Animal models of chronic hepatitis delta virus infection host–virus immunologic interactions

摘要

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus that has an absoluterequirement for a virus belonging to the hepadnaviridae family like hepatitis B virus (HBV)for its replication and formation of new virions. HDV infection is usually associated with aworsening of HBV-induced liver pathogenesis, which leads to more frequent cirrhosis,increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and fulminant hepatitis. Importantly, noselective therapies are available for HDV infection. The mainstay of treatment for HDVinfection is pegylated interferon alpha; however, response rates to this therapy are poor. Abetter knowledge of HDV–host cell interaction will help with the identification of noveltherapeutic targets, which are urgently needed. Animal models like hepadnavirus-infectedchimpanzees or the eastern woodchuck have been of great value for the characterization ofHDV chronic infection. Recently, more practical animal models in which to perform adeeper study of host virus interactions and to evaluate new therapeutic strategies have beendeveloped. Therefore, the main focus of this review is to discuss the current knowledge aboutHDV host interactions obtained from cell culture and animal models.