Cytokine kinetics of Zika virus-infected patients from acute to reconvalescent phase

• Published in: Medical microbiology and immunology Vol. 205; no. 3; pp. 269 - 273
• Main Authors: Tappe, Dennis, Pérez-Girón, José Vicente, Zammarchi, Lorenzo, Rissland, Jürgen, Ferreira, Davis F., Jaenisch, Thomas, Gómez-Medina, Sergio, Günther, Stephan, Bartoloni, Alessandro, Muñoz-Fontela, César, Schmidt-Chanasit, Jonas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-06-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Asia; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brazil; Cytokines; Cytokines - blood; Female; Humans; Immune system; Immunology; Male; Medical Microbiology; Middle Aged; Pacific Islands; Pathogenesis; Rapid Communication; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer - immunology; Time Factors; Travel; Virology; Zika virus; Zika Virus Infection - immunology; Zika Virus Infection - pathology; Zika virus; Outbreak; Arbovirus; Zika fever; Flavivirus; Cytokine
• ISSN: 0300-8584; 1432-1831
• DOI: 10.1007/s00430-015-0445-7

Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus currently causing large epidemics in the Pacific Ocean region and Brazil. Clinically, Zika fever resembles dengue fever, but is less severe. Whereas the clinical syndrome and laboratory diagnostic procedures have been described, little attention was paid to the immunology of the disease and its possible use for clinical follow-up of patients. Here, we investigate the role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of Zika fever in travelers returning from Asia, the Pacific, and Brazil. Polyfunctional T cell activation (Th1, Th2, Th9, and Th17 response) was seen during the acute phase characterized by respective cytokine level increases, followed by a decrease in the reconvalescent phase.