(Press-News.org) GALVESTON, Texas — For the first time, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers were able to predict further adaptations of the chikungunya virus that recently spread from Africa to several continents that will likely result in even more efficient transmission and infection of more people by this virus strain.
A key factor in a viruses' potential to sustain its circulation and ultimately cause disease is its ability to adapt to new host environments. The number and complexity of these adaptations is shaped by how hospitable the new host is to a certain virus.
Since 2005, 1 in 1,000 chikungunya virus infections has resulted in a fatal disease. "A typical infection involves very severe arthritic symptoms, leaving the sufferer severely afflicted by pain to the point where people can't work or function normally," said UTMB professor Scott Weaver, lead author of this paper that will be published in Nature Communications. "Chikungunya continues to be a major threat to public health around the world."
A UTMB team previously found that a recently emerged lineage strain of the chikungunya virus has adapted itself to be hosted by not only the Aedes aegypti mosquito that lives mainly in the tropics but also to the Asian tiger mosquito, A. albopictus, which can currently be found on all continents except Antarctica. This mutation in the Indian Ocean lineage occurred through a single adaptive change in the virus' genetic code that alters one protein in the envelope surrounding the virus.
Their newest investigation analyzed recent events in chikungunya virus evolution that will aid in predicting future trends in transmission and circulation that determine epidemic potential. Weaver and his team found that the initial adaption provided the framework for a second wave of adaptations that can enable rapid diversification of viral strains and even more efficient transmission to people. In addition, analysis of the chikungunya virus strain expressing a combination of the second-wave adaptive mutations revealed a similar pattern of changes and heightened adaptive qualities suggesting the future emergence of even higher transmission efficiency.
The researchers concluded that the Indian Ocean lineage of chikungunya virus that has spread to the Indian Ocean Basin, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Europe continues to mutate and adapt to develop higher efficiency for transmission by the Asian tiger mosquito. "Although a different chikungunya virus strain from the Asian lineage is now circulating in the Americas, the introduction of the Indian Ocean lineage could put temperate regions where A. albopictus thrives at risk for expansion of epidemic circulation," Weaver cautioned.
INFORMATION:
Other authors of this paper include Konstantin A. Tsetsarkin, Rubing Chen, Ruimei Yun, Shannan L. Rossi, Kenneth S. Plante, Mathilde Guerbois, Naomi Forrester, Grace Leal and Jing Huang from UTMB; Guey Chuen Perng from Emory University School of Medicine and the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan; Easwaran Sreekumar from the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in India; and Suchetana Mukhopadhyay from Indiana University. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Biotechnology of the Indian Government.
The University of Texas Medical Branch
Office of Marketing and Communications
301 University Blvd., Suite 3.512
Galveston, Texas 77555-0144
http://www.utmb.edu
Study shows chikungunya mutation places several countries at risk of epidemic
2014-06-16
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Cover the bases: Sports physicals are no substitute for comprehensive checkups
2014-06-16
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Nearly half of parents say any qualified health care provider – not just a child's usual provider – can do a sports physical, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.
One quarter of the 434 parents surveyed in the poll took their child to an alternate location for the most recent sports physical, says Sarah J. Clark, M.P.H. , associate director of the National Poll on Children's Health and associate research scientist in the University of Michigan Department of Pediatrics.
Sports physicals ...
C. difficile epidemic should concern not only hospital patients but people at home
2014-06-16
Without proper infection prevention in hospitals, and now homes, the Clostridium difficile bacteria poses a major health threat, cautions a Case Western Reserve University infection control researcher.
While mainly a concern in hospitals, cases of the C. difficile infection (or C. diff) are on the rise in the community, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that has seen increased reports of the infected people who have had no contact with hospital patients with the infection. The CDC reported 7.6 people out of 100,000 who had no contact with people ...
Diabetes distress vs. depression: Are people with type 2 being misdiagnosed?
2014-06-16
June 16, 2014 (San Francisco) – Researchers have long understood there is a strong association between diabetes and depression. But new research presented at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions® shows that symptoms of depression in people with type 2 diabetes can be significantly reduced through interventions for "diabetes distress," suggesting that much of what is being labeled as depression may not be a co-morbid psychiatric disorder after all, but rather a reaction to living with a stressful, complex disease that is often difficult to manage. ...
Long-term follow-up of diabetes prevention program shows continued reduction in diabetes development
2014-06-16
June 16, 2014 (San Francisco) – Treatments used to decrease the development of type 2 diabetes continue to be effective an average of 15 years later, according to the latest findings of the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study, a landmark study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The results, presented at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions®, come more than a decade after the Diabetes Prevention Program, or DPP, reported its original findings. In 2001, after an average of three years of study, the DPP announced that the study's ...
Many overestimate exercise intensity: York University study
2014-06-16
TORONTO, June 16, 2014 — Do you work out for health benefits and feel you are exercising more than enough? You might be among the many Canadians who overrate how hard they work out or underestimate what moderate intensity exercise means, according to a recent study out of York University's Faculty of Health.
"Our study findings suggest that the majority of young and middle-aged to old adults underestimate the intensity of physical activity that is required to achieve health benefits," says Professor Jennifer Kuk, School of Kinesiology and Health Science. "This is worrisome ...
UGA researchers discover new method to reduce disease-causing inflammation
2014-06-16
Athens, Ga. – Researchers at the University of Georgia report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that an enzyme known as Tumor Progression Locus 2, or Tpl2, plays a key role in directing and regulating several important components of the body's immune system. Their discovery may one day lead to new treatments for many common autoimmune diseases.
"We know that immune dysfunction plays a serious role in a number of conditions, and we need better methods for controlling chronic inflammation," said Wendy Watford, assistant professor of infectious diseases in UGA's College ...
Common blood pressure medication may pose risk to older adults
2014-06-16
Dallas – June 12, 2014 – Adults over 65 who have recently begun thiazide diuretics are at a greater risk for developing metabolic-related adverse events, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
More than two-thirds of older adults have high blood pressure in the United States and thiazide diuretics are often recommended as the initial medication for these hypertensive patients. Thiazide diuretics primarily inhibit sodium transport in the kidney, leading to urinary loss of sodium and water, which decreases blood pressure. While the risks of this medication ...
High-altitude weight loss may have an evolutionary advantage
2014-06-16
Weight loss at high altitudes—something universally experienced by climbers and people who move to higher terrain—may not be a detrimental effect, but rather is likely an evolutionarily-programmed adaptation, according to a new article in BioEssays.
Researchers explain that low oxygen causes fat and protein to be broken down, leading to the release of ketones and amino acids, which act as metabolic fuels. Also, ketones enhance the efficiency of oxygen use by the body whilst both ketones and certain amino acids protect cellular components from the detrimental effects of ...
International study yields important clues to the genetics of epilepsy
2014-06-16
This news release is available in French. An international team of researchers has discovered a significant genetic component of Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy (IGE), the most common form of epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by sudden, uncontrolled electrical discharges in the brain expressed as a seizure. The new research, published in this week's issue of EMBO Reports, implicates a mutation in the gene for a protein, known as cotransporter KCC2.
KCC2 maintains the correct levels of chloride ions in neurons, playing a major part in regulating ...
Gluten-free diet relieves 'brain fog' in patients with Celiac disease
2014-06-16
Individuals with celiac disease often experience 'brain fog' in addition to intestinal problems, but a new study shows that adhering to a gluten-free diet can lead to improvements in cognition that correlate with the extent of intestinal healing. The Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics findings indicate that ridding the diet of gluten may help address problems that celiac disease patients can experience related to attention, memory, and other mental tasks.
"The study outcomes highlight the importance for individuals with celiac disease of maintaining a gluten-free ...