据报道，兔戊型肝炎病毒 (HEV) 为潜在人畜共患性传染病。报道显示HEV 3型是造成兔HEV流行的主要原因。为调查戊型肝炎在肉兔中的流行情况，本研究从中国河北省的一个屠宰场收集了176份肝脏样本。RNA检测结果显示3份样本HEV-ORF2检测阳性，占样本量的1.7%。序列分析表明，3株分离株具有较高的同源性 (94.08%~98.85%)，为HEV基因3型。此外，免疫组化 (IHC) 检测HEV ORF2蛋白显示，131份肝脏样本阳性，占样本量的74.4%。肝脏组织病理学观察结果显示，H.E染色的组织病理学变化主要有肝细胞变性、坏死、淋巴细胞浸润、胆管上皮细胞增生、含铁血黄素沉着等。这些结果表明，在家兔中存在戊型肝炎病毒，但兔戊肝病毒 (rHEV) 的传染性及人兔跨种传播的潜在风险有待进一步研究。

Infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) results in acute and chronic liver damages in humans. Liver products of broilers as a primary food consumed in our daily life have a close connection with public health. The prevalence of the virus in livers and serum of broilers is of great significance, owning to the potential transmission between chickens and humans. Liver tissues and serum samples were tested to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in slaughtered broilers, for expression of HBV antigens and antibodies. The distribution and positive rate of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in liver samples were examined using immunohistochemistry. HBsAg was mainly located in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes with a positivity of 81.61% whereas HBeAg and HBcAg were primarily located in the nucleus of hepatocytes with a positivity of 40.13 and 49.10%, respectively. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis of serum for HBV serological markers demonstrated a high prevalence of hepatiits B surface antibody (HBsAb, 54.91%) and hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb, 27.68%), whereas HBeAb, HBsAg and HBeAg were rarely detectable. Classic hepatitis pathological changes, including swollen hepatocytes, focal parenchymal necrosis, lymphocytic infiltration and hyperplasia of fibrous connective tissues were observed using histopathological analysis. Some of the liver samples were found positive for HBV DNA using nested PCR. Sequence comparison confirmed that all sequences shared 97.5–99.3% identity with human HBV strains. These results demonstrated the existence of HBV in livers and serums of broilers. Animals or animal products contaminated with HBV could raise an important public health concern over food safety and zoonotic risk.

The toxicity of melamine has attracted much attention since the recent outbreaks of renal injury in pets and infants. Previous studies indicated that melamine by itself had low toxicity, whereas a mixture of melamine and cyanuric acid (M+CA) could cause serious renal damage. At present, most researches on the toxicity of M+CA are focused on the kidney. However, little is known about the adverse effects of this mixture on the reproductive system. In the present study, the toxicity of M+CA to testes was investigated. Immature male mice were orally dosed with 0, 0.6, 3, and 15 mg kg-1 d-1 of a 1:1 M+CA for 28 d. Pathological changes occurred in germ cells, such as loose arrangement, reduced numbers and karyopyknosis, indicating that this mixture was toxic to spermatogenesis. Compared with the control group, the TUNELpositive germ cells increased significantly and the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax, total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase activity decreased significantly in the 3 and 15 mg kg-1 d-1 M+CA treated group, while the activities of caspase-3, caspase- 8 and caspase-9 remained unchanged. The results suggest that M+CA can induce apoptosis in the mice testes. The downregulation of Bcl-2/Bax and oxidative stress may play a pivotal role in the induction of apoptosis by M+CA in mice testes.