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Hepatitis A virus (HAV), a member of the genus Hepatovirus (Picornaviridae HepV), remains a significant viral pathogen, frequently causing enterically transmitted hepatitis worldwide. In this study, we conducted an epidemiological survey of HepVs carried by small terrestrial mammals in the wild in Yunnan Province, China. Utilizing HepV-specific broad-spectrum RT-PCR, next-generation sequencing (NGS), and QNome nanopore sequencing (QNS) techniques, we identified and characterized two novel HepVs provisionally named EpMa-HAV and EpLe-HAV, discovered in the long-tailed mountain shrew (Episoriculus macrurus) and long-tailed brown-toothed shrew (Episoriculus leucops), respectively. Our sequence and phylogenetic analyses of EpMa-HAV and EpLe-HAV indicated that they belong to the species Hepatovirus I (HepV-I) clade II, also known as the Chinese shrew HepV clade. Notably, the codon usage bias pattern of novel shrew HepVs is consistent with that of previously identified Chinese shrew HepV. Furthermore, our structural analysis demonstrated that shrew HepVs differ from other mammalian HepVs in RNA secondary structure and exhibit variances in key protein sites. Overall, the discovery of two novel HepVs in shrews expands the host range of HepV and underscores the existence of genetically diverse animal homologs of human HAV within the genus HepV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genetic diversity of coronaviruses (CoVs) is high, and their infection in animals has not yet been fully revealed. By RT-PCR detection of the partial RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene of CoVs, we screened a total of 502 small mammals in the Dali and Nujiang prefectures of Western Yunnan Province, China. The number of overall CoV positives was 20, including β-CoV (n = 13) and α-CoV (n = 7), with a 3.98% prevalence in rectal tissue samples. The identity of the partial RdRp genes obtained for 13 strains of β-CoV was 83.42–99.23% at the nucleotide level, and it is worth noting that the two strains from Kachin red-backed voles showed high identity to BOV-36/IND/2015 from Indian bovines and DcCoV-HKU23 from dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Morocco; the nucleotide identity was between 97.86 and 98.33%. Similarly, the identity of the seven strains of α-CoV among the partial RdRp sequences was 94.00–99.18% at nucleotide levels. The viral load in different tissues was measured by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). The average CoV viral load in small mammalian rectal tissue was 1.35 × 106 copies/g; differently, the mean CoV viral load in liver, heart, lung, spleen, and kidney tissue was from 0.97 × 103 to 3.95 × 103 copies/g, which revealed that CoV has extensive tropism in rectal tissue in small mammals (p < 0.0001). These results revealed the genetic diversity, epidemiology, and infective tropism of α-CoV and β-CoV in small mammals from Dali and Nujiang, which deepens the comprehension of the retention and infection of coronavirus in natural hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Growing evidence recognizes inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by a hypercoagulable state and prothrombotic conditions. The aims of our study were to evaluate the abnormalities in coagulation and fibrinolysis status in patients with IBD, and to analyze parameters of altered coagulation and fibrinolysis status which can correlated with and predict inflammatory parameters of disease activity. Methods: A cohort of 271 consecutive IBD patients was compared with healthy controls for coagulation and fibrinolysis status. Associations between altered coagulation and fibrinolysis status stratified by gender and inflammatory parameters were analyzed. Results: The mean levels of platelet, platelet distribution width, prothrombin time, fibrinogen, activated partial thromboplastin time were significantly higher in IBD patients than in healthy controls (all P <0.05). Mean platelet volume was lower in male patients with IBD than in healthy controls (P <0.01). Furthermore, multiple linear regression indicated that fibrinogen was an independent predictor of ESR (β=1.316, P =<0.001) and CRP (β=1.233, P =0.015) in male patients with active ulcerative colitis. Platelet (β=0.436, P =0.037) and prothrombin time (β=0.810, P =<0.001) were predictors of Crohn''s Disease Activity Index in female patients with Crohn''s disease. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study provides characteristics on altered coagulation and fibrinolysis status in active IBD patients using the largest number of cases assembled in one study to date. Our data suggest that in IBD patients, abnormalities in coagulation and fibrinolysis status were associated with disease activity. Fibrinogen, platelet and prothrombin time were predictors of inflammation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]