Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus: Molecular Epidemiology and Phylogeny in Cats in Hong Kong

Domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH) is an emerging virus related to the hepatitis B virus (HBV). The pathogenic potential of DCH in cats remains to be established. The molecular prevalence of DCH varies widely in the regions investigated so far. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, loa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Viruses 2023-01, Vol.15 (1), p.150
Main Authors: Capozza, Paolo, Carrai, Maura, Choi, Yan Ru, Tu, Thomas, Nekouei, Omid, Lanave, Gianvito, Martella, Vito, Beatty, Julia A, Barrs, Vanessa R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Alanine transaminase
Animals
cancer
cat
Cats
Epidemiology
Genomes
Genotypes
Hepadnaviridae - genetics
hepadnavirus
hepatitis
Hepatitis B
Hong Kong - epidemiology
Humans
liver
Liver cancer
Liver diseases
Molecular Epidemiology
Nucleotide sequence
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Regression analysis
Risk Factors
Sequence analysis
Strains (organisms)
Thermal cycling
viral
Viruses
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Summary:Domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH) is an emerging virus related to the hepatitis B virus (HBV). The pathogenic potential of DCH in cats remains to be established. The molecular prevalence of DCH varies widely in the regions investigated so far. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, load, and risk factors for DCH detection among cats in Hong Kong, and to generate molecular and epidemiological data on the DCH strains circulating in cats in Hong Kong. DCH DNA was detected using DCH-specific qPCR in 57/513 (11.1%) residual diagnostic blood samples from owned cats. The median viral load was 8.85 × 10 copies/mL of whole blood (range for the 5th to the 95th percentile, 3.33 × 10 to 2.2 × 10 copies per mL). Two outliers had higher viral loads of 1.88 × 10 copies/mL and 4.90 × 10 copies/mL. DCH was detected in cats from 3 months to 19 years of age. Sex, age, neuter status, breed, or elevated serum alanine aminotransferase were not statistically associated with DCH DNA detection. On phylogenetic analysis based on 12 complete genome sequences, the Hong Kong DCH viruses clustered in Genotype A with viruses from Australia and Asia (clade A1), distinct from viruses from Europe (clade A2). Sequence analysis found that DCH has similar epsilon and direct repeat regions to human HBV, suggesting a conserved method of replication. Based on our findings, the DCH strains circulating in Hong Kong are a continuum of the Asiatic strains.
ISSN:1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI:10.3390/v15010150