Differential replication of dengue virus serotypes 2 and 3 in coinfections of C6/36 cells and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Abstract

Introduction: Different dengue virus (DENV) serotypes have been associated with greater epidemic potential. In turn, the increased frequency in cases of severe forms of dengue has been associated with the cocirculation of several serotypes. Because Colombia is a country with an endemic presence of all four DENV serotypes, the aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo and in vitro replication of the DENV-2 and DENV-3 strains under individual infection and coinfection conditions. Methodology: C6/36HT cells were infected with the two strains individually or simultaneously (coinfection). Replication capacity was evaluated by RT-qPCR, and the effects on cell viability were assessed with an MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Additionally, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were artificially fed the two strains of each serotype individually or simultaneously. The viral genomes were quantified by RT-qPCR and the survival of the infected mosquitoes was compared to that of uninfected controls. Results: In single infections, three strains significantly affected C6/36HT cell viability, but no significant differences were found in the replication capacities of the strains of the same serotype. In the in vivo infections, mosquito survival was not affected, and no significant differences in replication between strains of the same serotype were found. Finally, in coinfections, serotype 2 replicated with a thousandfold greater efficiency than serotype 3 did both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: Due to the cocirculation of serotypes in endemic regions, further studies of coinfections in a natural environment would further an understanding of the transmission dynamics that affect DENV infection epidemiology.

Antiviral effect of compounds derived from the seeds of Mammea americana and Tabernaemontana cymosa on Dengue and Chikungunya virus infections

“…These primers amplify a 119 bp segment of the C-prM region of the viral genome. Amplification was performed in a Bio-Rad CFX96TM Real-Time System C 1000 Thermal Cycler, and the genomic copies were calculated using a specific standard curve for DENV-2 that was constructed previously [34]. The results are expressed as the mean of four independent experiments ( n  = 4).…”

Arbovirus Vectors of Epidemiological Concern in the Americas: A Scoping Review of Entomological Studies on Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya Virus Vectors

“…Six studies examined the infectivity of different dengue viral strains, and the impact of co-infection [148,172,197–200]. Quintero-Gil et al [198] found that the DENV-2 serotype performed with a thousand-fold greater efficiency than the DENV-3 serotype, upon co-infection. Vazeille et al [200] found that DENV-4 outperformed DENV-1 in Ae.…”

“…Few studies examined natural infection rates of Zika virus [129,130], vertical transmission [179], or co-infection with other viruses [126]. This is in contrast to the wealth of research available on natural infection and co-infection for dengue and chikungunya viruses, although vertical transmission research was sparse for all three viruses [144,148,156,175,178,197,198]. Based on the internationally recognized urgency of Zika virus infection as a public health concern, and potential increase in the importance of this and other emerging arboviruses in the future, further research on arbovirus vectors and transmission dynamics is of pressing need.…”

Untold stories of the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil

“…Interestingly, entomologic studies suggest that coinfecting arboviruses may compete within vectors, an effect known as superinfection exclusion . This phenomenon was shown between different dengue serotypes and between dengue and yellow fever viruses although not yet demonstrated for superinfections with ZIKV and other arbovirus …”