Language
English
Publication Date
9-4-2022
Journal
Viruses
DOI
10.3390/v14091961
PMID
36146768
PMCID
PMC9503494
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
9-4-2022
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Of individuals who develop West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND), ~10% will die and >40% will develop long-term complications. Current treatment recommendations solely focus on supportive care; therefore, we urgently need to identify novel and effective therapeutic options. We observed a correlation between substance P (SP), a key player in neuroinflammation, and its receptor Neurokinin-1 (NK1R). Our study in a wild-type BL6 mouse model found that SP is upregulated in the brain during infection, which correlated with neuroinvasion and damage to the blood−brain barrier. Blocking the SP/NK1R interaction beginning at disease onset modestly improved survival and prolonged time to death in a small pilot study. Although SP is significantly increased in the brain of untreated WNND mice when compared to mock-infected animals, levels of WNV are unchanged, indicating that SP likely does not play a role in viral replication but may mediate the immune response to infection. Additional studies are necessary to define if SP plays a mechanistic role or if it represents other mechanistic pathways.
Keywords
Animals, Brain, Mice, Pilot Projects, Substance P, West Nile Fever, West Nile virus, West Nile virus, substance P, neurokinin-1 receptor, neuroinflammation, West Nile encephalitis
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Ronca, Shannon E; Gunter, Sarah M; Kairis, Rebecca Berry; et al., "A Potential Role for Substance P in West Nile Virus Neuropathogenesis" (2022). Faculty and Staff Publications. 695.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/695
Included in
Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons, Biology Commons, Medical Sciences Commons, Nervous System Diseases Commons, Neurology Commons