abstract

• Machupo virus (MACV), a member of the Arenaviridae, causes Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, with ~20% lethality in humans. The pathogenesis of MACV infection is poorly understood, and there are no clinically proven treatments for disease. This is due, in part, to a paucity of small animal models for MACV infection in which to discover and explore candidate therapeutics.Mice lacking signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT-1) were infected with MACV. Lethality, viral replication, metabolic changes, hematology, histopathology, and systemic cytokine expression were analyzed throughout the course of infection.We report here that STAT-1 knockout mice succumbed to MACV infection within 7-8 days, and presented some relevant clinical and histopathological manifestations of disease. Furthermore, the model was used to validate the efficacy of ribavirin in protection against infection.The STAT-1 knockout mouse model can be a useful small animal model for drug testing and preliminary immunological analysis of lethal MACV infection.

authors

• Bradfute, Steven B
• Stuthman, Kelly S
• Shurtleff, Amy C
• Bavari, Sina

publication date

• January 1, 2011

published in

• Virology journal  Journal

keywords

• Animals
• Antiviral Agents
• Arenaviridae Infections
• Arenaviruses, New World
• Disease Models, Animal
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Mice
• Mice, Knockout
• Ribavirin
• STAT1 Transcription Factor
• Survival Analysis
• Treatment Outcome
• Virus Replication

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422x-8-300

PubMed ID

• 21672221

start page

end page

volume

• 8

number