Dengue Virus Induces NK Cell Activation through TRAIL Expression during Infection.

Dengue is an acute febrile illness with a wide spectrum of signs and symptoms ranging from mild to severe forms characterized by plasma leakage that can be fatal. NK cells are one of the main effectors in early infection and may play an important role in dengue pathogenesis. We investigated NK cell involvement during dengue infection. A higher frequency of NK cell subsets and TRAIL+NK cells was found in mild DF cases when compared to that in severe cases or healthy donors. NK activation markers such as CD107a and TLR3 were upregulated in patients' cells compared to those in healthy donors. In addition, IL12 related to NK cell activation were upregulated in mild DF cases. In vitro PBMC culture models show that DENV-stimulated and IFNα-stimulated NK cells were able to express TRAIL, suggesting an indirect activation of cells, regarding TRAIL expression. Type I IFN receptor blockage on DENV-stimulated PBMCs showed TRAIL expression on NK cells is partially IFNα dependent. In addition, during PBMC stimulation, TRAIL expression on NK cells was inversely correlated with DENV-positive monocytes. Therefore, we observed DENV-induced activation of NK cell populations. A higher activation of NK cells would promote limited viral spread, resulting in decreased inflammatory response, contributing to protection against dengue severity.

First Report of the East-Central South African Genotype of Chikungunya Virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus that causes an acute febrile syndrome with a severe and debilitating arthralgia. In Brazil, the Asian and East-Central South African (ECSA) genotypes are circulating in the north and northeast of the country, respectively. In 2015, the first autochthonous cases in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were reported but until now the circulating strains have not been characterized. Therefore, we aimed here to perform the molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of CHIKV strains circulating in the 2016 outbreak occurred in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. METHODS: The cases analyzed in this study were collected at a private Hospital, from April 2016 to May 2016, during the chikungunya outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All cases were submitted to the Real Time RT-PCR for CHIKV genome detection and to anti-CHIKV IgM ELISA. Chikungunya infection was laboratorially confirmed by at least one diagnostic method and, randomly selected positive cases (n=10), were partially sequenced (CHIKV E1 gene) and analyzed. RESULTS: The results showed that all the samples grouped in ECSA genotype branch and the molecular characterization of the fragment did not reveal the A226V mutation in the Rio de Janeiro strains analyzed, but a K211T amino acid substitution was observed for the first time in all samples and a V156A substitution in two of ten samples. CONCLUSIONS: Phylogenetic analysis and molecular characterization reveals the circulation of the ECSA genotype of CHIKV in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and two amino acids substitutions (K211T and V156A) exclusive to the CHIKV strains obtained during the 2016 epidemic, were reported.

The purinergic receptor P2X7 role in control of Dengue virus-2 infection and cytokine/chemokine production in infected human monocytes.

Purinergic signaling has a crucial role in intracellular pathogen elimination. The P2X7 purinergic receptor (P2X7R), once activated by ATP, leads to pro-inflammatory responses including reactive oxygen species production. ATP can be released by injured cells, as endogenous danger signals. Dengue fever may evolve to a severe disease, leading to hypovolemic shock and coagulation dysfunctions as a result of a cytokine storm. Our aim was to evaluate the role of P2X7R activation during Dengue virus (DENV) infection. Extracellular ATP inhibited viral load in pretreated monocytes, as measured by NS1 secretion and by decrease in DENV(+) P2X7(+) cell frequencies, suggesting that P2X7R is involved in the antiviral response. Nitric oxide (NO) has anti-DENV properties and is decreased after DENV infection. NO production after ATP stimulation is abrogated by KN62 treatment, a specific P2X7R inhibitor, indicating that P2X7R likely is acting in the virus containment process. Additionally, TNF, CXCL8, CCL2 and CXCL10 factors that are associated with dengue severity were modulated by the P2X7R activation. We conclude that P2X7R is directly involved in the modulation of the antiviral and inflammatory process that occurs during DENV infection in vitro, and may have an important role in patient recovery in a first moment.