engleski

Pathogenesis of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS)

Introduction: Hantaviruses cause an important human illness, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Inspite of numerous genetic and serologic analyses of different hantaviral isolates world-wide, little is known about the pathogenesis of HFRS. The aim of our study was to measure proinflammatory cytokines that may have role in the pathogenesis of HFRS. Materials and Methods: We use EIA-test (Quantikine, R&D Systems Inc., UK) for the detection of IL-2, IL-2sR-alpha, IL-6 and IL-6sR in sera of 41 HFRS patients. Samples were collected among Croatian soldiers during the greatest HFRS outbreak in Croatia in 1995. During the outbreak, we were looking for immunophenotypic changes in the main lymphocyte populations and activation markers in 22 HFRS patients. Results: We found elevated levels of IL-2sR-alpha, IL-6 and IL-6R in patients with HFRS in comparison to healthy controls. IL-2sR-alpha and IL-6 showed negative correlation with the day after the HFRS onset. In 14 patients IL-2sR-alpha positively correlated with CD25, an early activation marker (detected during the study in 1955). In the same patients we also found positive correlation among the IL-6 and CD20+CD21+ double-positive B-lymphocytes, CD23, B-cell activation marker and CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes simultaneously expressing both CD45RA and CD45RO markers. Conclusion: We found an increase of tested proinflammatory cytokines in the early phase of HFRS. Also, we could consider that measured cytokines act as an autocrine and paracrine factors, driving the expansion of antigen-specific lymphocytes and influencing the activity of the other cells within the immune system. Our next aim would be to correlate clinical and biochemical data with the immune response, and to look for their role in the prognosis of HFRS.

Hantaviruses; proinflammatory cytokines; activated B cells; CD23; CD45RO; CD45RA

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