Effect of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection during pregnancy in K18-hACE2 transgenic mice

作者：Byeongseok Kim, Ki Hoon Park, Ok‐Hee Lee, Giwan Lee, Hyukjung Kim, Siyoung Lee, Semi Hwang, Young Bong Kim, Youngsok Choi · 发表于：Animal Bioscience · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.5713/ab.22.0143 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：COVID-19 Impact on Reproduction、Reproductive System and Pregnancy、SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the influence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on pregnancy in cytokeratin-18 (K18)-hACE2 transgenic mice. METHODS: To determine the expression of hACE2 mRNA in the female reproductive tract of K18-hACE2 mice, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed using the ovary, oviduct, uterus, umbilical cord, and placenta. SARS-CoV-2 was inoculated intranasally (30 μL/mouse, 1×104 TCID50/mL) to plug-checked K18-hACE2 homozygous female mice at the pre-and post-implantation stages at 2.5 days post-coitum (dpc) and 15.5 dpc, respectively. The number of implantation sites was checked at 7.5 dpc, and the number of normally born pups was investigated at 20.5 dpc. Pregnancy outcomes, including implantation and childbirth, were confirmed by comparison with the non-infected group. Tissues of infected mice were collected at 7.5 dpc and 19.5 dpc to confirm the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The infection was identified by performing RT-PCR on the infected tissues and comparing them to the non-infected tissues. RESULTS: hACE2 mRNA expression was confirmed in the female reproductive tract of the K18-hACE2 mice. Compared to the non-infected group, no significant difference in the number of implantation sites or normally born pups was found in the infected group. SARS-CoV-2 infection was detected in the lungs but not in the female reproductive system of infected K18-hACE2 mice. CONCLUSION: In K18-hACE2 mice, intr...