Presence and state of woodchuck hepatitis virus dna in liver and serum of woodchucks: Further analogies with human hepatitis B virus
Résumé
Using the Southern blotting technique, we have analyzed the presence and state of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) DNA in liver and serum of woodchucks. Among chronic carriers essentially two forms of infection could be distinguished: in the first one WHV DNA was detected in the liver only, integrated in cellular DNA, with no detectable WHV DNA in the serum; in the second one, large amounts of unintegrated WHV DNA were present in the liver, often accompanied by WHV DNA in the serum. Very similar results have been reported with hepatitis B virus infection in man. This analogy further underlines the possibility of using WHV infection of woodchucks as a model for the understanding of hepatitis B virus-associated diseases, especially hepatocarcinoma.