Development of the mouse model for acute hepatitis B virus infection / 中国人兽共患病学报

ABSTRACT

A mouse model for acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was established by using the hydrodynamical injection of mouse tail vein, in which the immunocompetent BALB/c mice were hydrodynamically injected with a competent replication plasmid pAAV-HBV1.2 having 1.2 fold over-length of HBV DNA. On day 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 after injection, the levels of HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV DNA in blood serum were detected by using ELISA and fluorogenic quantitative PCR assay (FQ-PCR). And on day 8. HBsAg and HBeAg in liver tissue were assayed by immunohistochemical staining. It was found that HBsAg in blood serum could be detected on day 1 after infection in 14 of 16 mice (85.7%) injected with pAVV-HBV1.2 by using ELISA assay and the peak levels of HBsAg and HBeAg were attained during the first day after injection and then it dropped down gradually up to day 8 following injection. The titer of HBV DNA in blood serum attained its peak on day 2 and maintained a high level later on. On day 8 after injection, its titer was 1.9×10~4 copies/mL. The percentage of HBcAg-positive hepatocytes and HBsAg-positive hepatocytes in liver tissues were 5% and 2% respectively. Thus, by using the hydrodynamic injection with the competent replication plasmid, a mouse model for acute HBV infection is successively developed.