title: Chronic infection in woodchucks infected by a cloned hepatitis delta virus.
abstract: Two woodchucks (Marmota monax) intrahepatically inoculated with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) complementary DNA clones pSVL-D3 and pSVL-Ag showed virological and pathological signs of acute and chronic HDV infection. HDV-RNA and hepatitis delta antigen (HDAg) were detected in serum by slot-blot hybridization and by western blot five weeks after inoculation. Liver biopsy specimens collected at 8th week post inoculum were positive for HDV-RNA. Anti-HDV antibodies were detected at the 11th and 9th weeks, respectively. Histological finding of hepatocarcinoma and persistence of circulating HDV-RNA and anti-HDV were observed up to the 10th month. Both woodchucks produced "small" and "large" HDAg antigen, although the inoculated cloned DNA bears the coding capability solely for the small antigen. A transient decrease of woodchuck hepatitis virus DNA (WHV-DNA) level was observed during the peak of HDV infection. Successive inoculation of acute-phase serum in three woodchucks resulted in a successful infection in one of the animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ciccaglione
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rapicetta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fabiano
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Argentini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silvestro
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giuseppetti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Varano
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: D'Urso
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dinolfo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morgando
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D002353:Carrier State; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D003699:Hepatitis D / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003698:Hepatitis Delta Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D035923:Hepatitis delta Antigens; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D008392:Marmota; D010957:Plasmids; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D035923:Hepatitis delta Antigens; D012367:RNA, Viral; C442244:hepatitis delta virus large antigen