Cao J, Yang E-B, Su J-J, Li Y, Chow P
Department of Pathology, Guangxi Cancer Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
J Med Primatol. 2003 Jun;32(3):123-30. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0684.2003.00022.x.
The tree shrews are non-rodent, primate-like, small animals. There is increasing interest in using them to establish animal models for medical and biological research. This review focuses on the use of the tree shrews in in vivo studies on viral hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), myopia, and psychosocial stress. Because of the susceptibility of the tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) and their hepatocytes to infection with human hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vivo and in vitro, these animals have been used to establish human hepatitis virus-induced hepatitis and human HBV- and aflatoxin B1-associated HCC models. As these animals are phylogenetically close to primates in evolution and have a well-developed visual system and color vision in some species, they have been utilized to establish myopia models. Because dramatic behavioral, physiological, and neuroendocrine changes in subordinate male tree shrews are similar to those observed in depressed human patients, the tree shrews have been successfully employed to experimentally study psychosocial stress. However, the tree shrews holds significant promise as research models and great use could be made of these animals in biomedical research.
树鼩是一种非啮齿类、类似灵长类的小型动物。人们越来越有兴趣利用它们来建立医学和生物学研究的动物模型。这篇综述聚焦于树鼩在病毒性肝炎、肝细胞癌（HCC）、近视和心理社会应激的体内研究中的应用。由于树鼩（笔尾树鼩）及其肝细胞在体内和体外对人乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染敏感，这些动物已被用于建立人类肝炎病毒诱导的肝炎以及人类HBV和黄曲霉毒素B1相关的HCC模型。由于这些动物在进化上与灵长类动物亲缘关系较近，并且在某些物种中具有发达的视觉系统和色觉，它们已被用于建立近视模型。由于从属雄性树鼩的行为、生理和神经内分泌的显著变化与抑郁症患者相似，树鼩已成功用于心理社会应激的实验研究。然而，树鼩作为研究模型具有巨大潜力，在生物医学研究中可以充分利用这些动物。
