Tupaia belangeri
are small mammals with a squirrel-like appearance; they were formerly classified under
the primates order despite the lack of derived features characteristic of primates. Given that
T. belangeri are easy to raise,
cheap to maintain, and have a small body size, a high reproductive rate, and close affinity to primates, these animals
would be used as an alternative to primates in biomedical research. Three-month old
T. belangeri chineses
were infected
with enterovirus 71 (EV71) via three different routes, namely, oral administration, nasal dripping, and tail intravenous
injection, to study the infection in infant
T. belangeri and find a feasible scheme to make them an ideal animal model of
EV71 in place of primates. Daily activities were regularly observed, body temperatures were measured, and blood tests
were conducted. Blood and fecal samples were regularly collected. The infection was examined via the neutralizing
antibody test, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Real-Time PCR, and pathological analysis. The
temperature, as well as the white blood cell count and the number of lymphocytes, increased four days after infection.
Virus loads were determined in all three groups, and the peak appeared on, before, or after the tenth day, respectively.
Thus, oral administration proved to be the best route. The highest serum antibody titer obtained was 1:16. Acute paralysis
with urinary retention manifested after about two weeks, and pathological changes were observed in the brain, heart, lung,
spleen, kidney, and other tissues. In conclusion,
T. belangeri chineses can infected with EV71 via oral administration,
nasal dripping, and tail intravenous injection. Therefore,
T. belangeri are potential EV71 animal models for further
studies on the mechanism of pathogenesis or vaccine evaluation.
