Apoptosis-Related Gene Expression in an Adult Cohort with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever.
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a life threatening acute viral infection characterized by fever, bleeding, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. It is a major emerging infectious diseases threat, but its pathogenesis remains poorly understood and few data exist for the role of apoptosis in acute infection. We aimed to assess apoptotic gene expression in leukocytes in a cross-sectional cohort study of adults with CCHF. Twenty participants with CCHF and 10 healthy controls were recruited at a tertiary CCHF unit in Turkey; at admission baseline blood tests were collected and total RNA was isolated. The RealTime ready Human Apoptosis Panel was used for real-time PCR, detecting differences in gene expression. Participants had CCHF severity grading scores (SGS) with low risk score (10 out of 20) and intermediate or high risk scores (10 out of 20) for mortality. Five of 20 participants had a fatal outcome. Gene expression analysis showed modulation of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic genes that facilitate apoptosis in the CCHF patient group. Dominant extrinsic pathway activation, mostly related with TNF family members was observed. Severe and fatal cases suggest additional intrinsic pathway activation. The clinical significance of relative gene expression is not clear, and larger longitudinal studies with simultaneous measurement of host and viral factors are recommended.
Department of Hematology, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Nil
N
Guler
Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Cafer
C
Eroglu
Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Hava
H
Yilmaz
Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Adil
A
Karadag
Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Hasan
H
Alacam
Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Mustafa
M
Sunbul
Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.|Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool L3 5QA, United Kingdom.
Tom E
TE
Fletcher
Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Hakan
H
Leblebicioglu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins