This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a significant emerging infectious disease. Humans infected with the etiologic agent, SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), primarily present with pneumonitis, but may also develop hepatic, gastrointestinal and renal pathology. We have inoculated common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in preliminary studies with the objective of developing a small nonhuman primate model of SARS. Viral antigen was localized primarily to infected alveolar macrophages and type-1 pneumocytes by immunohistochemistry. Viral RNA was detected in extracts from pulmonary tissue samples obtained at necropsy in all animals. Viral RNA was also detected in tracheobronchial lymph node and myocardium, together with inflammatory changes in some animals. Hepatic inflammation was observed in most animals, predominantly as a multifocal random lymphocytic hepatitis accompanied by necrosis of individual hepatocytes. These findings demonstrate that the common marmoset is a promising nonhuman primate to study SARS-CoV pathogenesis.
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