Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Foundation, Hanover, Germany.
Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses, University of Veterinary Medicine, Foundation, Hanover, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 20;13(1):3519. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31200-y.
Since its discovery in 2019, multiple variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been identified. This study investigates virus spread and associated pathology in the upper and lower respiratory tracts of Syrian golden hamsters at 4 days post intranasal SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection, in comparison to infection with variants of concern (VOCs) Gamma and Delta as well as ancestral strain 614 G. Pathological changes in the upper and lower respiratory tract of VOC Omicron infected hamsters are milder than those caused by other investigated strains. VOC Omicron infection causes a mild rhinitis with little involvement of the olfactory epithelium and minimal lesions in the lung, with frequent sparing of the alveolar compartment. Similarly, viral antigen, RNA and infectious virus titers are lower in respiratory tissues of VOC Omicron infected hamsters. These findings demonstrate that the variant has a decreased pathogenicity for the upper and lower respiratory tract of hamsters.
自 2019 年发现以来，已鉴定出多种严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）变体。本研究比较了感染 SARS-CoV-2 奥密克戎变体、关切变体（VOCs）伽马和德尔塔以及原始株 614G 4 天后，叙利亚金黄地鼠上呼吸道和下呼吸道的病毒传播和相关病理学变化。与其他研究株相比，感染 VOC 奥密克戎的金黄地鼠上呼吸道和下呼吸道的病理变化较轻。VOC 奥密克戎感染引起轻度鼻炎，嗅上皮受累较少，肺部病变最小，肺泡隔常不受累。同样，VOC 奥密克戎感染的金黄地鼠呼吸道组织中的病毒抗原、RNA 和感染性病毒滴度也较低。这些发现表明，该变体对上呼吸道和下呼吸道的致病性降低。
