病毒接种剂量对HBV感染成年树鼩的影响

Impact of viral inoculum dose on the outcome of HBV infection in adult Tupaia

目的探讨不同病毒接种剂量对乙肝病毒(hepatitis B virus,HBV)感染树鼩进程的影响。方法分别给4组树鼩接种含101、102、104和108GE(genome equivalents)乙肝病毒的感染者血清,于不同时间点采集树鼩血清标本,应用实时荧光定量PCR(real-time fluorescence,PCR)检测血清HBV DNA浓度,用电化学发光免疫测定法(electrochemiluminescence immunoassay,ELICA)检测血清中HBV感染标志物,用临床生化分析仪测定谷丙转氨酶(alanine transaminase,ALT)水平。结果接种108GE HBV后树鼩体内HBV感染持续3周,接种104GE HBV后树鼩体内HBV感染延长至15周,接种101和102GE HBV后树鼩体内HBV感染可以存在9周。结论病毒接种剂量对HBV感染成年树鼩的进程有显著影响,中低剂量(101、102和104GE)接种利于树鼩体内HBV感染的维持。

It has been reported that Tupaia can be transiently infected with hepatitis B virus（HBV） in vivo.In this study,we employed Tupaia to evaluate the impact of inoculation dose on the outcome of HBV infection.Total of 12 adult male Tupaia were randomly divided into 4 groups.Each group was inoculated with 101,102,104 or 108 genome equivalents（GE） HBV respectively.Then,we collected serum from all groups at different time points,for serum HBV DNA detection using real-time fluorescence PCR.At the same time,the levels of HBsAg,HBsAb,HBeAg and HBeAb were determined by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay（ELICA）,and the concentrations of serum alanine transaminase（ALT） were analyzed by a clinical biochemical analyzer.We found that the infection caused by high-dose inoculum（108 GE） could last 3 weeks,while low-dose inoculum（101 and 102 GE） extended HBV infection to 9 weeks.Surprisingly,HBV viremia of Tupaia that received intermediate inocula（104 GE） could be detected for successive 15 weeks.These results indicate that intermediate and low dose of virus inoculum prolong the duration of HBV infection.