{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T03:34:38Z","timestamp":1782790478031,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]],"date-time":"2022-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1657843200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"City University of Hong Kong to JAB","award":["9380111"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["9380111"]}]},{"name":"City University of Hong Kong to JAB","award":["9380113"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["9380113"]}]},{"name":"VRB","award":["9380111"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["9380111"]}]},{"name":"VRB","award":["9380113"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["9380113"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) caused by the hepadnavirus hepatitis B virus (HBV) are significant causes of human mortality. A hepatitis-B-like virus infecting cats, domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH), was reported in 2018. DCH DNA is hepatotropic and detectable in feline blood or serum (3.2 to 12.3%). Detection of HBV DNA has been reported in sera from 10% of free-roaming dogs in Brazil, whereas 6.3% of sera from dogs in Italy tested positive for DCH DNA by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). If DCH, HBV, or another hepadnavirus is hepatotropic in dogs, a role for such a virus in the etiology of canine idiopathic chronic hepatitis (CH) or HCC warrants investigation. This study investigated whether DCH DNA could be detected via qPCR in blood from dogs in Hong Kong and also whether liver biopsies from dogs with confirmed idiopathic CH or HCC contained hepadnaviral DNA using two panhepadnavirus conventional PCRs (cPCR) and a DCH-specific cPCR. DCH DNA was amplified from 2 of 501 (0.4%) canine whole-blood DNA samples. A second sample taken 6 or 7 months later from each dog tested negative in DCH qPCR. DNA extracted from 101 liver biopsies from dogs in Hong Kong or the USA, diagnosed by board-certified pathologists as idiopathic CH (n = 47) or HCC (n = 54), tested negative for DCH DNA and also tested negative using panhepadnavirus cPCRs. This study confirms that DCH DNA can be detected in canine blood by qPCR, although at a much lower prevalence than that reported previously. We identified no evidence to support a pathogenic role for a hepadnavirus in canine idiopathic CH or HCC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v14071543","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,18]],"date-time":"2022-07-18T01:53:22Z","timestamp":1658109202000},"page":"1543","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Hepadnavirus DNA Is Detected in Canine Blood Samples in Hong Kong but Not in Liver Biopsies of Chronic Hepatitis or Hepatocellular Carcinoma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yan Ru","family":"Choi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Animal Health and Welfare, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Min-Chun","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6663-0353","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maura","family":"Carrai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Animal Health and Welfare, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Rizzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yingfei","family":"Chai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"May","family":"Tse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CityU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ken","family":"Jackson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Davis, CA 95616, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5740-6947","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vito","family":"Martella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joerg","family":"Steiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6593-9607","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patricia A.","family":"Pesavento","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Davis, CA 95616, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6520-7801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julia A.","family":"Beatty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Animal Health and Welfare, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"},{"name":"Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6761-8022","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vanessa R.","family":"Barrs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Animal Health and Welfare, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"},{"name":"Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR 518057, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"571","DOI":"10.1099\/jgv.0.001415","article-title":"ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Hepadnaviridae","volume":"101","author":"Magnius","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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ACG"}],"container-title":["Viruses"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-4915\/14\/7\/1543\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T23:51:01Z","timestamp":1760140261000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-4915\/14\/7\/1543"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7]]}},"alternative-id":["v14071543"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/v14071543","relation":{},"ISSN":["1999-4915"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1999-4915","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]]}}}