Murine norovirus infection does not cause major disruptions in the murine intestinal microbiota

Abstract Background Murine norovirus (MNV) is the most common gastrointestinal pathogen of research mice and can alter research outcomes in biomedical mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Despite indications that an altered microbiota is a risk factor for IBD, the response of the murine intestinal microbiota to MNV infection has not been examined. Microbiota disruption caused by MNV infection could introduce the confounding effects observed in research experiments. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of MNV infection on the intestinal microbiota of wild-type mice. Results The composition of the intestinal microbiota was assessed over time in both outbred Swiss Webster and inbred C57BL/6 mice following MNV infection. Mice were infected with both persistent and non-persistent MNV strains and tissue-associated or fecal-associated microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA-encoding gene pyrosequencing. Analysis of intestinal bacterial communities in infected mice at the phylum and family level showed no major differences to uninfected controls, both in tissue-associated samples and feces, and also over time following infection, demonstrating that the intestinal microbiota of wild-type mice is highly resistant to disruption following MNV infection. Conclusions This is the first study to describe the intestinal microbiota following MNV infection and demonstrates that acute or persistent MNV infection is not associated with major disruptions of microbial communities in Swiss Webster and C57BL/6 mice.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112329/1/40168_2012_Article_7.pd

Murine norovirus infection does not cause major disruptions in the murine intestinal microbiota

BACKGROUND: Murine norovirus (MNV) is the most common gastrointestinal pathogen of research mice and can alter research outcomes in biomedical mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Despite indications that an altered microbiota is a risk factor for IBD, the response of the murine intestinal microbiota to MNV infection has not been examined. Microbiota disruption caused by MNV infection could introduce the confounding effects observed in research experiments. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of MNV infection on the intestinal microbiota of wild-type mice. RESULTS: The composition of the intestinal microbiota was assessed over time in both outbred Swiss Webster and inbred C57BL/6 mice following MNV infection. Mice were infected with both persistent and non-persistent MNV strains and tissue-associated or fecal-associated microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA-encoding gene pyrosequencing. Analysis of intestinal bacterial communities in infected mice at the phylum and family level showed no major differences to uninfected controls, both in tissue-associated samples and feces, and also over time following infection, demonstrating that the intestinal microbiota of wild-type mice is highly resistant to disruption following MNV infection. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to describe the intestinal microbiota following MNV infection and demonstrates that acute or persistent MNV infection is not associated with major disruptions of microbial communities in Swiss Webster and C57BL/6 mice

Inhibition of human norovirus by a viral polymerase inhibitor in the B cell culture system and in the mouse model

The recently developed human norovirus (HuNoV) B cell culture and mouse models hold promise for drug discovery and development but their suitability for antiviral studies has not been assessed. We demonstrate the inhibitory effect of the nucleoside analogue 2'-C-methylcytidine (2CMC) on HuNoV replication in the human B cell BJAB cell line and in Balb/c Rag/gamma chain-deficient (Rag-γc(-/-)) mice. These data suggest the applicability of both models for future study and development of antiviral drugs for the treatment of HuNoV infections.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Inhibition of human norovirus by a viral polymerase inhibitor in the B cell culture system and in the mouse model journaltitle: Antiviral Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2016.05.011 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe