| 1. |
- Iheozor-Ejiofor, Rommel, et al.
(author)
-
Neutralizing Antibody Titers in Hospitalized Patients with Acute Puumala Orthohantavirus Infection Do Not Associate with Disease Severity
- 2022
-
In: Viruses. - : MDPI. - 1999-4915. ; 14:5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), is an acute febrile illness caused by Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV). NE manifests typically with acute kidney injury (AKI), with a case fatality rate of about 0.1%. The treatment and management of hantavirus infections are mainly supportive, although neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and immune sera therapeutics are under investigation. In order to assess the potential use of antibody therapeutics in NE, we sought to determine the relationship between circulating PUUV neutralizing antibodies, PUUV nucleocapsid protein (N) IgG antibodies, and viral loads with markers of disease severity. The study included serum samples of extensively characterized patient cohorts (n = 116) from Tampere University Hospital, Finland. The results showed that upon hospitalization, most patients already had considerable neutralizing and anti-PUUV-N IgG antibody levels. However, contrary to expectations, neutralizing antibody titers from the first day of hospitalization did not appear to protect from AKI or correlate with more favorable disease outcomes. This indicates that further studies are needed to investigate the applicability of neutralizing antibodies as a therapy for hospitalized NE patients.
|
|
| 2. |
- Bulanova, Daria, et al.
(author)
-
Antiviral Properties of Chemical Inhibitors of Cellular Anti-Apoptotic Bcl-2 Proteins
- 2017
-
In: Viruses. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4915. ; 9:10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Viral diseases remain serious threats to public health because of the shortage of effective means of control. To combat the surge of viral diseases, new treatments are urgently needed. Here we show that small-molecules, which inhibit cellular anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins (Bcl-2i), induced the premature death of cells infected with different RNA or DNA viruses, whereas, at the same concentrations, no toxicity was observed in mock-infected cells. Moreover, these compounds limited viral replication and spread. Surprisingly, Bcl-2i also induced the premature apoptosis of cells transfected with viral RNA or plasmid DNA but not of mock-transfected cells. These results suggest that Bcl-2i sensitizes cells containing foreign RNA or DNA to apoptosis. A comparison of the toxicity, antiviral activity, and side effects of six Bcl-2i allowed us to select A-1155463 as an antiviral lead candidate. Thus, our results pave the way for the further development of Bcl-2i for the prevention and treatment of viral diseases.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bösl, Korbinian, et al.
(author)
-
Common Nodes of Virus-Host Interaction Revealed Through an Integrated Network Analysis
- 2019
-
In: Frontiers in Immunology. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 1664-3224. ; 10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Viruses are one of the major causes of acute and chronic infectious diseases and thus a major contributor to the global burden of disease. Several studies have shown how viruses have evolved to hijack basic cellular pathways and evade innate immune response by modulating key host factors and signaling pathways. A collective view of these multiple studies could advance our understanding of virus-host interactions and provide new therapeutic perspectives for the treatment of viral diseases. Here, we performed an integrative meta-analysis to elucidate the 17 different host-virus interactomes. Network and bioinformatics analyses showed how viruses with small genomes efficiently achieve the maximal effect by targeting multifunctional and highly connected host proteins with a high occurrence of disordered regions. We also identified the core cellular process subnetworks that are targeted by all the viruses. Integration with functional RNA interference (RNAi) datasets showed that a large proportion of the targets are required for viral replication. Furthermore, we performed an interactome-informed drug re-purposing screen and identified novel activities for broad-spectrum antiviral agents against hepatitis C virus and human metapneumovirus. Altogether, these orthogonal datasets could serve as a platform for hypothesis generation and follow-up studies to broaden our understanding of the viral evasion landscape.
|
|
| 4. |
- Erra, Elina O, et al.
(author)
-
A single dose of vero cell-derived Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine (Ixiaro) effectively boosts immunity in travelers primed with mouse brain-derived JE vaccines
- 2012
-
In: Clinical Infectious Diseases. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1058-4838 .- 1537-6591. ; 55:6, s. 825-834
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND:A significant part of the world population lives in areas with endemic Japanese encephalitis (JE). For travelers from nonendemic countries, Vero cell-derived vaccine (JE-VC; Ixiaro) has replaced traditional mouse brain-derived vaccines (JE-MB) associated with safety concerns. The 2 vaccines are derived from different viral strains: JE-VC from the SA14-14-2 strain and JE-MB from the Nakayama strain. No data exist regarding whether JE-VC can be used to boost immunity after a primary series of JE-MB; therefore, a primary series of JE-VC has been recommended to all travelers regardless of previous vaccination history.METHODS:One hundred twenty travelers were divided into 4 groups: Volunteers with no prior JE vaccination received primary immunization with (group 1) JE-MB or (group 2) JE-VC, and those primed with JE-MB received a single booster dose of (group 3) JE-MB or (group 4) JE-VC. Immune responses were tested before and 4-8 weeks after vaccination using plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) against both vaccine strains.RESULTS:In vaccine-naive travelers, the vaccination response rate for test strains Nakayama and SA14-14-2 was 100% and 87% after primary vaccination with JE-MB and 87% and 94% after JE-VC, respectively. Antibody levels depended on the target virus, with higher titers against homologous than heterologous PRNT(50) target strain (P < .001). In travelers primed with JE-MB, vaccination response rates were 91% and 91%, and 98% and 95% after a booster dose of JE-MB or JE-VC, respectively. Subgroup analysis revealed that a higher proportion of primed (98%/95%) than nonprimed (39%/42%) volunteers responded to a single dose of JE-VC (P < .001).CONCLUSIONS:A single dose of JE-VC effectively boosted immunity in JE-MB-primed travelers. Current recommendations should be reevaluated.CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION:NCT01386827.
|
|
| 5. |
- Erra, Elina O., et al.
(author)
-
Cross-protection elicited by primary and booster vaccinations against Japanese encephalitis : A two-year follow-up study
- 2013
-
In: Vaccine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-410X .- 1873-2518. ; 32:1, s. 119-123
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The inactivated Vero cell-derived vaccine (JE-VC, IXIARO) has replaced the traditional mouse brain-derived preparations (JE-MB) in travelers' vaccinations against Japanese encephalitis. We showed recently that a single JE-VC dose efficiently boosts immunity in JE-MB-primed vaccinees, and that JE-VC elicits cross-protective immunity against non-vaccine genotypes, including the emerging genotype I. While these studies only provided short-term data, the present investigation evaluates the longevity of seroprotection in the same volunteers.Methods:The study comprised 48 travelers who had received (1) JE-VC primary series, (2) JE-MB primary series followed by a single JE-VC booster dose, or (3) JE-MB primary series and a single JE-MB booster dose. Serum samples were collected two years after the last vaccine dose, and evaluated with the plaque-reduction neutralization test against seven Japanese encephalitis virus strains representing genotypes I-IV. PRNT50 titers >= 10 were considered protective.Results:Two years after the primary series with JE-VC, 87-93% of the vaccinees proved to be cross-protected against test strains representing genotypes II-IV and 73% against those of genotype I. After a single homologous or heterologous booster dose to JE-MB-primed subjects, the two-year seroprotection rates against genotype I-IV strains were 89-100%.Conclusions:After JE-VC primary series, seroprotection appeared to wane first against genotype I. The first booster should not be delayed beyond two years. In JE-MB-primed subjects, a single JE-VC booster provided cross-protective immunity against genotype I-IV strains in almost all vaccinees, suggesting an interval of two years or even longer for the second booster. These data further support the use of a single JE-VC dose for boosting JE-MB immunity.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Escadafal, Camille, et al.
(author)
-
Second External Quality Assurance Study for the Serological Diagnosis of Hantaviruses in Europe
- 2012
-
In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1935-2735. ; 6:4, s. e1607-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hantaviruses are endemic throughout the world and hosted by rodents and insectivores. Two human zoonoses, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), are caused by hantaviruses and case fatality rates have reached 12% for HFRS and 50% for HPS in some outbreaks. Symptomatic hantavirus infections in Europe are summarised as HFRS mainly due to Puumala, Dobrava-Belgrade and Saaremaa virus. While HFRS has an overall low incidence in Europe, the number of cases varies from 100 per year in all Eastern and Southern Europe up to 1,000 per year only in Finland. To assess the quality of hantavirus diagnostics, the European Network for the Diagnostics of 'Imported'' Viral Diseases (ENIVD) organised a first external quality assurance (EQA) in 2002. The purpose of this second EQA study is to collect updated information on the efficiency and accurateness of hantavirus serological methods applied by expert laboratories. A serum panel of 14 samples was sent to 28 participants in Europe of which 27 sent results. Performance in hantavirus diagnosis varied not only on the method used but also on the laboratories and the subclass of antibodies tested. Commercial and in-house assays performed almost equally. Enzyme immunoassays were mainly used but did not show the best performances while immunoblot assays were the less employed and showed overall better performances. IgM antibodies were not detected in 61% of the positive IgM samples and IgM detection was not performed by 7% of the laboratories indicating a risk of overlooking acute infections in patients. Uneven performances using the same method is indicating that there is still a need for improving testing conditions and standardizing protocols.
|
|
| 8. |
- Evander, Magnus, et al.
(author)
-
Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Inkoo Virus in Northern Sweden
- 2016
-
In: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. - : American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. - 0002-9637 .- 1476-1645. ; 94:5, s. 1103-1106
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The mosquito-borne Inkoo virus (INKV) is a member of the California serogroup in the family Bunyaviridae, genus Orthobunyavirus These viruses are associated with fever and encephalitis, although INKV infections are not usually reported and the incidence is largely unknown. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of anti-INKV antibodies and associated risk factors in humans living in northern Sweden. Seroprevalence was investigated using the World Health Organization Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease study, where a randomly selected population aged between 25 and 74 years (N = 1,607) was invited to participate. The presence of anti-INKV IgG antibodies was determined by immunofluorescence assay. Seropositivity for anti-INKV was significantly higher in men (46.9%) than in women (34.8%; P < 0.001). In women, but not in men, the prevalence increased somewhat with age (P = 0.06). The peak in seropositivity was 45-54 years for men and 55-64 years for women. Living in rural areas was associated with a higher seroprevalence. In conclusion, the prevalence of anti-INKV antibodies was high in northern Sweden and was associated with male sex, older age, and rural living. The age distribution indicates exposure to INKV at a relatively early age. These findings will be important for future epidemiological and clinical investigations of this relatively unknown mosquito-borne virus.
|
|
| 9. |
- Hepojoki, Satu, et al.
(author)
-
Competitive Homogeneous Immunoassay for Rapid Serodiagnosis of Hantavirus Disease
- 2015
-
In: Journal of Clinical Microbiology. - 0095-1137 .- 1098-660X. ; 53:7, s. 2292-2297
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study, we describe a competitive homogeneous immunoassay that makes use of Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) in rapid detection of pathogen-specific antibodies. The assay principle is based on competition between a monoclonal antibody (MAb) and serum antibodies to a given antigen. In the assay, named competitive FRET immunoassay (CFRET-IA), the FRET signal is induced if MAb carrying a donor label binds to an acceptor-labeled antigen. Specific antibodies in serum compete for antigen binding, resulting in reduced FRET signal. The proof-of-principle for the assay was obtained using donor-labeled Puumala virus nucleocapsid protein (PUUV-N) and acceptor-labeled anti-PUUV-N MAb. The assay was evaluated by analyzing 329 clinical samples comprising 101 from individuals with acute PUUV infection, 42 from individuals with past infection, and 186 from individuals with PUUV-seronegative sera, and the results were compared to those of reference tests. The rapid serodiagnostic test we introduced herein performed with 100% sensitivity and 99% specificity for diagnosing acute hantavirus disease.
|
|
| 10. |
- Ianevski, Aleksandr, et al.
(author)
-
Novel activities of safe-in-human broad-spectrum antiviral agents
- 2018
-
In: Antiviral Research. - : Elsevier. - 0166-3542 .- 1872-9096. ; 154, s. 174-182
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- According to the WHO, there is an urgent need for better control of viral diseases. Re-positioning existing safe-inhuman antiviral agents from one viral disease to another could play a pivotal role in this process. Here, we reviewed all approved, investigational and experimental antiviral agents, which are safe in man, and identified 59 compounds that target at least three viral diseases. We tested 55 of these compounds against eight different RNA and DNA viruses. We found novel activities for dalbavancin against echovirus 1, ezetimibe against human immunodeficiency virus 1 and Zika virus, as well as azacitidine, cyclosporine, minocycline, oritavancin and ritonavir against Rift valley fever virus. Thus, the spectrum of antiviral activities of existing antiviral agents could be expanded towards other viral diseases.
|
|
