Nothing of the fatalities were attributed to the study drug

Nothing of the fatalities were attributed to the study drug. infections should be evaluated Triptophenolide with respect to both the acute infection as well as the chronic respiratory manifestations induced by RSV. genus, Paramyxovidae family. Its negative-sense single-stranded RNA genome contains 10 genes Triptophenolide that encode 11 proteins. Five of these proteins are involved in RNA synthesis: the nucleo-capside N protein, the L protein (polymerase), the phosphoprotein P, and the M2-1 and M2-2 proteins (Collins and Crowe 2007). Four other RSV proteins are associated with the lipid bilayer to form the viral envelope: the matrix M protein, two glycosylated surface proteins, the F and G proteins, and a small hydrophobic SH protein. The F and G proteins are crucial for the infectivity and pathogenesis of the virus. The G protein mediates attachment of the virus to respiratory epithelial cells, whereas the F (fusion) protein facilitates entry of the virus by fusing viral and cellular membranes and insertion of the RNA into the host cell inducing the formation of the characteristic syncytia (Hall 2000). The F and G proteins carry the antigenic determinants that elicit the production of neutralizing antibodies by the host. The remaining two proteins, NS1 and NS2, are nonstructural accessory proteins involved in modulating the host response to infection. NS1 and NS2 are abundantly present in infected cells and confer virus resistance to type-I interferons enhancing viral replication and survival (Spann et al 2004). Compared with other close relatives, in RSV the M2-1 protein is essential for the viability of the virus and in its absence transcription terminates nonspecifically and results in expression of NS1 and NS2 alone (Fearns and Collins 1999). RSV displays minimal antigenic heterogeneity; however, there are two major RSV subtypes, A and B, which cocirculate each year. Much of the antigenic diversity between and within RSV subtypes is due to variations Mouse monoclonal to GFAP. GFAP is a member of the class III intermediate filament protein family. It is heavily, and specifically, expressed in astrocytes and certain other astroglia in the central nervous system, in satellite cells in peripheral ganglia, and in non myelinating Schwann cells in peripheral nerves. In addition, neural stem cells frequently strongly express GFAP. Antibodies to GFAP are therefore very useful as markers of astrocytic cells. In addition many types of brain tumor, presumably derived from astrocytic cells, heavily express GFAP. GFAP is also found in the lens epithelium, Kupffer cells of the liver, in some cells in salivary tumors and has been reported in erythrocytes. in the G glycoprotein, with as little as 35% homology between G glycoprotein of strains A and B (Johnson et al 2004). It is not clear whether one subtype is more virulent than the other (Devincenzo 2004; Chavez-Bueno et al 2005). Antibody responses to the F protein are often cross-reactive for RSV A and Triptophenolide B, while antibody responses to the G protein are subtype specific. Epidemiology RSV is the leading viral pathogen responsible for lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) requiring hospitalization in infants and young children worldwide. In US alone, it is estimated that at least 140,000 hospitalizations can be attributed to RSV LRTI each year (Shay et al 1999). The reservoir is exclusively human. RSV outbreaks occur annually and predictably, lasting from late fall through early spring in temperate climates but it can circulate all year long in areas close to the equator (Mejias et al 2005a). The spectrum of RSV disease is wide, ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infection (URI), LRTI, to respiratory failure. Primary RSV infection is almost always symptomatic. Infection with RSV is one of the most common diseases of childhood. It is responsible for 50%C90% of children hospitalized for bronchiolitis and for 5%C40% due to pneumonia (Psarras et al 2004). Approximately two-thirds of infants are infected with RSV during the first year of life, and 90% have been infected one or more times by 2 years of age (Glezen et al 1986). Studies conducted in many different countries over the last 20 years have consistently demonstrated that premature infants and children with chronic lung disease (CLD) and congenital heart disease (CHD) are at greater risk for severe RSV infection. In addition, RSV has been associated with severe respiratory illness in the elderly, immunocompromised patients as well as in previously healthy adults (Hall et al 1978). In addition to Triptophenolide the acute morbidity, different studies have shown over the past 10 years that young children who had RSV LTRI are at increased risk for developing recurrent wheezing and possibly asthma later in childhood (Stein et al 1999; Sigurs et al 2005). RSV treatment While significant advances in the knowledge of RSV biology, immunology, and epidemiology have been Triptophenolide made in the last 40 years, there continues to be significant controversy over.