title: Early blood profiles of virus infection in a monkey model for Lassa fever.
abstract: Acute arenavirus disease in primates, like Lassa hemorrhagic fever in humans, begins with flu-like symptoms and leads to death approximately 2 weeks after infection. Our goal was to identify molecular changes in blood that are related to disease progression. Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) infected intravenously with a lethal dose of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) provide a model for Lassa virus infection of humans. Blood samples taken before and during the course of infection were used to monitor gene expression changes that paralleled disease onset. Changes in blood showed major disruptions in eicosanoid, immune response, and hormone response pathways. Approximately 12% of host genes alter their expression after LCMV infection, and a subset of these genes can discriminate between virulent and non-virulent LCMV infection. Major transcription changes have been given preliminary confirmation by quantitative PCR and protein studies and will be valuable candidates for future validation as biomarkers for arenavirus disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 725 West Lombard St., Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Mahmoud M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Djavani
authors.forename: Oswald R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Crasta
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Zapata
authors.forename: Zhangjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Folkerts
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sobral
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Swindells
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: C David
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Pauza
authors.forename: Igor S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Lukashevich
authors.forename: Rasha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hammamieh
authors.forename: Marti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jett
authors.forename: Maria S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Salvato
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018925:Chemokines / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007835:Lassa Fever / Q000097:blood*; D007836:Lassa virus / Q000378:metabolism; D008217:Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D014766:Viremia
chemical_list: D018925:Chemokines; D016207:Cytokines