Ebola hemorrhagic fever: Properties of the pathogen and development of vaccines and chemotherapeutic agents

The Effect of TLR4 Blockade on Some Indicators of Systemic Inflammatory Response to Proteus mirabilis LPS in Rats

The effects of TLR4 blocker on blood cell morphology, concentrations proinflammatory cytokines, and functional state of the liver and kidneys were studied in outbred male rats (n=60) after intravenous injection of 20 mg/kg LPS isolated from opportunistic Proteus mirabilis strain ATCC 51393. TLR4 blocker TLR4-IN-C34 was injected intravenously in a dose of 1 mg/kg/day over 3 days. Systemic inflammatory reaction induced by LPS was characterized by elevation of serum TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, leukocytosis, and thrombocytosis. Increased activity of hepatocyte enzymes (ALT, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase), retention of nitrogen metabolites (urea and creatinine), elevated content of protein oxidation products, and enhanced protein catabolism were also observed. Administration of TLR4 blocker reduced parameters of inflammatory reaction and prevented the development of hypercatabolic syndrome; endotoxicosis and kidney function indicators approached the normal levels.

Ébola, abordaje clínico integral

Introducción. El virus del Ébola, antes llamado fiebre hemorrágica del Ébola, es una enfermedad altamente contagiosa con mortalidad entre 50% y 90%, para la cual existen prometedoras opciones de tratamiento que se encuentran en fase de evaluación y uso compasional.Objetivos. Revisar la mejor evidencia médica publicada y analizar el comportamiento de las epidemias por virus del Ébola, sus manifestaciones clínicas, sus complicaciones, los elementos más significativos para su diagnóstico y las nuevas opciones terapéuticas disponibles, para así aprender y aplicar estas experiencias en nuevos brotes.Materiales y métodos. Se realizó una búsqueda sistemática en las bases de datos PubMed, ProQuest, Embase, Redalyc, Ovid, Medline, DynaMed y ClinicalKey durante el periodo 2009-2017 en el contexto internacional, regional y local.Resultados. La revisión sistemática de artículos aportó un total de 51 430 registros, de los cuales 772 eran elegibles; de estos, 722 no eran relevantes, por lo que quedaron incluidos 50. A punto de partida se pudieron precisar los aspectos objeto de esta revisión.Conclusión. La enfermedad causada por el virus del Ébola, a pesar de su alta mortalidad, puede ser prevenida, diagnosticada oportunamente y tratada con efectividad, lo cual permite evaluar su impacto epidemiológico en las áreas endémicas y a nivel mundial. Existe un potencial arsenal terapéutico en fase de experimentación con resultados prometedores.

Filovirus proteins for antiviral drug discovery: Structure/function bases of the replication cycle

Filoviruses are important pathogens that cause severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans, for which no approved vaccines and antiviral treatments are yet available. In an earlier article (Martin et al., Antiviral Research, 2016), we reviewed the role of the filovirus surface glycoprotein in replication and as a target for drugs and vaccines. In this review, we focus on recent findings on the filovirus replication machinery and how they could be used for the identification of new therapeutic targets and the development of new antiviral compounds. First, we summarize the recent structural and functional advances on the molecules involved in filovirus replication/transcription cycle, particularly the NP, VP30, VP35 proteins, and the "large" protein L, which harbors the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and mRNA capping activities. These proteins are essential for viral mRNA synthesis and genome replication, and consequently they constitute attractive targets for drug design. We then describe how these insights into filovirus replication mechanisms and the structure/function characterization of the involved proteins have led to the development of new and innovative antiviral strategies that may help reduce the filovirus disease case fatality rate through post-exposure or prophylactic treatments.