Apoptosis and its relation with clinical course in patients with Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever

Abstract

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-mediated viral infection. Patients with CCHF may show various clinical presentations. The cause of this difference in the clinical course is not completely understood. Apoptosis is programmed cell death and plays an important role in regulating the immune system. Our knowledge of the role of apoptosis in CCHF disease is limited. We investigated the role of apoptosis and their relationship with the severity of the disease in CCHF.Thus, in 30 patients with CCHF and 30 healthy individuals, we analyzed the serum levels of cytochrome C, apoptotic protease activating factor-1 (Apaf 1), caspase 3, caspase 8, caspase 9, sFas, sFasL, perforin, granzyme B, and CK18 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. This is the first study that research the serum levels of the mentioned apoptosis markers in adult patients with CCHF.

Granzyme A in Chikungunya and Other Arboviral Infections

“…What might be the physiological function (if any) of the rapid early post-infection rise in circulating GzmA? As two other granule components, perforin and GzmB, can also be found in the circulation (106,107), serum GzmA may simply represent a by-product of the anti-viral responses of activated NK cells and other cytotoxic lymphocytes. Circulating GzmA could thus be viewed as a systemic biomarker for cytotoxic lymphocyte activity somewhere in the body.…”