On the interference of clinical outcome on rabies transmission an perpetuation

Abstract

Rabies is a viral zoonotic infectious disease that affects mammals and is caused by genotypes/species of the Lyssavirus genus (Rhabdoviridae, Mononegavirales), with the genotype 1 (classic rabies virus -RABV) being the most prevalent. Despite continuous efforts, rabies is still an incurable disease that causes thousands of deaths amongst humans worldwide. Due to a wide range of hosts and the different evolutionary paths of RABV in each host, several host-specific variants have arisen in an ongoing process. The result of RABV replication in nervous tissues may lead to two opposite clinical outcomes, i.e., paralytic/dumb form and encephalitic/furious one. The paralytic form creates dead-end hosts mainly amongst herbivores, while the furious form of the disease allows for augmented transmission when manifested in gregarious carnivores, as their natural aggressive behavior is accentuated by the disease itself. The aim of this article is to propose a theoretical model intended to explore how the rabies virus intrinsically modulates the immune system of different host classes, the pathological changes that the virus causes in these animals and how these elements favor its own perpetuation in nature, thus providing a basis for better prediction of the patterns this disease may present.

Filogenia de vírus da raiva isolados de morcegos frugívoros do gênero Artibeus e relacionados a morcegos hematófagos com base nos genes codificadores da nucleoproteína N e glicoproteína G

“…Assim, pode-se interpretar destes trabalhos que, após a emergência de uma dada linhagem hospedeiro-específica, há uma tendência à emergência de padrões regionais para estas linhagens Nestes eventos, um dado reservatório é infectado com uma linhagem de um patógeno não característico da sua espécie, que no caso da raiva, fora descrito para várias espécies de mamíferos de diferentes regiões (HOLMES et al, 2002;BRANDÃO, 2009 A proteína N também é a mais conservada antigenicamente, e por esta razão é a mais utilizada em diagnósticos e estudos das relações evolutivas e epidemiológicas (TORDO; KOUKNETZOFF, 1993). Considerando-se as elevadas restrições funcionais exercidas sobre a proteína N (WUNNER, 2002), e substituições de aa que impedem sua propagação, o resultado é uma menor taxa de mutação para o gene que a codifica HOLMES et al, 2002 rotundus e Artibeus spp.)…”

On an Integrative Theoretical Framework for the Molecular Natural History of Viral Diseases

“…58 For instance, in the case of rabies, rabies virus leads to increased aggressive behavior and this enhances the virus transmission (Brandão 2009), making a positive disease behavior.…”

Bufotenine is able to block rabies virus infection in BHK-21 cells

“…According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rabies is a zoonotic neglected disease that occurs in more than 150 countries and territories, killing more than 55,000 people every year, mostly in Asia and Africa [ 1 ]. It is caused by a virus that affects the central nervous system and, once symptoms have developed, is nearly always fatal [ 2 , 3 ]. Different in vitro experiments showed evidences that some cells receptors, such as the muscular form of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), are capable of participating on the entry of rabies virus into cells [ 4 – 7 ].…”