Chronic Hepatitis B Woodchuck Modeling & Pharmacodynamics Service

Creative Biolabs provides an experimental woodchuck model infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV), which is a valuable animal model to study the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of HBV infection.

Introduction of WHV Model

Chronic Hepatitis B is a major health problem with more than 400 million people persistently infected with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 1.2 million deaths per year worldwide. Moreover, ~ 15-40% of the patients will develop serious complications such as cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The currently applied therapies are mainly interferon or nucleoside/nucleotide analogs, which are not satisfyingly effective due to low response rate and resistance development. For the exploration of improved methods of treatment and prevention of Chronic Hepatitis B and HCC, many small rodent models, including the woodchuck hepatitis B virus (WHV) model, have been applied as preclinical models and predictive models to evaluate the efficacy of potential interventions.

Fig. 1 Antiviral drugs targeting different steps of the HBV/WHV life cycle tested in the woodchuck animal model of CHB. ¹

Woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) is a naturally occurring hepadnavirus of the Eastern woodchuck (Marmota monax). WHV and HBV have similar replicative and structural properties, high level of homology at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, and antigenic cross-reactivity. Furthermore, WHV-infected woodchucks display patterns of virological and immunological events and progression to liver disease highly compatible with those of HBV infection. Like HBV, WHV induces acute self-limited hepatitis in adult animals in most cases, while perinatal infection may cause chronic hepatitis which may evolve to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Applications of Woodchuck Model

Due to the high homology of WHV with HBV, the woodchuck model is used for many studies for the development of new vaccines, therapeutic vaccination, and antiviral agents. In recent years, numerous nucleoside and nucleotide analogs designed to inhibit HBV replication have been tested in the woodchuck model and have been approved by the FDA, such as lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) and adefovir dipivoxil (ADV, Hepsera). In addition, the woodchuck system is used for investigation of molecular mechanisms of the viral life cycle, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and cell infection.

Assessments

The woodchuck model has been important in the preclinical evaluation of safety and efficacy of the antiviral drugs now in use for treatment of HBV infection and continues to serve as an important, predictive model for innovative forms of therapy of hepatitis B using antiviral nucleosides and immune response modifiers alone or in combination.

Creative Biolabs provides woodchuck models chronically infected with WHV by intravenous inoculation of WHV. For the preclinical efficacy study of potential new therapeutics, various assessments can be performed according to your specific research needs:

• Hematologic and routine blood chemistry analysis.
• Levels of woodchuck hepatitis surface antigen (WHsAg).
• Anti-woodchuck hepatitis surface (WHs).
• Anti-woodchuck hepatitis core (WHc) antibodies in serum samples (WHV-specific enzyme immunoassays).
• Levels of intrahepatic WHV nucleic acids are quantitatively determined by Southern or Northern blot hybridization.
• Needle liver biopsies are obtained pre- and post-treatment for pathological studies.
• WHV viremia in serum samples is assessed by dot blot hybridization or PCR-based analysis.

Meanwhile, Creative Biolabs also offers other types of rodent digestive system disease models that you may be interested in. They are listed as follows for you to review:

• Ethanol-Induced Rodent Gastric Ulcer Model
• Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl₄)-Induced Rodent Hepatic Injury Model
• TNBS/DNBS-Induced Rodent Colitis Model
• Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-Induced Rodent Colitis Model
• Indomethacin-Induced Rodent Inflammation in Small Intestine
• Oxazolone (OXA)-Induced Rodent Colitis Model
• AVV-HBV-Induced Chronic HBV Infection Rodent Model

As a leading CRO for preclinical drug development, Creative Biolabs has accumulated sufficient experience in the development of new drugs and therapeutic interventions against Hepatitis B virus. At Creative Biolabs, you will find top-quality and reliable services and every project will be customized to meet the exact research needs. Contact us to discuss your requirements now and experience the value of our expertise.

Reference

1. Suresh, Manasa, and Stephan Menne. "Recent drug development in the woodchuck model of chronic hepatitis B." Viruses 14.8 (2022): 1711. Distributed under Open Access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.

For Research Use Only.