New advances in tree shrew model in experimental studies of hepatitis B virus / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the main cause of liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and it is also a major health problem around the world. How to establish an efficient, reliable, and standardized animal model of chronic HBV infection is essential to the study of the pathogenesis and prevention strategies for HBV infection. This review summarizes the general research and new advances in using tree shrews as the model of HBV infection. We believe that tree shrews, as lower primates, will provide a vital platform and have a huge potential for building a proper animal model in the future, and could become the essential animal model for simulating the process of HBV infection in humans.