Rabbit hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been reported for years and is thought to have the potential for zoonotic transmission from rabbits to humans.  As reported, HEV genotype 3 (gt3) is the most prevalent form of HEV in rabbits.  To determine the prevalence of HEV in commercial rabbit livers, 176 liver samples were collected from an abattoir in Hebei Province, China.  Three (1.7%) samples tested positive for RNA of HEV-ORF2 (open reading frames-2).  Sequence analysis showed that the three isolates shared high identities with each other (94.08–98.85%).  Further analysis showed that all the rabbit strains clustered together in the branch of HEV gt3.  Further study by immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays showed that 131 (74.4%) liver samples were positive for HEV ORF2 protein.  Pathological changes including cell degeneration, inflammatory cell infiltration and bile duct epithelial cell hyperplasia were observed under microscopy.  These findings indicated the presence of HEV in commercial livers of rabbits.  Additional studies should be conducted to investigate the infectivity of rabbit HEV (rHEV) and the potential risks of zoonotic transmission of rHEV from rabbits to human beings.

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.