Flavivirus Infections and Host-Pathogen Interactions

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 13840

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Infection and Immunity Research Cluster, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
Interests: transcriptomics; proteomics; virus–host interactomics; antivirals; innate immunity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Flaviviruses are vector-borne RNA viruses that can infect a broad range of hosts. In humans, they can cause a spectrum of diseases including hepatitis, vascular shock syndrome, encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis, congenital abnormalities, and fetal death. Most parts of the world have at least one endemic flavivirus, putting billions of people at risk of infection. Flaviviruses are now distributed all over the world, infecting up to 400 million people each year. The dramatic increase of flaviviruses in the last 50 decades is attributed to continuous climate change, rising population sizes, and improved global travel. Despite, decades of research, there are currently no specific antivirals available for any flavivirus infection. Vaccines are available only for a few flaviviruses, but due to poor vaccination coverage and genotypic shift, the number of cases for these viruses remains quite high. Due to their increasing numbers, ongoing outbreaks worldwide, potential future epidemics, disease severity, global socioeconomic impact, and lack of treatment options, flaviviruses represent an urgent need for the development of effective antiviral agents. The host cellular machinery plays a vital role in the survival of viruses. The outcome of infection is determined by complex host-virus interactions with a large number of altered transcriptional and translational rates, as well as the functional kinetics of participating genes. To date, first-hand information on the molecular changes in the host induced by the virus to promote its replication, and the pathways triggered in the host that result in immunity and/or clearance of the viral infection are still lacking. Having insights into the host responses to viruses would help to define targets for therapeutic intervention. The virus-host interactome also serves as a platform to identify existing FDA-approved drugs or investigational drugs for drug-repurposing for virus infection. One major advantage of the drug repurposing approach is that these drugs can be fast-tracked through clinical Phase II because they have already cleared regulatory hurdles and their pharmacokinetics and safety have been established in preclinical models and early-stage clinical trials. This method significantly reduces the time and cost of drug discovery for viral diseases. In this Special Issue, we are interested in cross-talk between various hosts and flaviviruses—specifically, how host cells interact and the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiologic process of Flavivirus infection. We are also interested in the application of this knowledge for host-directed antiviral/therapeutics for flaviviruses.

Dr. Vinod RMT Balasubramaniam
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • flavivirus
  • dengue
  • zika
  • virus–host interactome
  • drug repurposing

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 727 KiB  
Article
Development and Utility of Practical Indicators of Critical Outcomes in Dengue Patients Presenting to Hospital: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study
by Chia-Yu Chi, Tzu-Ching Sung, Ko Chang, Yu-Wen Chien, Hsiang-Chin Hsu, Yi-Fang Tu, Yi-Ting Huang and Hsin-I Shih
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(4), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8040188 - 25 Mar 2023
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Abstract
Global travel and climate change have drastically increased the number of countries with endemic or epidemic dengue. The largest dengue outbreak in Taiwan, with 43,419 cases and 228 deaths, occurred in 2015. Practical and cost-effective tools for early prediction of clinical outcomes in [...] Read more.
Global travel and climate change have drastically increased the number of countries with endemic or epidemic dengue. The largest dengue outbreak in Taiwan, with 43,419 cases and 228 deaths, occurred in 2015. Practical and cost-effective tools for early prediction of clinical outcomes in dengue patients, especially the elderly, are limited. This study identified the clinical profile and prognostic indicators of critical outcomes in dengue patients on the basis of clinical parameters and comorbidities. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary hospital from 1 July 2015 to 30 November 2015. Patients diagnosed with dengue were enrolled, and the initial clinical presentations, diagnostic laboratory data, details of the underlying comorbidities, and initial management recommendations based on 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines were used to evaluate prognostic indicators of critical outcomes in dengue patients. Dengue patients from another regional hospital were used to evaluate accuracy. A group B (4 points) classification, temperature < 38.5 °C (1 point), lower diastolic blood pressure (1 point), prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) (2 points), and elevated liver enzymes (1 point) were included in the scoring system. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the clinical model was 0.933 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.905–0.960). The tool had good predictive value and clinical applicability for identifying patients with critical outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flavivirus Infections and Host-Pathogen Interactions)
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12 pages, 561 KiB  
Article
Diagnostic Performance of Dengue NS1 and Antibodies by Serum Concentration Technique
by Viravarn Luvira, Charin Thawornkuno, Saranath Lawpoolsri, Narin Thippornchai, Chatnapa Duangdee, Thundon Ngamprasertchai and Pornsawan Leaungwutiwong
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(2), 117; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8020117 - 14 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 11243
Abstract
Dengue infection has been a public health problem worldwide, especially in tropical areas. A lack of sensitive diagnostic methods in the early phase of the illness is one of the challenging problems in clinical practices. We, herein, analyzed 86 sera of acute febrile [...] Read more.
Dengue infection has been a public health problem worldwide, especially in tropical areas. A lack of sensitive diagnostic methods in the early phase of the illness is one of the challenging problems in clinical practices. We, herein, analyzed 86 sera of acute febrile patients, from both dengue and non-dengue febrile illness, to study the diagnostic performance of dengue diagnostics. When compared with detection by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), dengue NS1 detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) had the highest sensitivity of 82.4% (with 94.3% specificity), while NS1 by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) had 76.5% sensitivity. IgM detection by ELISA and RDT showed only 27.5% and 17.9% sensitivity, respectively. The combination of NS1 and IgM in RDT yielded a sensitivity of 78.4%, with 97.1% specificity. One of the essential steps in making a diagnosis from patient samples is the preparation process. At present, a variety of techniques have been used to increase the number of analytes in clinical samples. In this study, we focused on the sample concentration method. The sera were concentrated three times with the ultrafiltration method using a 10 kDa molecular weight cut-off membrane. The results showed an increase in the sensitivity of RDT-NS1 detection at 80.4%, with 100% specificity. When combining NS1 and IgM detection, the concentration method granted RDT an 82.4% sensitivity, with 100% specificity. In conclusion, serum concentration by the ultrafiltration method is a simple and applicable technique. It could increase the diagnostic performance of point-of-care dengue diagnostics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flavivirus Infections and Host-Pathogen Interactions)
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