Hebei Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China.
National Engineering Research Center for Gelatin-based TCM, Dong-E E-Jiao Co., Ltd., Donge, Shandong, China.
Equine Vet J. 2020 May;52(3):415-419. doi: 10.1111/evj.13203. Epub 2019 Dec 4.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of acute self-limiting hepatitis in humans in developing countries. Hepatitis E virus RNA was first detected in donkeys in Spain, but little is known about the possible presence of HEV in donkeys in China.
To investigate the prevalence of HEV in donkeys in northern China.
Investigation of the prevalence of HEV in donkeys using serological, molecular and phylogenetic approaches.
A total of 401 donkey serum specimens were tested for serological and molecular detection of HEV via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The amplified products were cloned in pMD18-T vector and sequenced. The alignment and phylogenetic analysis of partial HEV ORF2 genes were compared with the corresponding sequences of the obtained HEV representative strains.
Serological results showed that 49 donkeys (12.22%, 95% CI: 9.18-15.83%) were positive for anti-HEV-specific antibodies, and 17 donkeys (4.24%, 95% CI: 2.49-6.70%) were positive for HEV viral RNA. On the basis of sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis, all isolated HEV strains belonged to genotype 3 (HEV-3) or HEV-4, sharing more than 76.2-96.3% identities with 67 other HEV representative strains of HEV-1 to HEV-8.
Further studies about the prevalence of HEV in organs or faecal samples from donkeys are needed to evaluate the possible role of HEV reservoir and to determine the risk factors associated with the transmission of this zoonotic virus in donkeys in China.
This is the first report documenting the molecular analysis of donkey HEV strains worldwide and the serological evidence of HEV infection in donkeys in northern China. The results suggest that young donkeys are more susceptible to HEV infection compared with older donkeys. Further investigation is required to determine whether donkeys should be considered reservoirs for zoonotic HEV. The Summary is available in Chinese - see Supporting information.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）是发展中国家人类急性自限性肝炎的病原体。HEV RNA 最初在西班牙的驴中被检测到，但在中国驴中可能存在 HEV 的情况知之甚少。
调查中国北方驴中 HEV 的流行情况。
使用血清学、分子和系统发育方法调查驴中 HEV 的流行情况。
通过酶联免疫吸附试验和实时定量逆转录聚合酶链反应检测 401 份驴血清标本，用于 HEV 的血清学和分子检测。扩增产物克隆于 pMD18-T 载体并测序。对部分 HEV ORF2 基因的序列比对和系统发育分析，与获得的 HEV 代表株的相应序列进行比较。
血清学结果显示，49 头驴（12.22%，95%可信区间：9.18-15.83%）抗-HEV 特异性抗体阳性，17 头驴（4.24%，95%可信区间：2.49-6.70%）HEV 病毒 RNA 阳性。基于序列比对和系统发育分析，所有分离的 HEV 株均属于基因型 3（HEV-3）或 HEV-4，与 67 株其他 HEV-1 至 HEV-8 代表株的同源性超过 76.2-96.3%。
需要进一步研究驴器官或粪便样本中 HEV 的流行情况，以评估 HEV 可能的储主作用，并确定与中国驴中这种人畜共患病毒传播相关的危险因素。
这是首次报道全球驴 HEV 株的分子分析和中国北方驴中 HEV 感染的血清学证据。结果表明，幼驴比老驴更容易感染 HEV。需要进一步调查，以确定是否应将驴视为人畜共患 HEV 的储主。摘要有中文版本-见支持信息。
