Emerging picornaviruses and coronaviruses: association with respiratory pathogenesis in humans and detection in wild rodents

• Grant number: 11/19897-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Eurico de Arruda Neto
• Grantee: Luciano Kleber de Souza Luna
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

New viruses that are pathogenic for several species have been discovered as a result of sensitive molecular methods and metagenomic studies. Such techniques allow for the rapid recognition of emerging viruses, as was the case of the SARS-coronavirus during the 2003-2004 epidemics. Some viruses that cause respiratory and enteric human infections have been identified in the last 20 years, including the picornaviruses Parecho, Aichi and Saffold virus, and the human coronaviruses (HCoV) NL63 and HKU1. Few studies have investigated the importance of these agents in infections of humans or animals. Even clinical studies based on molecular detection of large panels of respiratory viruses have not included these viruses in their methods. In animals, several coronaviruses are often detected in many species, suggesting an opportunity for the exposure of humans and emergence of new coronaviral infections. This project aims to: 1) investigate the role of the picornaviruses Parecho, Aichi and Saffold virus, and of HCoV-NL63 and HKU1 in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and adenotonsillitis, using nasopharyngeal washes and tissue fragments from adenoids and tosillae, or from maxillary sinus hypertrophic mucosa obtained surgically, and 2) detect CoV with pan-coronavirus detection methods, in tissues and samples from wild rodents captured in field expeditions in the region of Ribeirão Preto. The investigation of Parecho, Aichi and Saffold virus, HCoV-NL63 and HKU1 in human samples will confer comprehensiveness to our ongoing study, which has not yet been achieved in similar studies, and allow for the investigation of the pathogenesis of these agents. Likewise, the search for CoV in wild rodents will contribute to a better understanding of their diversity, as well as factors related to its ecology, evolution, potential risks of crossing the species barrier, and pathogenesis of these viruses in animals and humans.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SABINO-SANTOS, JR., GILBERTO; MOTTA MAIA, FELIPE GONCALVES; MARTINS, RONALDO BRAGANCA; GAGLIARDI, TALITA BIANCA; DE SOUZA, WILLIAM MARCIEL; MUYLAERT, RENATA LARA; DE SOUZA LUNA, LUCIANO KLEBER; MELO, DANILO MACHADO; CARDOSO, RICARDO DE SOUZA; BARBOSA, NATALIA DA SILVA; et al. Natural infection of Neotropical bats with hantavirus in Brazil. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 8, JUN 13 2018. (12/03700-0, 12/04096-0, 16/02568-2, 12/24150-9, 15/05354-0, 13/06380-0, 11/19897-5, 11/06810-9, 14/02438-6, 11/22663-6, 15/06142-7)