Gamage Chandika, Holl William, Parreño Viviana, Thieulent Côme J, Balasuriya Udeni B R, Vissani M Aldana, Barrandeguy Maria E, Carossino Mariano
Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
J Gen Virol. 2025 Jun;106(6). doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.002110.
Group A rotavirus (RVA) infections are a leading cause of neonatal diarrhoea in foals. Neonatal mice could serve as a useful tool to study the pathogenesis of equine RVA (ERVA) as well as a preclinical model for assessment of vaccine efficacy. This study aimed to comparatively evaluate the clinical, virological and pathological features of ERVA G3P[12] and G14P[12] infection in neonatal mice and compare them with porcine OSU G5P[7] and bovine UK G6P[5] RVA reference strains. Neonatal mice orally inoculated with equine, bovine and porcine RVA developed short-lived diarrhoea at variable rates, G14P[12] (61%) and G3P[12] (88%). Viral replication kinetics for all strains were characterized by a gradual decline in viral load to levels below the limit of detection by 72-96 h post-infection (hpi), in line with the reduction in the number of infected enterocytes demonstrated via RNAscope hybridization. Importantly, the clinical and viral replication kinetics correlated with significant microscopic intestinal alterations characterized by enterocyte vacuolation, scalloping and hyperplasia with a peak occurring at 48 hpi and persisting until at least 96 hpi. Overall, neonatal mice develop a disease phenotype of short duration following infection with equine, porcine and bovine RVA strains characterized by diarrhoea and pronounced histological alterations in the intestinal villi. The limited intestinal viral replication is likely associated with host restriction. The clinical and pathological phenotypes developed by neonatal mice following experimental infection could serve as a preclinical tool to assess vaccine efficacy and for pathogenesis studies involving RVA of equine, porcine and bovine origin.
A组轮状病毒（RVA）感染是马驹新生儿腹泻的主要原因。新生小鼠可作为研究马RVA（ERVA）发病机制的有用工具，以及评估疫苗效力的临床前模型。本研究旨在比较评估ERVA G3P[12]和G14P[12]在新生小鼠中的临床、病毒学和病理学特征，并将它们与猪OSU G5P[7]和牛UK G6P[5] RVA参考毒株进行比较。口服接种马、牛和猪RVA的新生小鼠以不同的发生率出现短暂腹泻，G14P[12]（61%）和G3P[12]（88%）。所有毒株的病毒复制动力学特征是，感染后72 - 96小时（hpi）病毒载量逐渐下降至低于检测限水平，这与通过RNAscope杂交显示的受感染肠细胞数量减少一致。重要的是，临床和病毒复制动力学与显著的微观肠道改变相关，其特征为肠细胞空泡化、扇贝样改变和增生，在48 hpi达到峰值并持续至至少96 hpi。总体而言，新生小鼠在感染马、猪和牛RVA毒株后会出现持续时间较短的疾病表型，其特征为腹泻和肠道绒毛明显的组织学改变。肠道病毒复制受限可能与宿主限制有关。新生小鼠在实验感染后出现的临床和病理表型可作为评估疫苗效力以及用于涉及马、猪和牛源RVA发病机制研究的临床前工具。
