Resumen
[0001] The invention relates to a vertical mother-child transmission route of human herpesviruses, which enables the development of an animal model that can be used to identify potentially-useful compounds for the treatment and/or prevention of infections and diseases caused by human herpesviruses. The method of identifying such compounds consists in experimentally infecting a female of a non-human animal with human herpesviruses, before or after the administration of the compound to be tested, crossing same with a male of the same species and analysing the presence of human herpesviruses in the offspring and/or determining the effect of said compound on the offspring or the mother. Alternatively, the compounds to be tested can be administered to the human-herpesvirus-carrying descendants, instead of the mother, and the effect on such animals analysed.
Reivindicaciones
1. A method for identifying a potentially therapeutic compound, comprising the steps of: a) infecting a non-human female animal with a human herpesvirus; b) administering the potentially therapeutic compound to be tested to said non- human female animal; c) crossbreeding said non-human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus with a non-human male animal belonging to the same species as said female, and d) analyzing the presence of human herpesviruses in the progeny of said non- human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus and/or determining the effect of said potentially therapeutic compound on said progeny or on said non-human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus, wherein steps a) and b) are carried out in any order. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein step a) is carried out before step b). 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein step b) is carried out before step a). 4. A method for identifying a potentially therapeutic compound, comprising the steps of: i) infecting a non-human female animal with a human herpesvirus; ii) crossbreeding said non-human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus with a non-human male animal belonging to the same species as said female; iii) analyzing the presence of human herpesviruses in the progeny of said non- human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus and selecting those descendants carrying human herpesviruses; iv) administering the potentially therapeutic compound to be tested to said descendants carrying human herpesviruses; and v) determining the effect of said potentially therapeutic compound tested on said descendants carrying human herpesviruses. 5. A method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said non-human animal is a fish or a non-human mammal. 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said non-human mammal is selected from a rodent, a primate and a suid. 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said rodent is selected from a mouse, a rat and a guinea pig. 8. A method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said human herpesvirus is selected from herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV- 6), human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi's herpesvirus (HHV- 8), and mixtures thereof. 9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the determination of the effect of the tested compound on said progeny or on said non-human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus comprises performing at least one analysis or study selected from (1) viability analysis, (2) behavior analysis, (3) image studies, (4) cytogenetic analyses and (5) neuropathological studies. 10. A method according to claim 4, wherein the determination of the effect of the tested compound on said descendants carrying human herpesviruses comprises performing at least one analysis or study selected from (1) viability analysis, (2) behavior analysis, (3) image studies, (4) cytogenetic analyses and (5) neuropathological studies. 11. A method for obtaining a non-human animal carrying human herpesviruses comprising the steps of: a) infecting a non-human female animal with a human herpesvirus; b) crossbreeding said non-human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus with a non-human male animal belonging to the same species as said female, and c) selecting the descendants carrying human herpesviruses. 12. A non-human animal carrying human herpesviruses obtained according to the method of claim 11. 13. A non-human animal carrying human herpesviruses, characterized in that it is an animal that is a descendant of a non-human female animal infected with a human herpesvirus. 14. A non-human animal according to any of claims 12 or 13, wherein said human herpesviruses are mainly located in the brain, spinal cord and/or in the blood. 15. A method for producing a non-human animal carrying human herpesviruses, comprising the steps of: a) crossbreeding a first non-human animal carrying human herpesviruses according to any of claims 12 to 14 with a second non-human animal belonging to the same species as said first animal but of a different sex, and b) selecting the descendants carrying human herpesviruses. 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein said second animal is selected from a MOCK animal and a non-human animal carrying human herpesviruses.
