Lipid Interactions Between Flaviviruses and Mosquito Vectors.

Mosquito-borne flaviviruses, such as dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV), yellow fever (YFV), West Nile (WNV), and Japanese encephalitis (JEV) viruses, threaten a large part of the human populations. In absence of therapeutics and effective vaccines against each flaviviruses, targeting viral metabolic requirements in mosquitoes may hold the key to new intervention strategies. Development of metabolomics in the last decade opened a new field of research: mosquito metabolomics.

Enisamium Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 RNA Synthesis.

Pandemic SARS-CoV-2 causes a mild to severe respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While control of the SARS-CoV-2 spread partly depends on vaccine-induced or naturally acquired protective herd immunity, antiviral strategies are still needed to manage COVID-19. Enisamium is an inhibitor of influenza A and B viruses in cell culture and clinically approved in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Mosquito metabolomics reveal that dengue virus replication requires phospholipid reconfiguration via the remodeling cycle.

Dengue virus (DENV) subdues cell membranes for its cellular cycle by reconfiguring phospholipids in humans and mosquitoes. Here, we determined how and why DENV reconfigures phospholipids in the mosquito vector. By inhibiting and activating the de novo phospholipid biosynthesis, we demonstrated the antiviral impact of de novo-produced phospholipids.

JNK pathway restricts DENV2, ZIKV and CHIKV infection by activating complement and apoptosis in mosquito salivary glands.

Arbovirus infection of Aedes aegypti salivary glands (SGs) determines transmission. However, there is a dearth of knowledge on SG immunity. Here, we characterized SG immune response to dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses using high-throughput transcriptomics.

Dengue virus reduces AGPAT1 expression to alter phospholipids and enhance infection in Aedes aegypti.

More than half of the world population is at risk of dengue virus (DENV) infection because of the global distribution of its mosquito vectors. DENV is an envelope virus that relies on host lipid membranes for its life-cycle. Here, we characterized how DENV hijacks the mosquito lipidome to identify targets for novel transmission-blocking interventions.

Zika virus infection modulates the metabolomic profile of microglial cells.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arbovirus of the Flaviviridae family. Although infection with ZIKV generally leads to mild disease, its recent emergence in the Americas has been associated with an increase in the development of the Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults, as well as with neurological complications, in particular congenital microcephaly, in new-borns. To date, little information is available on neuroinflammation induced by ZIKV, notably in microglial cells in the context of their metabolic activity, a series of chemical transformations that are essential for their growth, reproduction, structural maintenance and environmental responses.

Hepatitis C in Laos: A 7-Year Retrospective Study on 1765 Patients.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health concern, notably in Southeast Asia, and in Laos the presentation of the HCV-induced liver disease is poorly known. Our objective was thus to describe a comprehensive HCV infection pattern in order to guide national health policies. A study on a group of 1765 patients formerly diagnosed by rapid test in health centres was conducted at the Centre of Infectiology Lao Christophe Merieux in Vientiane.

A Seven-Year Retrospective Study on the Surveillance of Hepatitis B in Laos.

Objective: Lao PDR is one of the most highly endemic countries for hepatitis B in Asia and the second country for liver cancer incidence. Therefore, the follow-up of infected individuals through predictive serological markers is of utmost importance to monitor the progression of the pathology and take the decision on treatment.

Methods: A retrospective-descriptive cohort study was conducted on 3,857 HBV-infected patients.

A Zika virus from America is more efficiently transmitted than an Asian virus by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from Asia.

Zika is a mosquito-borne disease associated with neurological disorders that causes an on-going pandemic. The first outbreak was recorded in Micronesia in 2007, then in French Polynesia in 2014 from which it spread to South America in 2015 and ignited a widespread epidemic. Interestingly, Zika outbreaks in Asia remained of moderate intensity although the virus is circulating.