hepatitis and elevated liver enzyme (ALT) activity.

• Avian HEV models

[Model characteristics] In SPF-grade chickens infected with avian HEV, HEV can be detected in the feces and viral nucleic acids can be detected in the serum, bile, and liver of the chickens. The hepatic lesions included subepithelial hemorrhage and right hepatic lobe enlargement, and the pathology showed perilymphocytic inflammation and phlebitis, and a slight elevation of lactate dehydrogenase activity.

Note: In addition, there are other modeling services available for you to choose from, please consult us for details.

• Parasitology discovery and pre-research service
• Parasitology metabolism research service
• Parasitology target and structure function research
• Parasitology effectiveness evaluation service
• Parasitology safety evaluation service
• Parasitology pharmacological research service