Approach for the Study of COVID-19 Infection and Vaccine Development using Mice Model: A Narrative Review

Abstract

COVID-19 global pandemics have called for researchers to design a suitable non-primate animal model as a tool for the study of pathogenesis, drug, and vaccine candidates. Studies using rodents have recently been developed and conducted to provide insights for various possible approaches to studying COVID-19. Here, we discussed the rodent model of COVID-19, primarily utilizing mice with strains of BALB/c and C57BL to understand the course of the and vaccine efficacy research. We searched for several online databases that studied the SARS-CoV-2 infection in rodents and vaccine development. We then appraised and discussed animal models to enhance drug development and vaccine studies on COVID-19. We appraised, discussed, and summarized 13 papers regarding the administration routes, observations, and indications for the study and further discussed the benefits and limitations of the studies. We found that researchers have successfully produced a transgenic animal model transfected with human ACE2 (hACE2), a good model of COVID-19 related high viral load with clinicopathology mimicking humans. We also found that the aged mice model presented a more serious disease than the less mature ones. Description and characterization of transgenic mice strains should also be applied to acquire a suitable animal model for COVID-19. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to promote the number of pathogenic inflammation processes in BALB/c mice, which can be used for cytokines characterization, needed in drug and vaccine efficacy.