New data on metabolic alterations produced by Wst Nile Virus in infected patients

A study of the National Institute of Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA-CSIC), the Seville Virgen del Rocío Hospital, the National Center of Microbiology (ISCIII), the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBIS) and the Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC) analyses the changes produced in lipid metabolism in both West Nile virus-infected mice and human patients in the 2020 outbreak. This virus is a flavivirus that is transmitted to people by mosquito bites and that actively circulates in Spain both in Culex mosquitoes and in infected birds, which act as a natural reservoir of this pathogen. During 2020, the largest outbreak in humans caused by this virus occurred in Spain, with more than 70 confirmed cases and 7 deaths.

The results allow us to broaden our knowledge about the progression of West Nile virus infection, contributing to the identification of new biomarkers for clinical monitoring of the disease and the development of new therapies.

Reference: Patricia Mingo-Casas, Javier Sanchez-Céspedes, Ana-Belén Blázquez, Josefina Casas, María Balsera-Manzanero, Laura Herrero, Ana Vázquez, Jerónimo Pachón, Manuela Aguilar-Guisado, José Miguel Cisneros, Juan-Carlos Saiz & Miguel A. Martín-Acebes (2023) Lipid signatures of West Nile virus infection unveil alterations of sphingolipid metabolism providing novel biomarkers, Emerging Microbes & Infections, 12:2, DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2231556