Viruses (Jul 2018)

Cynomolgus Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) as an Experimental Infection Model for Human Group A Rotavirus

  • Gentil Arthur Bentes,
  • Juliana Rodrigues Guimarães,
  • Eduardo de Mello Volotão,
  • Alexandre Madi Fialho,
  • Cleber Hooper,
  • Ana Carolina Ganime,
  • Noemi Rovaris Gardinali,
  • Natália Maria Lanzarini,
  • Alexandre dos Santos da Silva,
  • Jacob Pitcovski,
  • José Paulo Leite,
  • Marcelo Alves Pinto

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v10070355
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 7
p. 355

Abstract

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Group A rotaviruses (RVA) are one of the most common causes of severe acute gastroenteritis in infants worldwide. Rotaviruses spread from person to person, mainly by faecal–oral transmission. Almost all unvaccinated children may become infected with RVA in the first two years of life. The establishment of an experimental monkey model with RVA is important to evaluate new therapeutic approaches. In this study, we demonstrated viral shedding and viraemia in juvenile–adult Macaca fascicularis orally inoculated with Wa RVA prototype. Nine monkeys were inoculated orally: seven animals with human RVA and two control animals with saline solution. During the study, the monkeys were clinically monitored, and faeces and blood samples were tested for RVA infection. In general, the inoculated animals developed an oligosymptomatic infection pattern. The main clinical symptoms observed were diarrhoea in two monkeys for three days, associated with a reduction in plasmatic potassium content. Viral RNA was detected in seven faecal and five sera samples from inoculated animals, suggesting virus replication. Cynomolgus monkeys are susceptible hosts for human Wa RVA infection. When inoculated orally, they presented self-limited diarrhoea associated with presence of RVA infectious particles in faeces. Thus, cynomolgus monkeys may be useful as animal models to evaluate the efficacy of new antiviral approaches.

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