Transmission of Porcine Circovirus 3 (PCV3) by Xenotransplantation of Pig Hearts into Baboons

Krüger, Luise; Laengin, Matthias; Reichart, Bruno; Fiebig, Uwe; Kristiansen, Yannick; Prinz, Carolin; Kessler, Barbara; Egerer, Stefanie; Wolf, Eckhard; Abicht, Jan-Michael und Denner, Joachim (2019): Transmission of Porcine Circovirus 3 (PCV3) by Xenotransplantation of Pig Hearts into Baboons. In: Viruses-Basel, Bd. 11, Nr. 7, 650

Abstract

Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) is a newly described member of the virus family Circoviridae. PCV3 is highly distributed among pigs and wild boars worldwide. A sudden introduction of PCV3 was recently observed in a herd of triple genetically modified pigs generated for xenotransplantation. These animals were used as donor pigs for orthotopic heart transplantation into baboons. In four cases, PCV3-positive hearts were transplanted, and transmission of PCV3 to the recipient was observed. PCV3 was found in all organs of the recipient baboons and a higher virus load was found in animals with a longer survival time of the transplant, indicating replication of the virus. This is the first report showing trans-species transmission of PCV3 to baboons by transplantation of a heart from a PCV3-positive donor pig. Sequence analysis showed that PCV3a and PCV3b were present in the infected pigs and were transmitted. Experiments to infect human 293 cells with PCV3 failed.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 1999-4915
• Sprache: Englisch