Yu HR, Tsai JH, Richard Lin CH, Wang JY, Wen YH, Wu SS, Hou Y, Lee IK, Tu HP, Lee YC. Is asthma a protective factor for dengue fever? In vitro experiment and nationwide population-based cohort analysis.
Allergol Int 2019;
68:486-493. [PMID:
31248809 DOI:
10.1016/j.alit.2019.06.001]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Revised: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Dengue fever (DF) is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease. Practical vaccines or specific therapeutics are still expected. Environmental factors and genetic factors affect the susceptibility of Dengue virus (DV) infection. Asthma is a common allergic disease, with house dust mites (HDMs) being the most important allergens. Asthmatic patients are susceptible to several microorganism infections.
METHODS
A nationwide population-based cohort analysis was designed to assess whether to determine whether asthma can be a risk factor for DF.
RESULTS
Unexpectedly, our data from a nationwide population-based cohort revealed asthmatic patients are at a decreased risk of DF. Compared to patients without asthma, the hazard ratio (HR) for DF in patients with asthma was 0.166 (95% CI: 0.118-0.233) after adjustment for possible confounding factors. In the age stratification, the adjusted HR for DF in young adult patients with asthma was 0.063. Dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) of dendritic cells (DCs) is an important entry for DV. Through another in vitro experiment, we found that HDM can diminish surface expression of DC-SIGN in monocyte-derived DCs and further decrease the cellular entry of DV.
CONCLUSIONS
Decreased DC-SIGN expression in DCs of allergic asthmatic patient may be one of many factors for them to be protected against DF. This could implicate the potential for DC-SIGN modulation as a candidate target for designing therapeutic strategies for DF.
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