Abstract
Adenoviruses (Ads) cause a wide array of end-organ and disseminated diseases in severely immunosuppressed patients. For example, approximately 20% of pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients develop disseminated Ad infection, and the disease proves fatal in as many as 50-80% of these patients. Ad infections are a serious problem for solid-organ transplant recipients and AIDS patients as well. Unfortunately, there are no antiviral drugs approved specifically to treat these infections. A suitable animal model that is permissive for Ad replication would help in the discovery process. Here we identify an animal model to study Ad pathogenesis and the efficacy of antiviral compounds. We show that human serotype 5 Ad (Ad5) causes severe systemic disease in immunosuppressed Syrian hamsters that is similar to that seen in immunocompromised patients. We also demonstrate that hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir (CMX001) rescues the hamsters from a lethal challenge with Ad5. The antiviral drug provided protection both prophylactically and when given up to 2 days after i.v. exposure to Ad5. CMX001 acts by reducing Ad replication in key target organs. Thus, the immunosuppressed Syrian hamster is a powerful model to evaluate anti-Ad drugs, and its use can facilitate the entry of drugs such as CMX001 into clinical trials.