Key result
Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection increases liver caspase-3 expression ~194% and elevates Bax/Bcl2 ratios in rabbits.
Why the study?
Apoptotic cell death has been characterized in Lagovirus europaeus GI.1 strain infections, but the GI.2 genotype has not been widely studied.
Does Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection induce apoptotic cell death in hepatocytes in a rabbit model of acute liver failure?
Does Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection induce apoptotic cell death in hepatocytes in a rabbit model of acute liver failure?
Absolute Event Rate: 2.94% vs 1%
p-value: p=0.014
Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection induces apoptosis in rabbit hepatocytes, confirming its utility as an animal model for acute liver failure.
Supports Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 rabbit model for apoptotic hepatocyte injury; leaves open human translation in acute liver failure.
Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 causes severe and highly fatal Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease. Because of its characteristics, this infection is used as an animal model for acute liver failure (ALF). Apoptosis is one of the key processes underlying ALF and has been described as one of the mechanisms of RHD pathogenesis. Apoptotic cell death has been quite well characterized in infection with different variants of GI.1 strains, but so far GI.2 genotype has not been widely studied. In this study, we performed an evaluation of apoptotic cell death in hepatocytes of rabbits infected with Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2. We analyzed the expression of genes involved in apoptotic cell death by real-time PCR and performed immunohistochemical (IHC) assay. As a result, we showed a significant increase in the expression of caspase-3 and the pro-apoptotic Bax and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 in infected animals. In addition, we recorded increased Bax/Bcl2 ratios. IHC analysis showed the presence of morphological signs of apoptosis in the hepatocytes of infected rabbits. Our results indicate that caspase-3 and the proteins from Bcl2 families play a key role in apoptosis induced by Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection.
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Bębnowska et al. (2023) studied Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection (Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease) (n=20). Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection vs. Placebo (PBS) was evaluated on Relative expression of Caspase-3 in the liver (p=0.014). Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 infection significantly increased the relative expression of caspase-3 (2.94 vs 1.00, p=0.014) and the Bax/Bcl2 ratio in the liver of infected rabbits compared to placebo.
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