Department of Microbiology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
J Viral Hepat. 2011 Sep;18(9):661-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2010.01341.x. Epub 2010 Jun 29.
A novel genotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV) isolated from rabbits is reported. The aim of this study was to confirm and further investigate the prevalence of the novel HEV genotype in rabbits in China. Sera and faecal samples were collected from farmed rex rabbits in Beijing, China. All serum samples were tested for anti-HEV antibody by EIA. Both the serum and the faecal samples were evaluated for detection of HEV RNA using a nested RT-PCR assay. The nucleotide sequences of rabbit HEV were then analysed, and sequence homology of rabbit HEV compared against human HEV genotypes 1-4, and avian HEV.
The prevalence of positive serum anti-HEV from rex rabbits was 54.62% (65/119). The detection rate of HEV RNA using ORF2 primers was 6.96% (8/115) amongst rabbit faecal samples. All eight amplicons shared 98.3-100% nucleotide homology with each other and had identities of 75.8-78.6%, 73.9-75.0%, 77.5-81.0%, 74.2-78.6% and 54.8-57.6% with the corresponding regions of genotypes 1-4 and avian HEV, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the eight sequences formed one individual branch and were on the same branch with GDC9 and GDC46, both of which were reported to be a novel genotype of HEV isolated from rabbits. The conclusion is that this study provides further information about HEV infecting rabbits, which may be a new animal host of HEV, as well as genetical evidence of a new mammalian genotype of HEV.
报告了一种从兔子中分离出的新型戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）基因型。本研究旨在证实并进一步调查新型 HEV 基因型在中国兔中的流行情况。从中国北京养殖的獭兔中采集血清和粪便样本。所有血清样本均采用 EIA 法检测抗-HEV 抗体。采用巢式 RT-PCR 法检测血清和粪便样本中 HEV RNA 的存在。然后分析兔 HEV 的核苷酸序列，并将兔 HEV 与人类 HEV 基因型 1-4 和禽 HEV 进行序列同源性比较。
REX 兔血清抗-HEV 阳性率为 54.62%（65/119）。使用 ORF2 引物检测兔粪便样本中 HEV RNA 的检出率为 6.96%（8/115）。所有 8 个扩增子彼此之间共享 98.3-100%的核苷酸同源性，与基因型 1-4 和禽 HEV 的相应区域具有 75.8-78.6%、73.9-75.0%、77.5-81.0%、74.2-78.6%和 54.8-57.6%的同一性。系统进化分析表明，这 8 个序列形成一个单独的分支，与 GDC9 和 GDC46 位于同一分支，GDC9 和 GDC46 均为从兔子中分离出的新型 HEV 基因型。结论：本研究进一步提供了有关感染兔子的 HEV 的信息，这可能是 HEV 的新动物宿主，也是新型哺乳动物 HEV 基因型的遗传证据。
