Studies on the transmission and persistence of rotaviruses in mice colonies

Research Project

Project/Area Number	61580036
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Laboratory animal science
Research Institution	Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.
Principal Investigator	OHTA Chikako Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Instructor, 畜産学部, 助手 (10176894)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	GOTO Hitoshi Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicne, Professor, 畜産学部, 教授 (20003072)
Project Period (FY)	1986 – 1987
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1987)
Budget Amount *help	¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000) Fiscal Year 1987: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000) Fiscal Year 1986: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
Keywords	Rotavirus / Epizootic diarrhea of infant mice (EDIM) / ELISA / Experimental infection / Mouse / 血清抗体
Research Abstract	Epizootic diarrhea of infant mice (EDIM) is the disease of experimental mice resulting from the infection of murine rotavirus. In this study, we tried to solve problems about the transmission and persistence of EDIM among mouse colonies in Japanese animal laboratories. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using simian rotavirus SAll as antigens was applied to serological surveillances of EDIM. This ELISA was proved to be useful for the detection of rotaviral antibody on acute-phase of diarrhea in infants of CD-1 mice experimentally infected with SAll. In field survey, adult mouse sera were collected from five different laboratories in Japan. Rotaviral antibody were significantly high in mouse sera of CF# and C3H/HeJ strains collected at a laboratory where EDIM had been prevalent. Meanwhile, conventional mouse sera collected at other four laboratories without EDIM, showed several % of positivity in rotaviral antibody, indicating the possibility of subclinical infections of rotavirus. In experimental infections, infants of CD-1 mice infected with SAll could shed virions and raise rotaviral antibody without diarrhea by careful nursing by dual hands of their own and a foster mothers, and also infants infected with human rotavirus (serotype 4) showed low levels of rotaviral antibody without diarrhea. These date suggested that rotavirus should be maintained and persist subclinically in conventional mice.Serological surveillance by our ELISA might be helpful to the protection from spreading of rotavirus among mice colonies.