TY - CHAP
T1 - Animal models for hepatitis C
AU - Billerbeck, Eva
AU - De Jong, Ype
AU - Dorner, Marcus
AU - De La Fuente, Cynthia
AU - Ploss, Alexander
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Hepatitis C remains a global epidemic. Approximately 3 % of the world's population suffers from chronic hepatitis C, which is caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) - a positive sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family. HCV has a high propensity for establishing a chronic infection. If untreated chronic HCV carriers can develop severe liver disease including fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Antiviral treatment is only partially effective, costly, and poorly tolerated. A prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine for HCV does not exist. Mechanistic studies of virus-host interactions, HCV immunity, and pathogenesis as well as the development of more effective therapies have been hampered by the lack of a suitable small animal model. Besides humans, chimpanzees are the only species that is naturally susceptible to HCV infection. While experimentation in these large primates has yielded valuable insights, ethical considerations, limited availability, genetic heterogeneity, and cost limit their utility. In search for more tractable small animal models, numerous experimental approaches have been taken to recapitulate parts of the viral life cycle and/or aspects of viral pathogenesis that will be discussed in this review. Exciting new models and improvements in established models hold promise to further elucidate our understanding of chronic HCV infection.
AB - Hepatitis C remains a global epidemic. Approximately 3 % of the world's population suffers from chronic hepatitis C, which is caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) - a positive sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family. HCV has a high propensity for establishing a chronic infection. If untreated chronic HCV carriers can develop severe liver disease including fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Antiviral treatment is only partially effective, costly, and poorly tolerated. A prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine for HCV does not exist. Mechanistic studies of virus-host interactions, HCV immunity, and pathogenesis as well as the development of more effective therapies have been hampered by the lack of a suitable small animal model. Besides humans, chimpanzees are the only species that is naturally susceptible to HCV infection. While experimentation in these large primates has yielded valuable insights, ethical considerations, limited availability, genetic heterogeneity, and cost limit their utility. In search for more tractable small animal models, numerous experimental approaches have been taken to recapitulate parts of the viral life cycle and/or aspects of viral pathogenesis that will be discussed in this review. Exciting new models and improvements in established models hold promise to further elucidate our understanding of chronic HCV infection.
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U2 - 10.1007/978-3-642-27340-7_3
DO - 10.1007/978-3-642-27340-7_3
M3 - Chapter
C2 - 23463197
AN - SCOPUS:84876518168
SN - 9783642273391
T3 - Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology
SP - 49
EP - 86
BT - Hepatitis C Virus
PB - Springer Verlag
ER -