The Chimpanzee Model of Viral Hepatitis: Advances in Understanding the Immune Response and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis.

ABSTRACT: Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have contributed to diverse fields of biomedical research due to their close genetic relationship to humans and in many instances due to the lack of any other animal model. This review focuses on the contributions of the chimpanzee model to research on hepatitis viruses where chimpanzees represented the only animal model (hepatitis B and C) or the most appropriate animal model (hepatitis A). Research with chimpanzees led to the development of vaccines for HAV and HBV that are used worldwide to protect hundreds of millions from these diseases and, where fully implemented, have provided immunity for entire generations. More recently, chimpanzee research was instrumental in the development of curative therapies for hepatitis C virus infections. Over a span of 40

SUBMITTER: Lanford RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5886334 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature