Adverse fetal outcomes in pregnant rabbits experimentally infected with rabbit hepatitis E virus

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes severe hepatitis in pregnant women, with associated poor fetal outcomes. To study HEV viral pathogenesis, pregnant rabbits were infected with low-and high-dose rabbit HEV at 2 weeks gestation. HEV was identified in the serum, feces, and liver tissue of infected rabbits, and dose-dependent fetal mortality rates ranging from 67% to 80% were observed. The aspartate transaminase (AST)/alanine transaminase ratio was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in high-dose infected rabbits than low-dose infected and negative control rabbits 14 days post infection (dpi). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was significantly higher in low dose (P < 0.01) and high-dose infected rabbits (P < 0.001) than in negative controls 7 dpi. High-dose HEV-infected rabbits produced significantly more interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma; P < 0.05) than negative control rabbits at 7 and 14 dpi. High levels of AST, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma may substantially influence adverse fetal outcomes in pregnant rabbits infected with high-dose HEV.</P>