Vacinas contra a dengue: o que sabemos, o que tem sido feito, mas o que nos reserva o futuro?

Dengue, a disease caused by any of the four serotypes of dengue viruses, is the most important arthropod-borne viral disease in the world in terms of both morbidity and mortality. The infection by these viruses induces a plethora of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infections to severe diseases with involvement of several organs. Severe forms of the disease are more frequent in secondary infections by distinct serotypes and, consequently, a dengue vaccine must be tetravalent. Although several approaches have been used on the vaccine development, no vaccine is available against these viruses, especially because of problems on the development of a tetravalent vaccine. Here, we describe briefly the vaccine candidates available and their ability to elicit a protective immune response. We also discuss the problems and possibilities of any of the vaccines in final development stage reaching the market for human use.Dengue, doença causada por qualquer um dos quatro sorotipos dos vírus dengue, é atualmente a mais importante doença viral transmitida por artrópodos em todo o mundo, tanto em termos de morbidade como de mortalidade. A infecção por estes vírus causa grande variedade de manifestações clínicas, desde infecções assintomáticas até doenças graves com envolvimento de diversos órgãos. As formas graves da dengue são mais frequentes em infecções secundárias por sorotipos diferentes e, por esta razão, a vacina contra a dengue deve ser tetravalente. Embora várias estratégias tenham sido usadas no desenvolvimento de vacinas contra a dengue, não há ainda nenhuma vacina disponível, particularmente por problemas no desenvolvimento de uma vacina tetravalente. Aqui, descreve-se brevemente os candidatos vacinais disponíveis e a capacidade de eles induzirem resposta imune protetora contra novas infecções. Ainda, discutimos os problemas e as possibilidades de liberação, para uso em seres humanos, de qualquer uma das vacinas em fase final de desenvolviment

Dengue vaccines: what we know, what has been done, but what does the future hold?

Dengue, a disease caused by any of the four serotypes of dengue viruses, is the most important arthropod-borne viral disease in the world in terms of both morbidity and mortality. The infection by these viruses induces a plethora of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infections to severe diseases with involvement of several organs. Severe forms of the disease are more frequent in secondary infections by distinct serotypes and, consequently, a dengue vaccine must be tetravalent. Although several approaches have been used on the vaccine development, no vaccine is available against these viruses, especially because of problems on the development of a tetravalent vaccine. Here, we describe briefly the vaccine candidates available and their ability to elicit a protective immune response. We also discuss the problems and possibilities of any of the vaccines in final development stage reaching the market for human use

Incidence of group A rotavirus in urban and rural areas of the city of Londrina-Brazil, from 1995 to 1997

Rotaviruses are common pathogens and the causal agents of acute diarrhea among children and young animals. The involvement of rotavirus in human diarrheal disease among population of urban and rural areas of the city of Londrina, Parana was evaluated. Nine hundred and five fecal specimens from persons with diarrhea were studied, being 686 and 219 from urban and rural areas, respectively. Thirty-eight samples (4,2%) were positive for rotavirus by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of viral RNA and latex agglutination test of which 36 were from urban and two from rural areas. Out of the positive specimens, 17 strains were further characterized by RT-PCR typing assay, resulting in 16 strains of G1 genotype while one sample was found to be a mixture of G1 and G3 genotypes.<br>Os rotavírus são patógenos comuns e causam diarréia aguda em crianças e animais jovens. Neste trabalho avaliamos a participação do vírus na diarréia de populações humanas das áreas urbana e rural da cidade de Londrina, Paraná. Foram analisadas 905 amostras fecais de indivíduos com diarréia aguda, sendo 686 e 219 amostras das zonas urbana e rural, respectivamente. Trinta e oito amostras (4,2%) foram consideradas positivas pelas técnicas de eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida do RNA viral e aglutinação passiva de látex, das quais 36 da área urbana e dois da área rural. Das amostras positivas, 17 foram genotipadas por RT-PCR tendo sido caracterizadas 16 cepas G1 e uma considerada mistura dos genótipos G1 e G3

The in vitro cytopathology of a porcine and the simian (SA-11) strains of rotavirus

Rotaviruses have been implicated as the major causal agents of acute diarrhoea in mammals and fowls. Experimental rotavirus infection have been associated to a series of sub-cellular pathologic alterations leading to cell lysis which may represent key functions in the pathogenesis of the diarrhoeic disease. The current work describes the cytopathic changes in cultured MA-104 cells infected by a simian (SA-11) and a porcine (1154) rotavirus strains. Trypan blue exclusion staining showed increased cell permeability after infection by both strains, as demonstrated by cell viability. This effect was confirmed by the leakage of infected cells evaluated by chromium release. Nuclear fragmentation was observed by acridine orange and Wright staining but specific DNA cleavage was not detected. Ultrastructural changes, such as chromatin condensation, cytoplasm vacuolisation, and loss of intercellular contact were shown in infected cells for both strains. In situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (Tunel) assay did not show positive result. In conclusion, we demonstrated that both strains of rotavirus induced necrosis as the major degenerative effect

The effect of concanavalin A on the replication of rotavirus (SA-11) in cell culture

Rotavirus (RV) strain SA-11 was studied with respect to its infectivity in MA-104 cell cultures and the effect of concanavalin A (ConA). Receptors for ConA at the surface of MA-104 cell were determined by fluorescence assay and specifically inhibited by D-mannose. The kinetics of virus growth was carried out by plaque assay. Electron microscopy and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were used for monitoring the experiments. It was concluded that RV replication was not affected consistently by ConA, however it interfered with the development of cytopathic effect (CPE) without altering virus yields

Development of an enzyme immunoassay for poliovirus antigens

An indirect solid-phase enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was developed for the detection of poliovirus antigen. Virus antigen was obtained in LLC-MK2 cell cultures and used to prepare antibodies in rabbit and guinea pig. Antibodies were evaluated by double immunodiffusion and neutralization test. Optimal concentrations of guinea pig and rabbit immunoglobulins were determined by checkerboard titration. Microtitre plates were coated with 15.0 µg/ml guinea pig anti-polio immunoglobulin and rabbit anti-polio immunoglobulin at the concentration of 7.94 µg/ml was used as detecting antibody. The standard curve with eight different antigen concentrations in eight replicates resulted in a coefficient of variation (CV) between 2.1% to 7.8%. The dose-response relationship was determined by simple linear regression with a coefficient of correlation (R²) equal to 96.4%. The assay detected a minimum of 2.3 µg/ml poliovirus antigen.<br>O trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um ensaio imunoenzimático indireto para a detecção de antígeno de poliovírus. O antígeno viral foi obtido em cultura de células LLC-MK2 e usado para imunização de coelho e cobaia. Os soros hiperimunes foram avaliados por imunodifusão dupla e teste de neutralização. Após padronização, o soro de captura, produzido em cobaia, foi usado na concentração protéica de 15.0 µg/ml para sensibilizar microplacas de poliestireno e o soro de coelho (detector) foi usado na concentração de 7.94 µg/ml. A curva padrão resultante da utilização de oito diferentes concentrações do antígeno padrão definiu um coeficiente de variação de 2.1% a 7.8%. A relação dose-resposta foi determinada por regressão linear simples com o estabelecimento do coeficiente de correlação (R²) igual a 96.4%. O ensaio possibilitou a detecção mínima de 2.3 µg/ml de antígeno de poliovírus