Peripheral Organs of Dengue Fatal Cases Present Strong Pro-Inflammatory Response with Participation of IFN-Gamma-, TNF-Alpha- and RANTES-Producing Cells

PLoS One. 2016 Dec 22;11(12):e0168973. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168973. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Dengue disease is an acute viral illness caused by dengue virus (DENV) that can progress to hemorrhagic stages leading to about 20000 deaths every year worldwide. Despite many clinical investigations regarding dengue, the immunopathogenic process by which infected patients evolve to the severe forms is not fully understood. Apart from differences in virulence and the antibody cross reactivity that can potentially augment virus replication, imbalanced cellular immunity is also seen as a major concern in the establishment of severe dengue. In this context, the investigation of cellular immunity and its products in dengue fatal cases may provide valuable data to help revealing dengue immunopathogenesis. Here, based in four dengue fatal cases infected by the serotype 3 in Brazil, different peripheral organs (livers, lungs and kidneys) were studied to evaluate the presence of cell infiltrates and the patterns of local cytokine response. The overall scenario of the studied cases revealed a considerable systemic involvement of infection with mononuclear cells targeted to all of the evaluated organs, as measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Quantification of cytokine-expressing cells in peripheral tissues was also performed to characterize the ongoing inflammatory process by the severe stage of the disease. Increased levels of IFN-γ- and TNF-α-expressing cells in liver, lung and kidney samples of post-mortem subjects evidenced a strong pro-inflammatory induction in these tissues. The presence of increased RANTES-producing cell numbers in all analyzed organs suggested a possible link between the clinical status and altered vascular permeability. Co-staining of DENV RNA and IFN-γ or TNF-α using in situ hibridization and IHC confirmed the virus-specific trigger of the pro-inflammatory response. Taken together, this work provided additional evidences that corroborated with the traditional theories regarding the "cytokine storm" and the occurrence of uneven cellular immunity in response to DENV as major reasons for progress to severe disease.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Chemokine CCL5 / metabolism
  • Chemokine CCL5 / physiology*
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Cytokines / physiology
  • Dengue / complications*
  • Dengue / immunology
  • Dengue / mortality
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Cellular
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism
  • Interferon-gamma / physiology*
  • Kidney / metabolism
  • Kidney / pathology
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Liver / pathology
  • Lung / metabolism
  • Lung / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / metabolism
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / physiology*

Substances

  • CCL5 protein, human
  • Chemokine CCL5
  • Cytokines
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Interferon-gamma

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ, Grant: E-26/110.511/2014) www.faperj.br to MVP. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.