Involvement of Pro-Inflammatory Macrophages in Liver Pathology of Pirital Virus-Infected Syrian Hamsters

Syrian Hamster as an Animal Model for the Study on Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases still remain one of the biggest challenges for human health. In order to gain a better understanding of the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and develop effective diagnostic tools, therapeutic agents, and preventive vaccines, a suitable animal model which can represent the characteristics of infectious is required. The Syrian hamster immune responses to infectious pathogens are similar to humans and as such, this model is advantageous for studying pathogenesis of infection including post-bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens, along with assessing the efficacy and interactions of medications and vaccines for those pathogens. This review summarizes the current status of Syrian hamster models and their use for understanding the underlying mechanisms of pathogen infection, in addition to their use as a drug discovery platform and provides a strong rationale for the selection of Syrian hamster as animal models in biomedical research. The challenges of using Syrian hamster as an alternative animal model for the research of infectious diseases are also addressed.

Hemorrhagic Fever-Causing Arenaviruses: Lethal Pathogens and Potent Immune Suppressors

Hemorrhagic fevers (HF) resulting from pathogenic arenaviral infections have traditionally been neglected as tropical diseases primarily affecting African and South American regions. There are currently no FDA-approved vaccines for arenaviruses, and treatments have been limited to supportive therapy and use of non-specific nucleoside analogs, such as Ribavirin. Outbreaks of arenaviral infections have been limited to certain geographic areas that are endemic but known cases of exportation of arenaviruses from endemic regions and socioeconomic challenges for local control of rodent reservoirs raise serious concerns about the potential for larger outbreaks in the future. This review synthesizes current knowledge about arenaviral evolution, ecology, transmission patterns, life cycle, modulation of host immunity, disease pathogenesis, as well as discusses recent development of preventative and therapeutic pursuits against this group of deadly viral pathogens.