Chronic hepatitis associated with GB virus B persistence in a tamarin after intrahepatic inoculation of synthetic viral RNA

Annette Martin, Francis Bodola, David V. Sangar, Kathryn Goettge, Vsevolod Popov, Rene Rijnbrand, Robert E. Lanford, Stanley M. Lemon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

Progress in understanding the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been slowed by the absence of tractable small animal models. Whereas GB virus B (GBV-B, an unclassified flavivirus) shares a phylogenetic relationship and several biologic attributes with HCV, including hepatotropism, it is not known to cause persistent infection, a hallmark of HCV. Here, we document persistent GBV-B infection in one of two healthy tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) inoculated intrahepatically with infectious synthetic RNA. High-titer viremia (10 8 to 109 genome equivalents per mi) and transiently elevated serum alanine transaminase activities were present from weeks 4 to 12 postinoculation in both animals. However, whereas GBV-B was eliminated from one animal by 20 weeks, the second animal remained viremic (103 to 107 genome equivalents per mi) for >2 years, with alanine transaminase levels becoming elevated again before spontaneous resolution of the infection. A liver biopsy taken late in the course of infection demonstrated hepatitis with periportal mononuclear infiltrates, hepatocellular microvesicular changes, cytoplasmic lipid droplets, and disordered mitochondrial ultrastructure, findings remarkably similar to chronic hepatitis C. GBV-B-infected hepatocytes contained numerous small vesicular membranous structures resembling those associated with expression of HCV nonstructural proteins, and sequencing of GBV-B RNA demonstrated a rate of molecular evolution comparable to that of HCV. We conclude that GBV-B is capable of establishing persistent infections in healthy tamarins, a feature that substantially enhances its value as a model for HCV. Mitochondrial structural changes and altered lipid metabolism leading to steatosis are conserved features of the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis caused by these genetically distinct flaviviruses.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9962-9967
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume100
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 19 2003

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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