RxPG News Feed for RxPG News

Medical Research Health Special Topics World
  Home
 
   Health
 Aging
 Asian Health
 Events
 Fitness
 Food & Nutrition
 Happiness
 Men's Health
 Mental Health
 Occupational Health
 Parenting
 Public Health
 Sleep Hygiene
 Women's Health
 
   Healthcare
 Africa
 Australia
 Canada Healthcare
 China Healthcare
 India Healthcare
 New Zealand
 South Africa
 UK
 USA
 World Healthcare
 
   Latest Research
 Aging
 Alternative Medicine
 Anaethesia
 Biochemistry
 Biotechnology
 Cancer
 Cardiology
 Clinical Trials
 Cytology
 Dental
 Dermatology
 Embryology
 Endocrinology
 ENT
 Environment
 Epidemiology
 Gastroenterology
 Genetics
 Gynaecology
 Haematology
 Immunology
 Infectious Diseases
  AIDS
  Anthrax
  Dengue
  Ebola
  HCV
  Influenza
  Leishmaniasis
  Malaria
  MRSA
  Mumps
  Pertussis
  Prion Diseases
  SARS
  Shigella
  Small Pox
  Tuberculosis
 Medicine
 Metabolism
 Microbiology
 Musculoskeletal
 Nephrology
 Neurosciences
 Obstetrics
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Paediatrics
 Pathology
 Pharmacology
 Physiology
 Physiotherapy
 Psychiatry
 Radiology
 Rheumatology
 Sports Medicine
 Surgery
 Toxicology
 Urology
 
   Medical News
 Awards & Prizes
 Epidemics
 Launch
 Opinion
 Professionals
 
   Special Topics
 Ethics
 Euthanasia
 Evolution
 Feature
 Odd Medical News
 Climate

Last Updated: Oct 11, 2012 - 10:22:56 PM
SARS Channel

subscribe to SARS newsletter
Latest Research : Infectious Diseases : SARS

   EMAIL   |   PRINT
SARS Can Infect Brain Tissue

Sep 15, 2005 - 4:49:00 PM
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), by its very name, indicates a disease of the respiratory tract. But SARS can also infiltrate brain tissue, causing significant central nervous system problems, according to an article in the Oct. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

 
[RxPG] SARS, a potentially fatal illness caused by a coronavirus, was first reported in Asia in February of 2003. The disease is usually transmitted by contact with coronavirus-laden droplets sprayed into the air by an infected person’s coughing. Other symptoms can include high fever, headache, body aches, and pneumonia. However, some patients also exhibit central nervous system ailments. In a new study, the researchers report the case of a 39-year-old doctor who treated SARS patients in China during the 2003 outbreak and became infected himself.

He showed the usual symptoms of SARS--fever, chills, headache, muscle pain--but after hospitalization, he developed vision problems, then progressively worse central nervous system symptoms, like restlessness and delirium. A computed tomography scan indicated brain damage. He died about a month after being hospitalized, and his brain tissue was examined and found to contain the SARS coronavirus. The researchers also discovered a high level of Mig, a type of immune system regulator called a chemokine, in the man’s bloodstream and brain, which may have resulted from the central nervous system infection. The researchers speculated that Mig could also have contributed to his brain damage by attracting immunological cells to the site of the viral infection in the brain, where their inflammatory effects may have done more harm than good.

There are a few possibilities for curbing Mig’s possible role in causing brain damage in SARS patients with central nervous system infection, according to lead author Jun Xu, PhD, of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases and senior author Yong Jiang, PhD, of the Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics of Guangdong Province. “There might be some ways of controlling the release of Mig, such as specific inhibitors that interfere [with] the signaling pathways involved,” Dr. Jiang said. “Other approaches, such as neutralizing antibodies [and] specific binding peptides, could be tried to block brain damage induced by Mig.”

Four to five percent of SARS patients treated at the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases experienced central nervous system symptoms, said Dr. Xu; therefore, physicians need to be aware of the potential for brain infection when evaluating patients with the disease. Immunosuppressive drugs should be administered carefully and on an individual basis, as they may allow amplification of the SARS coronavirus in the brain. “Superinfection” with other pathogens could also contribute to SARS’ harmful effects on the brain. “Physicians should pay more attention to the prevention of brain damage if [SARS patients] are superinfected with other conditional pathogens,” according to Dr. Xu and Dr. Jiang.



Publication: Oct. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases
On the web: Infectious Diseases Society of America 

Advertise in this space for $10 per month. Contact us today.


Related SARS News
A Macaque Model of SARS
Researchers probe papain-like-protease (PLpro) enzyme that may lead to new SARS drugs
Benzotriazole Esters Based Enzyme inhibitors block replication of SARS virus
SARS Can Infect Brain Tissue
Cinanserin May Offer New Hope in Treating SARS
A Prototype drug for SARS
Immune Response Differs in SARS Patients

Subscribe to SARS Newsletter

Enter your email address:


 Additional information about the news article
Founded in 1979, Clinical Infectious Diseases publishes clinical articles twice monthly in a variety of areas of infectious disease, and is one of the most highly regarded journals in this specialty. It is published under the auspices of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Based in Alexandria, Virginia, IDSA is a professional society representing about 8,000 physicians and scientists who specialize in infectious diseases. For more information, visit www.idsociety.org.
 Feedback
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 
Contact us

RxPG Online

Nerve

 

    Full Text RSS

© All rights reserved by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited (India)