CGPH FACULTY: Desiree LaBeaud
DATE OF PUBLICATION: March 2015
REGION: Africa
REFERENCE: Hise AG, Traylor Z, Hall NB, Sutherland LJ, Dahir S, Ermler ME, Muiruri S, Muchiri EM, Kazura JW, LaBeaud AD, King CH, Stein CM. Association of symptoms and severity of rift valley Fever with genetic polymorphisms in human innate immune pathways. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Mar 10;9(3):e0003584. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003584. eCollection 2015 Mar
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Multiple recent outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula have resulted in significant morbidity, mortality, and financial loss due to related livestock epizootics. Presentation of human RVF varies from mild febrile illness to meningoencephalitis, hemorrhagic diathesis, and/or ophthalmitis with residual retinal scarring, but the determinants for severe disease are not understood. The aim of the present study was to identify human genes associated with RVF clinical disease in a high-risk population in Northeastern Province, Kenya. Of the 46 SNPs tested, TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, MyD88, TRIF, MAVS, and RIG-I were repeatedly associated with severe symptomatology, suggesting that these genes may have a robust association with RVFV-associated clinical outcomes. Studies of these and related genetic polymorphisms are warranted to advance understanding of RVF pathogenesis.
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