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URL: http://www.avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=37350 Printed Date: April 16 2024 at 3:42am
Topic: Chickengunya ResearchPosted By: Technophobe
Subject: Chickengunya Research
Date Posted: May 17 2018 at 3:27am
Researchers a step closer to finding a treatment for debilitating virus
Scientists have discovered how a virus which causes debilitating joint pain gets into cells, leading to hopes of finding a cure.
Chikungunya, which is transmitted to humans via a bite from the infected https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/29/tiger-mosquitoes-capable-carrying-zika-spread-across-half-france/" rel="nofollow - Aedes aegypti
or Aedes albopictus mosquito, causes fever and severe joint pain that
lasts for about a week. But in up to half of patients it can cause a
debilitating form of arthritis that lasts for months or sometimes years.
The disease has been found in more than 60 countries around the world
and is particularly prevalent in the Americas where there were more
than 300,000 cases in 2016. Climate change and https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11489158/Plague-of-mosquitos-carrying-deadly-diseases-is-headed-for-Britain-scientists-warn.html" rel="nofollow - the spread of the mosquito further north mean that cases have emerged in Europe.
There is no cure for this http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/en/" rel="nofollow - neglected tropical disease – doctors advise pain relief and fluids – but in recent years more research has been devoted to finding a treatment and vaccine.
Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have used the https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/02/05/gene-editing-revolutionising-pharmaceuticals-industry/" rel="nofollow - Crispr gene editing tool to locate the receptor which enables chikungunya to get into cells.
The receptor is located on cells that build cartilage, muscle and
bone and could go some way to explaining why patients experience such
painful symptoms.
Around 30 to 50 per cent of cases go into chronic arthritis that can last months to yearsMichael Diamond, lead author
Researchers writing in the medical journal Nature found that https://www.telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/summer-healthcare/tropical-diseases-news/" rel="nofollow - chikungunya
uses the Mxra8 protein to get into cells. They tested mice to see
whether they could prevent the infection getting in by flooding the
virus with what they described as “decoys”.
They
found that after a few days the swelling in the feet of the mice that
had been flooded with the decoys had gone down more than in those who
had received the placebo.
The results suggest that a compound that blocks the virus from
attaching to Mxra8 on the surface of cells could prevent or reduce the
painful symptoms.
The researchers also found that the same process could work in
similar viruses such as Mayaro, Ross River, O'nyongnyong and Barmah
Forest.
Michael
Diamond, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at the
university, said the disease was spreading around the world. There was a
large outbreak on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean in 2005-06 and the
disease has spread to South and Central America. There have also been
cases in France and Italy.
“Around 30 to 50 per cent of cases go into chronic arthritis that can
last months to years. It can affect people’s ability to work and live
their lives normally,” he said.
Prof Diamond said that the research could help find a treatment for chikungunya
“We’re trying to figure out on the atomic level how the receptor
engages the virus. This will be critical to designing new drugs,” he
said.
Source, links, photos and video: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/16/researchers-step-closer-finding-treatment-debilitating-virus/" rel="nofollow - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/16/researchers-step-closer-finding-treatment-debilitating-virus/
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