Chikungunya Virus Infection
Venkatesan Jayaprakash, Daniele Castagnolo, Yusuf Özkay in Medicinal Chemistry of Neglected and Tropical Diseases, 2019
Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by the bites of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), which is a member of the genus alphavirus, in the family Togoviridae, is a re-emerging mosquito borne pathogen causing intense joint pain which can persist for weeks, months or even years in humans. The clinical features of CHIKV infection can be divided into three phases, namely, acute phase (less than three weeks), sub-acute phase (greater than three weeks, and up to three months) and chronic phase (more than three months). The common symptoms of CHIKV infection are fever, arthralgia/arthritis, backache, headache and skin rash/itching. In addition, symptoms like photophobia, retro-orbital pain, vomiting, diarrhea, meningeal syndrome and acute encephalopathy may also be seen rarely in adults and sometimes in children. Due to the poor understanding of the basic molecular underpinning of CHIKV infection and its replication cycles, there is no approved therapeutics against CHIKV. This chapter summarizes the history of CHIKV infection, describes its genome and the various protein targets for developing anti-CHIKV drugs, as well as the various new inhibitors designed so far through molecular modelling approaches and validated by molecular dynamics simulations.
Mosquitoes
Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard in The Goddard Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, Seventh Edition, 2019
Chikungunya Fever. Chikungunya (CHIK) is a mosquito-transmitted Alphavirus which is not usually fatal but can cause severe fevers, headaches, fatigue, nausea, and muscle and joint pains.79,80 There may be excruciatingly painful swelling of the joints in fingers, wrists, back, and ankles. The virus was first isolated during an epidemic in Tanzania in 1952, and the word chikungunya comes from Swahili, meaning “that which bends up,” referring to the position patients assume while suffering severe joint pains.80 The virus may be transmitted by Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus, and Ae. polynesiensis (Polynesian islands). The geographic distribution of CHIK has historically included most of sub-Saharan Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, although the disease is increasing both in incidence and geographic range. There were at least 300,000 cases on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean during 2005–2006. India suffered an explosive outbreak in 2006 with more than 1.25 million cases. CHIK was found in Italy in 2007.79,81 During 2013–14, there were thousands of cases reported in the Caribbean and Central, and South America.82 In 2015, there were 896 cases of travel-related CHIK in the United States and one locally acquired case.14 One of the mosquito vectors of CHIK, the Asian tiger mosquito, Ae. albopictus, is extremely abundant in the southern United States, raising fears of widespread outbreaks should local mosquitoes become infected.81
Mosquitoes
Jerome Goddard in Public Health Entomology, 2022
Chikungunya fever. Chikungunya (CHIK) is a mosquito-transmitted Alphavirus which is not usually fatal but can cause severe fevers, headaches, fatigue, nausea, and muscle and joint pains.24,25 CHIK may cause excruciatingly painful swelling of the joints in fingers, wrists, back, and ankles. The virus was first isolated during an epidemic in Tanzania where the Swahili word Chikungunya means “that which bends up,” referring to the position patients assume while suffering severe joint pains.25 The virus may be transmitted by Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus, and Ae. polynesiensis (Polynesian islands). The geographic distribution of CHIK has historically included most of Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, although the disease is increasing both in incidence and geographic range. There were at least 300,000 cases on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean during 2005–2006. India suffered an explosive outbreak in 2006 with more than 1.25 million cases. CHIK was found in Italy in 2007.24,26 During 2013–2014, there were thousands of cases reported in the Caribbean and Central, and South America.27 In 2015, there were 896 cases of travel-related CHIK in the United States and one locally acquired case.28 One of the mosquito vectors of CHIK, the Asian tiger mosquito, Ae. albopictus, is extremely abundant in the southern United States, raising fears of widespread outbreaks should local mosquitoes become infected.26
The role of plant expression platforms in biopharmaceutical development: possibilities for the future
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2019
Other Zoonotic diseases such as Chikungunya and Middle Eastern Respiratory syndrome virus are also being addressed using plant-based approaches. Chikungunya is a mosquito-transmitted virus that causes fever, headaches and severe joint pain. Multiple efforts have been made to generate a plant-made vaccine to Chikungunya with some success [46,47]. Monoclonal antibodies to Chikungunya virus have been successfully constructed and used both as a diagnostic tool and as a therapeutic for the poor [48]. Similarly, MERS, which is endemic in the world’s camel population, transmitted by aerosol and, with a mortality rate in humans approaching 40%, has been designated as a potential emerging threat [49]. A plant-made version of a ubiquitin variant, which binds to the viral deubiquitinase enzyme and blocks infection, has been constructed in several virus expression systems and is currently being explored as an efficacious means to block transmission as well as disease symptoms (personal communication).
Curcumin and curcumin-loaded nanoparticles: antipathogenic and antiparasitic activities
Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, 2020
Mahendra Rai, Avinash P. Ingle, Raksha Pandit, Priti Paralikar, Netravati Anasane, Carolina Alves Dos Santos
Chikungunya virus is transmitted by mosquito and infects millions of people mainly residing in developing countries. The chikungunya disease is characterized by rashes severe arthritis, and high fever. To date, no chikungunya vaccine exists. The researchers around the globe are trying to search for novel antiviral compounds that can inhibit the activity of this virus. In this context, von Rhein et al. [47] evaluated the antiviral activity of some traditional medicinal plants including curcumin against the chikungunya virus. The reports claimed that curcumin inhibited the infection caused by the chikungunya virus. In addition, it has been revealed that curcumin also possess potent antiviral activity against hepatitis C virus (HCV, High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs), Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV), Feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), flock house virus (FHV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) [33]. Curcumin affects the replication process of Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1). With the help of cell culture study, it has been observed that viral yield of PR8, H1N1 and H6N1 strains were considerably reduced in the presence of 30 μM of curcumin [46]. Flores et al. [48] investigated the effect of curcumin-treated HSV-1, HSV-2 virions in cultured Vero cells. HSV-1 and HSV-2 virions, when treated with 30 µM of curcumin, reduces the infection of HSV-1 and HSV-2 virions. It has been proved that curcumin can be used to control the transmission of HSV-1 and HSV-2.
Semliki Forest virus-based immunotherapy for cancer
Published in Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, 2020
Alphaviruses belong to the family of Togaviridae and hold a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) genome surrounded by a protein capsid structure and spike membrane proteins [9]. The alphavirus lifecycle is characterized by a large host range due to recognition of several cell surface receptors, direct RNA replication in the host cell cytoplasm and release of progeny by budding [10]. Alphaviruses have been associated with epidemics in different parts of the world resulting in fever, severe persistent headache, myalgia and arthralgia [11,12]. Moreover, recent outbreaks of Chikungunya virus (CHIK) have occurred presenting clinical symptoms such as polyarthralgia, rash, high fever and severe headaches, which have been characterized by rapid spread and high morbidity [13]. For this reason, alphavirus expression systems based on attenuated or avirulent strains and replication-deficient viruses have been engineered for immunization approaches demonstrating no harm to humans. In this context, alphavirus vectors have been frequently used for recombinant protein expression in cell lines [14], in primary cells [15], and in vivo[16]. Furthermore, alphavirus vectors have been applied for numerous immunization studies in animal models [8]. The aim of the review is to give an overview of the current status of alphavirus-based cancer immunotherapy by a description of alphavirus vector and expression systems and their applications in preclinical animal models and some clinical trials.