female syrian golden hamsters  (Charles River Laboratories)

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Antagonism of stress granules key for SARS-CoV-2 infection and pathogenesis

doi: 10.64898/2026.06.16.732644

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( a ) Schematic of golden Syrian hamster infection with WA-1 (WT) or YF/F17A mutant (teal) made using Biorender. ( b-d ) Three-to four-week-old male hamsters were intranasally inoculated with 10 5 FFU of WT or YF and monitored daily for signs of disease and weight loss ( b ) over 7 days. Infectious titers were measured in the nasal wash ( C ) and lungs ( D ) on 2-,4-, and 7-DPI. Each dot represents an infected animal. The dotted lines represent the assay limit of detection. Statistical significance was determined by two-tailed Student’s t test. *P ≤ 0.05; **P ≤ 0.01; ***P ≤ 0.001, ****p<0.0001. Panel (a) was created with Biorender.com.

Article Snippet: Three-to-four-week male Syrian golden hamsters (HsdHAN:AURA strain) were purchased from Envigo, Indianapolis, IN.

Techniques: Infection, Mutagenesis, Two Tailed Test

Journal: Virus Research

Article Title: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variant pathogenicity in a long-COVID Syrian hamster model

doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2026.199711

Figure Lengend Snippet: SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding in hamsters infected with WT, Alpha, or Beta variants. Hamsters were inoculated intranasally with either B1 (WT), B.1.351 (Beta), B.1.1.7 (Alpha), or control. a) Titers of infectious virus were determined from oral swabs collected 3, 7, 14, and 28 days post-challenge. Error bars represent standard deviation ( n = 10 per group). Five animals per group were scheduled for necropsy at 14 dpi, n = 5 per group for the 28 dpi assessments. b) Viral loads were determined from oral swabs collected 3, 7, 14, and 28 days post-challenge. Error bars represent standard deviation ( n = 10 through 14 dpi; n = 5 at 28 dpi) c) Percent body-weight change in golden Syrian hamsters over 28 days post-infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants. Hamsters were weighed on days 3,7, 14 & 28 post-infection. Data represent the percent weight change compared to pre-infection weights. Error bars represent standard deviation ( n = 10 through 14 dpi; n = 5 at 28 dpi).

Article Snippet: Six-to-eight -week-old male golden Syrian hamsters were purchased from Charles River Animals were housed at the BSL2 facility at the University of Toronto and transferred to the BSL3 facility at the University of Toronto for challenge experiments.

Techniques: Infection, Control, Virus, Standard Deviation

Journal: Virus Research

Article Title: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variant pathogenicity in a long-COVID Syrian hamster model

doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2026.199711

Figure Lengend Snippet: Lung pathology in Syrian golden hamsters challenged by SARS-CoV-2 Variants ( n = 5 per group). a) Lung histopathology b) Fibrosis c) Quantification of inflammatory cell infiltration in lung tissues (Average number of inflammatory cell infiltrates per field of view in lung tissue). Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed d) Quantification of fibrosis presented as mean percentage fibrosis of total lung tissue. Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001, *** p < 0.0001, **** p < 0.00001. Error bars represent standard deviation. Images are at 20 × magnification; scale bar = 100 µm.

Article Snippet: Six-to-eight -week-old male golden Syrian hamsters were purchased from Charles River Animals were housed at the BSL2 facility at the University of Toronto and transferred to the BSL3 facility at the University of Toronto for challenge experiments.

Techniques: Histopathology, Standard Deviation

Journal: Virus Research

Article Title: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variant pathogenicity in a long-COVID Syrian hamster model

doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2026.199711

Figure Lengend Snippet: Nasal turbinate pathology in Syrian golden hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2 variants. a) Inflammation b) fibrosis were scored in nasal turbinates at 14 and 28 days post-infection in hamsters inoculated intranasally with wild-type B1 (WT), B.1.351 (Beta), B.1.1.7 (Alpha) or control ( n = 5 per group). Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed, * p < 0.05. Error bars represent standard deviation.

Article Snippet: Six-to-eight -week-old male golden Syrian hamsters were purchased from Charles River Animals were housed at the BSL2 facility at the University of Toronto and transferred to the BSL3 facility at the University of Toronto for challenge experiments.

Techniques: Infection, Control, Standard Deviation

Journal: Virus Research

Article Title: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variant pathogenicity in a long-COVID Syrian hamster model

doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2026.199711

Figure Lengend Snippet: Cardiac pathology in Syrian golden hamsters challenged by SARS-CoV-2 Variants. a) Cardiac histopathology b) Representative cardiac Fibrosis c) Representative Verhoeff–Van Gieson staining; collagen (dark pink),myocardium (yellow-brown), and elastic fibers (black) d) Quantification of inflammatory cell infiltration in cardiac tissues (Average number of inflammatory cell infiltrates per field of view in cardiac tissue). Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed e) Quantification of fibrosis presented as mean percentage fibrosis of total cardiac tissue. Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed. f) Quantification of collagen presented as mean percentage collagen of total cardiac tissue. Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed. g) Quantification of elastin presented as mean percentage elastin of total cardiac tissue. Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001, *** p < 0.0001, **** p < 0.00001. Error bars represent standard deviation. Images are at 20 × magnification; scale bar = 100 µm. n = 5 per group.

Article Snippet: Six-to-eight -week-old male golden Syrian hamsters were purchased from Charles River Animals were housed at the BSL2 facility at the University of Toronto and transferred to the BSL3 facility at the University of Toronto for challenge experiments.

Techniques: Histopathology, Staining, Standard Deviation

Journal: Virus Research

Article Title: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variant pathogenicity in a long-COVID Syrian hamster model

doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2026.199711

Figure Lengend Snippet: Kidney pathology in Syrian golden hamsters challenged by SARS-CoV-2 Variants. a) Representative Kidney Fibrosis b) Quantification of fibrosis presented as mean percentage fibrosis of total kidney tissue. Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001, *** p < 0.0001, **** p < 0.00001. Error bars represent standard deviation. Images are at 20 × magnification; scale bar = 100 µm. n = 5 per group.

Article Snippet: Six-to-eight -week-old male golden Syrian hamsters were purchased from Charles River Animals were housed at the BSL2 facility at the University of Toronto and transferred to the BSL3 facility at the University of Toronto for challenge experiments.

Techniques: Standard Deviation

Journal: Virus Research

Article Title: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 variant pathogenicity in a long-COVID Syrian hamster model

doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2026.199711

Figure Lengend Snippet: Total number of spleen germinal centers in Syrian golden hamsters following infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants. The total number of germinal centers per spleen section was quantified on days 14 and 28 post-infection in hamsters inoculated intranasally with B1 (WT), B.1.351 (Beta), B.1.1.7 (Alpha), or control. Two-way- ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test was performed. *** p < 0.0001, **** p < 0.00001. Error bars represent standard deviation . n = 5 per group.

Article Snippet: Six-to-eight -week-old male golden Syrian hamsters were purchased from Charles River Animals were housed at the BSL2 facility at the University of Toronto and transferred to the BSL3 facility at the University of Toronto for challenge experiments.

Techniques: Infection, Control, Standard Deviation