Department of Biosafety, School of Basic Medicine, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Institute of Immunology, People's Liberate Army, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Viruses. 2022 Jun 26;14(7):1394. doi: 10.3390/v14071394.
Dengue virus, the causative agent of dengue fever, life-threatening hemorrhagic fever, and shock syndrome, is mainly transmitted to humans through mosquito vectors. It can also be transmitted through atypical routes, including needle stick injury, vertical transmission, blood transfusion, and organ transplantation. In addition, sporadic cases which have no clear infectious causes have raised the respiratory exposure concerns, and the risks remain unclear. Here, we analyze the respiratory infectivity of the dengue virus in BALB/c suckling and adult immunodeficient mice by the intranasal inoculation of dengue virus serotype 2. The infected mice presented with clinical symptoms, including excitement, emaciation, malaise, and death. Viremia was detected for 3 days post inoculation. Histopathological changes were observed in the brain, liver, and spleen. The virus showed evident brain tropism post inoculation and viral loads peaked at 7 days post inoculation. Furthermore, the virus was isolated from the infected mice; the sequence homology between the origin and isolates was 99.99%. Similar results were observed in adult IFN-α/β receptor-deficient mice. Overall, dengue virus can infect suckling mice and adult immune-deficient mice via the nasal route. This study broadens our perception of atypical dengue transmission routes and provides evidence of nasal transmission of dengue virus in the absence of mosquito vectors.
登革热病毒是登革热、危及生命的出血热和休克综合征的病原体，主要通过蚊虫媒介传播给人类。它也可以通过非典型途径传播，包括针刺伤、垂直传播、输血和器官移植。此外，一些没有明确感染源的散发病例引起了呼吸道暴露的担忧，但风险仍不清楚。在这里，我们通过鼻内接种登革热病毒血清型 2 分析了登革热病毒在 BALB/c 乳鼠和成年免疫缺陷小鼠中的呼吸道传染性。感染的小鼠出现了兴奋、消瘦、不适和死亡等临床症状。感染后 3 天检测到病毒血症。观察到脑、肝和脾的组织病理学变化。接种后病毒表现出明显的脑嗜性，病毒载量在感染后 7 天达到峰值。此外，从感染的小鼠中分离出了病毒，其起源和分离株之间的序列同源性为 99.99%。在成年 IFN-α/β 受体缺陷型小鼠中也观察到了类似的结果。总的来说，登革热病毒可以通过鼻腔途径感染乳鼠和成年免疫缺陷小鼠。这项研究拓宽了我们对非典型登革热传播途径的认识，并为没有蚊虫媒介的情况下登革热病毒的鼻腔传播提供了证据。
