ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2013
Bats carry pathogenic hepadnaviruses antigenically related to hepatitis B virus and capable of infecting human hepatocytes.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 109 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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109 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 183 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characterizing the Bat Virome of Vietnam: A Systematic Review of Viral Diversity and Zoonotic Potential.Viruses · 2025Pooled it
- Review
- Hepatitis B Virus in Gabonese Non-Human Primate: Potential Zoonotic Circulation and Long-Term Strain Persistence.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Spectrum of Chronic Liver Disease Among Patients Seeking Health Care in Ghana.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2026Article
- Molecular characterization of bat HBV and identification of HDV co-infection in Yunnan, China.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- A wide diversity of viruses detected in African mammals involved in the wild meat supply chain.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Serological and molecular survey of hepatitis E virus in pets in shaanxi, China.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- Ancient origins and global spread of domestic cat hepatitis B virus.Virus evolution · 2025Article
- Phylogenetic evidence supporting the nonenveloped nature of hepadnavirus ancestors.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Article
- Eptesipox virus-associated lesions in naturally infected big brown bats.Veterinary pathology · 2024Article
- Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Bat Hepatitis B Viruses in Bat Species Living in Gabon.Viruses · 2024Article
- Evolutionary analysis of SLC10 family members and insights into function and expression regulation of lamprey NTCP.Fish physiology and biochemistry · 2024Article
- G-quadruplexes in the evolution of hepatitis B virus.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Review
- Serological and Molecular Survey on Domestic Dog Hepadnavirus in Household Dogs, Italy.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Genomic Sequence Analysis of Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus in the United States.Viruses · 2022Article
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a Free-Ranging Three-Toed Sloth (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Henipavirus Immune Evasion and Pathogenesis Mechanisms: Lessons Learnt from Natural Infection and Animal Models.Viruses · 2022Review
- HIV-1-Mediated Acceleration of Oncovirus-Related Non-AIDS-Defining Cancers.Biomedicines · 2022Review
49 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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31 authors at 13 institutions in 8 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The hepatitis B virus (HBV), family Hepadnaviridae, is one of most relevant human pathogens. HBV origins are enigmatic, and no zoonotic reservoirs are known. Here, we screened 3,080 specimens from 54 bat species representing 11 bat families for hepadnaviral DNA. Ten specimens (0.3%) from Panama and Gabon yielded unique hepadnaviruses in coancestral relation to HBV. Full genome sequencing allowed classification as three putative orthohepadnavirus species based on genome lengths (3,149-3,377 nt), presence of middle HBV surface and X-protein genes, and sequence distance criteria. Hepatic tropism in bats was shown by quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization. Infected livers showed histopathologic changes compatible with hepatitis. Human hepatocytes transfected with all three bat viruses cross-reacted with sera against the HBV core protein, concordant with the phylogenetic relatedness of these hepadnaviruses and HBV. One virus from Uroderma bilobatum, the tent-making bat, cross-reacted with monoclonal antibodies against the HBV antigenicity determining S domain. Up to 18.4% of bat sera contained antibodies against bat hepadnaviruses. Infectious clones were generated to study all three viruses in detail. Hepatitis D virus particles pseudotyped with surface proteins of U. bilobatum HBV, but neither of the other two viruses could infect primary human and Tupaia belangeri hepatocytes. Hepatocyte infection occurred through the human HBV receptor sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide but could not be neutralized by sera from vaccinated humans. Antihepadnaviral treatment using an approved reverse transcriptase inhibitor blocked replication of all bat hepadnaviruses. Our data suggest that bats may have been ancestral sources of primate hepadnaviruses. The observed zoonotic potential might affect concepts aimed at eradicating HBV.
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