Serum β-Defensin-2 Levels and Their Relationship with the Clinical Course and Prognosis in Patients with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the clinical course and prognosis of serum levels of β-defensin-2 (BD-2) in patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). Subjects and Methods: Patients who were hospitalized in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology of the Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, were considered for inclusion in this study. The patients had positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results of the CCHF virus. There were 60 patients with CCHF in the study group and 25 healthy participants in the control group. Serum BD-2 levels were measured using ELISA. Data were analyzed using the Student t test or Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Of the 60 patients, 6 (10%) died and 54 (90%) were discharged following their recovery. The mean BD-2 level of the patient group was significantly higher (4,180.30 ± 3,944.19 pg/ml) than that of the control group (964.45 ± 266.07 pg/ml; p = 0.001). Serum BD-2 levels of the patients with fatal (1,529.81 ± 1,028.14) and nonfatal disease (4,474.80 ± 4,041.58) differed, but this difference showed only borderline significance (p = 0.055). The mean BD-2 level of the severe group was 5,507.45 ± 4,327.06 pg/ml, while it was 3,611.52 ± 3,676.73 pg/ml in the mild/moderate group, and both were significantly higher than that of the control group (p = 0.001). Conclusion: In this study, the expression of serum BD-2 was raised in patients with CCHF, and this increase may beneficially affect survival. Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm the association of serum BD-2 with CCHF prognosis.

Antiviral and Immunomodulatory Properties of Antimicrobial Peptides Produced by Human Keratinocytes

“…Concentrations of hBDs were shown to be significantly higher in HCV-infected patient sera, ranging from 900 to 21,120 ng/mL, compared to controls where they were less than 60 ng/mL (Mattar et al, 2016a). In the same way, serum hBD2 levels were significantly increased in patients infected with CCHFV compared to healthy controls and were three-times higher in patients with non-fatal evolution of the disease than in patients with fatal disease (89,480 vs. 30,580 ng/mL) suggesting a protective role of the peptide during the infection (Aksoy et al, 2016).…”

“…Its expression could be then induced as early as 3 h postinfection with IAV, Sendai virus or, in a much lesser extent, HSV-1 (Ryan et al, 2011). Finally, hBD concentrations have been demonstrated to be elevated after exposure to Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) viruses as well as to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) (Bai et al, 2015;Aksoy et al, 2016;Mattar et al, 2016a). Concentrations of hBDs were shown to be significantly higher in HCV-infected patient sera, ranging from 900 to 21,120 ng/mL, compared to controls where they were less than 60 ng/mL (Mattar et al, 2016a).…”

Scoping Review of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) Literature and Implications of Future Research

“…86 An increase in serum level of BD2 was observed in CCHF patients. 87 Level of P-10, and MCP-1, was different between severe and non-severe survivors of CCHF. Likewise, significant difference in levels of TNF-, MCP-1, IP-10, IL-15, IL-10, IL-9, IL-8, IL-6, IL-5, L-1b, RANTES was observed between fatal and non-fatal patients.…”

Nosocomial Valve Endocarditis after Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

“…Emine Parlak [1]  , Oğuzhan Birdal [2]  and Münacettin Ceviz [3]  [1]. Atatürk University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Erzurum, Turkey.…”

“…Atatürk University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Erzurum, Turkey. [2]. Atatürk University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Erzurum, Turkey.…”