Increased Presence of Circulating Cell-Free, Fragmented, Host DNA in Pigs Infected with Virulent African Swine Fever Virus

Ann Sofie Olesen*, Louise Lohse, Camille Melissa Johnston, Thomas Bruun Rasmussen, Anette Bøtner, Graham J. Belsham

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
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Abstract

African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes severe hemorrhagic disease in domestic pigs and wild boar, often with high case fatality rates. The virus replicates in the circulating cells of the monocyte–macrophage lineage and within lymphoid tissues. The infection leads to high fever and a variety of clinical signs. In this study, it was observed that ASFV infection in pigs resulted in a >1000-fold increase in the level of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA), derived from the nuclei of host cells in the serum. This change occurred in parallel with the increase in circulating ASFV DNA. In addition, elevated levels (about 30-fold higher) of host mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were detected in the serum from ASFV-infected pigs. For comparison, the release of the cellular enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a commonly used marker of cellular damage, was also found to be elevated during ASFV infection, but later and less consistently. The sera from pigs infected with classical swine fever virus (CSFV), which causes a clinically similar disease to ASFV, were also tested but, surprisingly, this infection did not result in the release of cfDNA, mtDNA, or LDH. It was concluded that the level of cfDNA in the serum is a sensitive host marker of virulent ASFV infection.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2133
JournalViruses
Volume15
Issue number10
Number of pages15
ISSN1999-4915
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • African swine fever virus
  • apoptosis
  • biomarker
  • cell-free DNA
  • mitochondrial DNA

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