Viral hepatitis and primates: historical and molecular analysis of human and nonhuman primate hepatitis A, B, and the GB‐related viruses

Abstract

The hepatitis viruses have long been assumed to be highly host-specific, with infection of other nonhuman primates occurring due to inoculation with, or exposure to, human viruses. This paradigm has slowly changed over the last 10 years, as mounting data has revealed nonhuman primate equivalents of hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, and the hepatitis C-related viruses GBV-C and GBV-A. This review summarizes the historical and molecular information for each of these groups and highlights the impact of these nonhuman primate hepatitis viruses on our understanding of the evolution of each of these viruses.

Overview of known non-human primate pathogens with potential to affect colonies used for toxicity testing

“…Antigenically, these viruses are related to human HAV yet have a significant degree of genomic heterogeneity, with four distinct simian HAVs differing not only from each other but also from all human HAV strains (Balayan, 1992). Natural cross-species transmission is primarily limited to chimpanzees and humans, although multiple species of Old World and New World monkeys can be experimentally infected (Balayan, 1992;Robertson, 2001). In macaques, natural HAV infection is usually mild or subclinical, with rare instances of severe disease and mortality (Le Bras et al, 1984;Shevtsova et al, 1987;Balayan, 1992;Lankas and Jensen, 1987).…”

Deoxycytidyl-Deoxyguanosine Oligonucleotide Classes A, B, and C Induce Distinct Cytokine Gene Expression Patterns in Rhesus Monkey Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and Distinct Alpha Interferon Responses in TLR9-Expressing Rhesus Monkey Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells

“…In recent years, many nonhuman primate models of viral infections have been developed to study virus-host interactions and to test the efficacy of possible vaccine candidates (9,42,45,53,54). Importantly, monkey models of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection are the best animal models available to study human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and AIDS pathogenesis (48,49).…”

Development and Evaluation of a Broadly Reactive TaqMan Assay for Rapid Detection of Hepatitis A Virus

“…This more variable region has been used to distinguish genotypes. Genotypes I, II, and III were found in humans, while genotypes IV, V, and VI were recovered from simians (17,20,23,29). Early investigations identified a seventh genotype (25), but recent analysis of the complete capsid genome region and complete genomes of additional isolates has indicated that genotype VII should be reclassified as genotype IIB (4,17).…”