INSERM, UMR 1043, F-31300 Toulouse, France; Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU Purpan, 330 Avenue de Grande Bretagne, F-31300 Toulouse, France.
J Clin Virol. 2013 Oct;58(2):357-62. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2013.02.006. Epub 2013 Mar 7.
Hepatitis E virus strains from rabbits indicate that these mammals may be a reservoir for HEVs that cause infection in humans. Further issues remain to be clarified, including whether the genotype of rabbit HEV differs from human and swine HEV genotype 3 and whether rabbit HEV can infect human and other animals. HEV was found in farmed rabbits in several geographic areas of China, in USA and more recently in France. The prevalence of antibodies against HEV was 36%, 57% and 55% in rabbits from Virginia (USA), Gansu Province and Beijing (China), respectively. HEV RNA was detected in 16.5% of serum samples from farmed rabbits in Virginia, 7.5% in Gansu Province and 7.0% in Beijing. HEV RNA was detected in 7% of bile samples from farmed rabbits and in 23% of liver samples from wild rabbits in France. The full-length genomic sequences analysis indicates that all the rabbit strains belong to the same clade. Nucleotide sequences were 72.2-78.2% identical to HEV genotypes 1-4. Comparison with HEV sequences of human strains circulating in France and reference sequences identified a human strain closely related to rabbit HEV. A 93-nucleotide insertion in the X domain of the ORF1 of the human strain and in all the rabbit HEV strains was found. Moreover, the ability of rabbit HEV to cause cross-species infection in a pig model has recently been demonstrated. Rabbit HEV can replicate efficiently in human cell lines. Collectively, these data support the possibility of zoonotic transmission of HEV from rabbits.
兔源戊型肝炎病毒株表明，这些哺乳动物可能是感染人类的戊型肝炎病毒的宿主。还有一些问题需要进一步澄清，包括兔源戊型肝炎病毒与人类和猪源戊型肝炎病毒 3 型的基因型是否不同，以及兔源戊型肝炎病毒是否可以感染人类和其他动物。在中国的几个地理区域、美国和最近的法国都从养殖兔中发现了戊型肝炎病毒。弗吉尼亚州（美国）、甘肃省和北京市（中国）的兔血清抗 HEV 抗体阳性率分别为 36%、57%和 55%。弗吉尼亚州养殖兔血清样本中 HEV RNA 的检出率为 16.5%，甘肃省为 7.5%，北京市为 7.0%。从养殖兔的胆汁样本中检测到 7%的 HEV RNA，从法国的野生兔的肝脏样本中检测到 23%的 HEV RNA。全长基因组序列分析表明，所有兔株均属于同一分支。核苷酸序列与 HEV 基因型 1-4 的同源性为 72.2%-78.2%。与法国流行的人类株和参考序列的 HEV 序列比较，发现一株与兔源 HEV 密切相关的人类株。在该人类株的 ORF1 X 结构域和所有兔源 HEV 株中发现了一个 93 个核苷酸的插入。此外，最近还证明了兔源戊型肝炎病毒在猪模型中引起跨种感染的能力。兔源戊型肝炎病毒能够在人源细胞系中高效复制。综上所述，这些数据支持了从兔向人类传播戊型肝炎病毒的可能性。
