Study of an experimental murine model of infection with dengue viruses isolated from patients

• Grant number: 10/12664-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2011
• End date: February 28, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Victor Hugo Aquino Quintana
• Grantee: Veridiana Ester Dias de Barros Luiz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Dengue is an infectious, non- contagious disease, caused by the dengue virus (DENV). This virus is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected female mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, mainly the Aedes aegypti, a domestic mosquito biting activity during the day. The infection with any of the four viral serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4) may evolve asymptomatically or develop clinical profile ranging from an undifferentiated fever and self-limited, through classic dengue fever (DF) to the most severe known as dengue hemorrhagic fever / dengue shock syndrome (DHF / DSS). The infection by the DENV produces specified serotype lasting immunity but it is only partial and transient for subsequent infections involving another serotype. The pathogenesis of severe cases is not yet completely clarified due to the absence of an animal model that reproduces the disease observed in humans. Many groups have described animal models to study different factors related to the infection and pathogenesis of dengue. Humanized, immunocompetent and immunocompromised mice have been developed to analyze many aspects of the disease, but always using adapted viruses in laboratory. Our aim in this study is to establish an experimental model of infection using isolated viruses of patients, in other words, not adapted in laboratories at Balb/C and C57Bl/6 mice. For such, the animals will be submitted to different strategies of infection for further histopathological analysis and the production profile anti and pro-inflammatory cytokines. (AU)