RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 In-depth characterization of the Syrian hamster as translational model for COVID-19 in humans
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.11.22.517339
DO 10.1101/2022.11.22.517339
A1 Martina Castellan
A1 Gianpiero Zamperin
A1 Giulia Franzoni
A1 Greta Foiani
A1 Maira Zorzan
A1 Petra Drzewnioková
A1 Marzia Mancin
A1 Irene Brian
A1 Alessio Bortolami
A1 Matteo Pagliari
A1 Annalisa Oggiano
A1 Marta Vascellari
A1 Valentina Panzarin
A1 Sergio Crovella
A1 Isabella Monne
A1 Calogero Terregino
A1 Paola De Benedictis
A1 Stefania Leopardi
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/11/22/2022.11.22.517339.abstract
AB The recent emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has highlighted the importance of having proper tools and models to study the pathophysiology of emerging infectious diseases to test therapeutic protocols, assess changes in viral phenotype and evaluate the effect of viral evolution. This study provides a comprehensive characterization of the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) as an animal model for SARS-CoV-2 infection, using different approaches (description of clinical signs, viral replication, receptor profiling and host immune response) and targeting four different organs (lungs, intestine, brain and PBMCs). Our data showed that both male and female hamsters are susceptible to the infection and develop a disease similar to the one observed in patients with COVID-19, including moderate to severe pulmonary lesions, inflammation and recruitment of the immune system in lungs and at systemic level. However, all animals recovered within 14 days without developing the severe pathology seen in humans, and none of them died. We found faint evidence for intestinal and neurological tropism associated with absence of lesions and a minimal host response in intestines and brains, highlighting another crucial difference with the multi-organ impairment of severe COVID-19. When comparing male and female hamsters, it was observed that males sustained higher viral shedding and replication in lungs, suffered from more severe symptoms and histopathological lesions and triggered higher pulmonary inflammation. Overall, these data confirm the Syrian hamster as being a suitable model for mild-moderate COVID-19 and reflect sex-related differences in the response against the virus observed in humans.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.