State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Department of Laboratorial Science and Technology & Vaccine Research Center, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Emerg Microbes Infect. 2023 Dec;12(1):e2192816. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2192816.
Emerging zoonoses of wildlife origin caused by previously unknown agents are one of the most important challenges for human health. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau represents a unique ecological niche with diverse wildlife that harbours several human pathogens and numerous previously uncharacterized pathogens. In this study, we identified and characterized a novel arenavirus (namely, plateau pika virus, PPV) from plateau pikas () on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by virome analysis. Isolated PPV strains could replicate in several mammalian cells. We further investigated PPV pathogenesis using animal models. PPV administered via an intraventricular route caused trembling and sudden death in IFNαβR mice, and pathological inflammatory lesions in brain tissue were observed. According to a retrospective serological survey in the geographical region where PPV was isolated, PPV-specific IgG antibodies were detected in 8 (2.4%) of 335 outpatients with available sera. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that this virus was clearly separated from previously reported New and Old World mammarenaviruses. Under the co-speciation framework, the estimated divergence time of PPV was 77-88 million years ago (MYA), earlier than that of OW and NW mammarenaviruses (26-34 MYA).
源于野生动物的新兴人畜共患病病原体是对人类健康的最重要挑战之一。青藏高原是一个独特的生态位，拥有多样的野生动物，其中包含几种人类病原体和许多以前尚未描述的病原体。在这项研究中，我们通过病毒组分析从青藏高原的高原鼠兔中鉴定并描述了一种新型沙粒病毒（即高原鼠兔病毒，PPV）。分离出的 PPV 株可在几种哺乳动物细胞中复制。我们进一步使用动物模型研究了 PPV 的发病机制。通过脑室途径给药的 PPV 会导致 IFNαβR 小鼠颤抖和突然死亡，并观察到脑组织中的病理性炎症病变。根据在分离出 PPV 的地理区域进行的回顾性血清学调查，在可获得血清的 335 名门诊患者中，有 8 人（2.4%）检测到了针对 PPV 的 IgG 抗体。系统发育分析表明，该病毒与先前报道的新旧世界沙粒病毒明显分离。在共进化框架下，PPV 的估计分化时间为 77-8800 万年前（MYA），早于 OW 和 NW 沙粒病毒（26-34 MYA）。
