Seasonal influenza vaccination may mitigate the potential impact of an H5N1 pandemic

Seasonal influenza is a highly contagious, acute respiratory illness that affects people of all ages. The major pathogens, influenza A viruses, are classified into serologically defined antigenic subtypes of the hemagglutinin （HA） and neuraminidase （NA）. Of 16 identified HA and 9 NA subtypes, only H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes are now circulating among humans. Influenza vaccines have been available for over 60 years and well proven to be an effective public health intervention to control seasonal influenza epidemics. Seasonal influenza vaccines presently available, inactivated or split, contain the circulating strains of influenza A virus H3N2, H1N1 and influenza B virus. The composition of the vaccine is renewed semi-annually, as necessary, based on surveillance data.     

Aging in vivo and neuraminidase treatment of rat erythrocytes and their sequestration by the isolated perfused rat liver

The isolated perfused rat liver as a model for phagocytosis leaves the specific arrangement of macrophages in the original tissue structure intact. Therefore phagocytosis may occur under terms closely approaching physiological conditions. Separation of rat erythrocytes according to their density in 13% young, 75% mature and 12% old cells permits the establishment of differences in the mean cellular volume (MCV), mean cellular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and content of N-acetylneuraminic acid per red blood cell (NANA/RBC). Perfusion of these fractions does not result in significant differences of sequestration of the isolated liver. Enzymatic release of 90% of membrane-bound sialic acid causes a significant increase of 20% in the elimination of erythrocytes from the perfusate. Treatment with neuraminidase is a trigger for sequestration either by adherence or by complete phagocytosis. Incubation of neuraminidase-treated erythrocytes with plasma does not increase the removal rate of cells during perfusion.     

河南省甲型H1N1流感病毒神经氨酸酶基因进化分析

目的分析河南省甲型H1N1流感病毒神经氨酸酶(NA)基因的变异情况,了解其变异现状及特点。方法对35株甲型H1N1流感病毒毒株提取病毒总RNA,设计引物运用RT-PCR技术扩增编码NA蛋白的基因序列,测序分析核酸序列并用MEGA4.1软件构建进化树,用BLAST进行比对分析。结果分离株NA基因316位G/A和742位A/G(N端106位V/I和248位N/D)发生变异,2个突变位点同时存在;同时,通过BLAST分析,发现我国多个省份和亚洲其它多个地区病毒株NA基因存在945位A/G和1 338位T/C突变,进化树分析发现,这两个位点的突变可能来自于中国猪-人之间相互感染。结论甲型H1N1流感病毒神经氨酸酶(NA)基因在中国内地传播期间个别核酸位点发生了突变,其氨基酸抗原区有一位点发生变异(106 V/I)。     

Cytotoxicity of lectins on rat intestinal mucosa enhanced by neuraminidase

The lectins wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and Concanavalin A (ConA) were perfused into an isolated small intestinal segment alone or after prior perfusion with neuraminidase for a 10 day period in the rat. Intestinal morphometry, intraepithelial Lymphocyte (IEL) and round cell content as well as digestive capacity was measured in the loop and in the adjacent segments. Both lectins induce a mucosal transformation in all segments but ConA is more effective than WGA. Pre-incubation with neuraminidase enhances the action of ConA throughout, whereas only a partial enhancement of the effect of WGA is observed. The mucosal transformation after long term perfusion with the lectins resembles the hyperregenerative adaptation of the mucosa due to gluten in coeliac disease and may thus serve as an animal model for this disease.     

Sialidoses

Sialidoses are autosomal recessive disorders caused by NEU1 gene mutations and are classified on the basis of their phenotype and onset age. Sialidosis type II, with infantile onset, has a more severe phenotype characterized by coarse facial features, hepatomegaly, dysostosis multiplex, and developmental delay while patients with the late and milder type, known as “cherry red spot‐myoclonus syndrome” develop myoclonic epilepsy, visual impairment and ataxia in the second or third decade of life. The diagnosis is usually suggested by increased urinary bound sialic acid excretion. We recently described genetically diagnosed patients with a specially mild phenotype, no retinal abnormalities and normal urinary sialic acid. This observation suggests that genetic analysis or the demonstration of the neuraminidase enzyme deficiency in cultured fibroblasts are needed to detect and diagnose mildest phenotypes.     

Five years of monitoring for the emergence of oseltamivir resistance in patients with influenza A infections in the Influenza Resistance Information Study

Background and objectives

The Influenza Resistance Information Study (IRIS) was initiated in 2008 to study the emergence of neuraminidase inhibitor (NAI) resistance and the clinical course of influenza in immunocompetent treated and untreated patients.

Methods

Patients had throat/nose swabs collected on days 1, 3, 6 and 10 for analyses of influenza type, subtype and virus susceptibility to NAIs. RT‐PCR‐positive samples were cultured and tested for NAI resistance by specific RT‐PCR and phenotypic testing. Scores for influenza symptoms were recorded on diary cards (Days 1‐10). This study focuses on influenza A‐infected cases only.

Results

Among 3230 RT‐PCR‐positive patients, 2316 had influenza A of whom 1216 received oseltamivir monotherapy within 2 days of symptom onset (9 seasonal H1N1; 662 H3N2; 545 H1N1pdm2009). Except for 9 patients with naturally resistant seasonal H1N1 (2008/9), no resistance was detected in Day 1 samples. Emergence of resistance (post‐Day 1) was detected in 43/1207 (3.56%) oseltamivir‐treated influenza A‐infected patients, with a higher frequency in 1‐ to 5‐year‐olds (11.8%) vs >5‐year‐olds (1.4%). All N1‐ and N2‐resistant viruses had H275Y (n = 27) or R292K (n = 16) substitutions, respectively. For 43 patients, virus clearance was significantly delayed vs treated patients with susceptible viruses (8.1 vs 10.9 days; P < .0001), and 11 (23.2%) remained RT‐PCR positive for influenza at Day 10. However, their symptoms resolved by Day 6 or earlier.

Conclusions

Oseltamivir resistance was only detected during antiviral treatment, with the highest incidence occurring among 1‐ to 5‐year‐olds. Resistance delayed viral clearance, but had no impact on symptom resolution.     

Adaptation of the H7N2 Feline Influenza Virus to Human Respiratory Cell Culture

During 2016–2017, the H7N2 feline influenza virus infected more than 500 cats in animal shelters in New York, USA. A veterinarian who had treated the cats became infected with this feline virus and showed mild respiratory symptoms. This suggests that the H7N2 feline influenza virus may evolve into a novel pandemic virus with a high pathogenicity and transmissibility as a result of mutations in humans. In this study, to gain insight into the molecular basis of the transmission of the feline virus to humans, we selected mutant viruses with enhanced growth in human respiratory A549 cells via successive passages of the virus and found almost all mutations to be in the envelope glycoproteins, such as hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). The reverse genetics approach revealed that the HA mutations, HA1-H16Q, HA2-I47T, or HA2-Y119H, in the stalk region can lead to a high growth of mutant viruses in A549 cells, possibly by changing the pH threshold for membrane fusion. Furthermore, NA mutation, I28S/L, or three-amino-acid deletion in the transmembrane region can enhance viral growth in A549 cells, possibly by changing the HA–NA functional balance. These findings suggest that the H7N2 feline influenza virus has the potential to become a human pathogen by adapting to human respiratory cells, owing to the synergistic biological effect of the mutations in its envelope glycoproteins.     

Development of in ovo-compatible NS1-truncated live attenuated influenza vaccines by modulation of hemagglutinin cleavage and polymerase acidic X frameshifting sites

Emerging avian influenza viruses pose a high risk to poultry production, necessitating the need for more broadly protective vaccines. Live attenuated influenza vaccines offer excellent protective efficacies but their use in poultry farms is discouraged due to safety concerns related to emergence of reassortant viruses. Vaccination of chicken embryos inside eggs (in ovo) induces early immunity in young chicks while reduces the safety concerns related to the use of live vaccines on farms. However, in ovo vaccination using influenza viruses severely affects the egg hatchability. We previously engineered a high interferon-inducing live attenuated influenza vaccine candidate with an enhanced protective efficacy in chickens. Here, we asked whether we could further modify this high interferon-inducing vaccine candidate to develop an in ovo-compatible live attenuated influenza vaccine. We first showed that the enhanced interferon responses induced by the vaccine is not enough to attenuate the virus in ovo. To reduce the pathogenicity of the virus for chicken embryos, we replaced the hemagglutinin cleavage site of the H7 vaccine virus (PENPKTR/GL) with that of the H6-subtype viruses (PQIETR/GL) and disrupted the ribosomal frameshifting site responsible for viral polymerase acidic X protein expression. In ovo vaccination of chickens with up to 10⁵ median egg infectious dose of the modified vaccine had minimal effects on hatchability while protecting the chickens against a heterologous challenge virus at two weeks of age. This study demonstrates that targeted genetic mutations can be applied to further attenuate and enhance the safety of live attenuated influenza vaccines to develop future in ovo vaccines for poultry.     

Neuraminidase delivered as an APC-targeted DNA vaccine induces protective antibodies against influenza

1. Download : Download high-res image (239KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image