A molecular epidemiological study of respiratory viruses detected in Japanese children with acute wheezing illness

Abstract

BackgroundRecent studies strongly suggest that some respiratory viruses are associated with the induction of acute wheezing and/or exacerbation of bronchial asthma. However, molecular epidemiology of these viruses is not exactly known.MethodsUsing PCR technology, we attempted to detect various respiratory viruses from 115 Japanese children. Furthermore, the detected viruses were subjected to homology, pairwise distance, and phylogenetic analysis.ResultsViruses were detected from 99 (86.1%) patients. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) alone and human rhinovirus (HRV) alone were detected in 47 (40.9%) and 36 (31.3%) patients, respectively. Both RSV and HRV were detected in 14 (12.2%) patients. Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) alone and human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) alone were detected in 1 (0.9%) patient each, respectively. Homology and phylogenetic analyses showed that the RSV and HRV strains were classified into genetically diverse species or subgroups. In addition, RSV was the dominant virus detected in patients with no history of wheezing, whereas HRV was dominant in patients with a history of wheezing.ConclusionsThe results suggested that these genetically diverse respiratory viruses, especially RSV and HRV, might be associated with wheezing in Japanese children.

Molecular epidemiology of the attachment glycoprotein (G) gene in respiratory syncytial virus in children with acute respiratory infection in Japan in 2009/2010

“…For example, the rate of evolution of the haemagglutinin gene in seasonal influenza virus subtype A (H1N1) is estimated at 1.7610 23 substitutions per site per year (Furuse et al, 2010;Graham et al, 2011). In contrast, the evolutionary rate of the haemagglutinin-neuraminidasecoding region of HPIV-1, another paramyxovirus, is relatively slow (7.68610 24 substitutions per site per year; Mizuta et al, 2011). In the present study, the evolutionary rate of the C-terminal hypervariable region in RSV-A was 1.92610 23 substitutions per site per year and 3.59610 23 substitutions per site per year in RSV-B.…”

“…A recent study showed that subgroup A genotypes GA1, GA2, GA5 and GA7, and subgroup B genotype BA have been detected in the USA (Rebuffo-Scheer et al, 2011). In addition, our recent studies suggest that GA2, GA5 and BA are detected in most Japanese infants with ARI (Fujitsuka et al, 2011;Goto-Sugai et al, 2010;Nakamura et al, 2009). However, the molecular epidemiology of RSV remains to be clarified.…”

“…For example, Fujitsuka et al (2011) showed that RSV detected during this season may be associated with wheezy bronchiolitis in Japanese infants. Thus, our results appear to be consistent with those of previous studies.…”

Ficus religiosa L. bark extracts inhibit human rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial virus infection in vitro

“…Primary infections take place mostly during early childhood, with more than 50% of children experiencing lower respiratory tract (LRT) diseases. According to molecular diagnostics, most of the wheezing episodes occurring during the first five years of life are associated with viral infections (Jackson et al, 2008), with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human rhinovirus (HRV), and human metapneumovirus (Jartti et al, 2004;Calvo et al, 2007;Garcia-Garcia et al, 2007;Fujitsuka et al, 2011) being the most common viruses identified during early-life wheezing illnesses. Data gathered so far demonstrate that both RSV and HRV represent an important risk factor associated with wheezing illness and subsequent increased risk of asthma development (Sigurs et al, 2010;Jackson et al, 2012) RSV is the major cause of LRT infections (LRTIs) in the first months of life.…”

Genetic analysis of the VP4/VP2 coding region in human rhinovirus species C in patients with acute respiratory infection in Japan

“…However, a recently developed organ-culture method now enables HRV-C to be propagated (Bochkov et al, 2011), and it has been found that HRV-C may, in fact, be prevalent, as well as HRV-A in Japan. HRV-C may be associated with various ARIs, such as upper respiratory infection (URI), bronchiolitis and pneumonia (Arakawa et al, 2012;Smuts et al, 2011;Watanabe et al, 2010), as well as with other diseases such as virus-induced asthma in many countries (Fujitsuka et al, 2011;Linsuwanon et al, 2009;Smuts et al, 2011). HRV-C has been shown to have a wide genetic divergence (Arakawa et al, 2012;Wisdom et al, 2009).…”