戊型肝炎病毒啮齿类动物感染模型的研究进展

Research progress of rodent infection model for hepatitis E virus

戊型肝炎病毒(hepatitis E virus,HEV)感染引起的戊型肝炎,已成为全球广泛关注的公共卫生问题。HEV是重要的人兽共患病原体,动物宿主的种类及分布广泛。近年来,在多国的大鼠等动物中发现了一种新基因型HEV且能跨物种感染人,这引起了广泛关注。由于目前尚缺乏用于HEV感染和致病机制研究的理想动物模型,大鼠作为HEV动物宿主的发现促使研究人员尝试开发啮齿类动物作为HEV感染动物模型。本文总结了目前有关大鼠HEV遗传学和流行病学特点,以及啮齿类动物作为HEV感染动物模型的相关研究进展。

Hepatitis E virus(HEV)is the pathogen of hepatitis E that has become a public health concern worldwide.HEV is an important zoonotic virus with a wide range of animal hosts.In recent years,researchers have discovered a novel HEV genotype in animals,mostly in rats,and it could infect humans and posed a zoonotic risk.Due to the lack of an ideal small animal model for the study of HEV infection and pathogenesis,the discovery of rats as natural host of HEV prompted attempts of researchers to develop rodents as animal models for HEV infection.This review provides insights on the current genetics and epidemiological characteristics of HEV isolates from rodents,and summarizes recent progress of rodents as the animal model for HEV infection.