GB virus B infection of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and associated liver pathology

1 Departments of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA 2 Division of Clinical Research, New England Regional Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, PO Box 9102, One Pine Hill Drive, Southborough, MA 01772-9102, USA Correspondence Keith G. Mansfield keith_mansfield{at}hms.harvard.edu GB virus B (GBV-B) is a flavivirus that is related closely to hepatitis C virus (HCV) and induces an acute hepatitis when inoculated into several species of New World primates. Common marmosets ( Callithrix jacchus ) are a widely available, non-endangered primate species that is susceptible to GBV-B infection and develops a characteristic acute hepatitis. Here, animals were found to be susceptible to serially passaged serum and GBV-B transcripts. Hepatic pathology and peripheral viraemia could be quantified biochemically, immunophenotypically and morphologically, and persisted for periods of up to 6 months in some animals. Hepatitis was characterized by a marked influx of CD3 + CD8 + T lymphocytes and CD20 + B cells within the first 2 months of primary infection. The results of this study document the marmoset as another small, non-human primate species in which the pathogenesis of GBV-B can be studied and used as a surrogate model of HCV infection for investigation of pathogenesis and antiviral drug development.