Use of Favipiravir to Treat Lassa Virus Infection in Macaques.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Rosenke K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6106425 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Use of Favipiravir to Treat Lassa Virus Infection in Macaques.
Rosenke Kyle K Feldmann Heinz H Westover Jonna B JB Hanley Patrick William PW Martellaro Cynthia C Feldmann Friederike F Saturday Greg G Lovaglio Jamie J Scott Dana P DP Furuta Yousuke Y Komeno Takashi T Gowen Brian B BB Safronetz David D
Emerging infectious diseases 20180917 9
Lassa virus, the cause of Lassa fever in humans, is endemic to West Africa. Treatment of Lassa fever is primarily supportive, although ribavirin has shown limited efficacy if administered early during infection. We tested favipiravir in Lassa virus-viremic macaques and found that 300 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks successfully treated infection. ...[more]
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2014-08-29 | GSE49838 | GEO
Project description:Lassa fever virus (LASV) is a significant human pathogen that is endemic to several countries in West Africa. Infection with Lassa leads to the development of hemorrhagic fever in a significant number of public health cases and it is considered a potential bioweapon. Little is known about the complex immune mechanisms governing response to LASV infection, or the genetic determinants of susceptibility and resistance to infection. In the study presented here, we have used a whole-genome, microarray-based approach to determine the temporal host response to infection in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of non-human primates (NHP) infected with LASV. Sequential sampling over the entire disease course showed that there are specific transcription signatures of the immune response to LASV infection, including the rapid up- regulation of interferon-responsive genes and toll-like receptor signaling pathways. However, this increase in early innate responses was coupled with a lack of pro- inflammatory cytokine response in LASV infected NHPs. There was a distinct lack of cytokines such as IL1b and IL23a, while immune suppressive cytokines such as IL27 and IL6 were upregulated. Comparison of cytokine gene expression with the amount of detectable protein in Lassa infected NHPs suggests that gene expression precedes the protein detection and thus is possibly a better tool for early diagnostics of the disease. Our results provide a comprehensive picture of the immune response to hemorrhagic LASV infection and provide a foundation for biomarker identification to allow clinical diagnosis of Lassa infection through analysis of the host response.
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