Again regarding Ebola. Im the type who wants to know how it works. Remember, it is a hemorrhagic fever. That means it attacks blood cells and blood vessel walls, as well as liver cells, and this is what causes bleeding and body fluid loss by multiple means. Since it spreads through infected bodily fluids, this is an effective means of transmission. (An interesting side point is that Ebola plays with the cytokine system, which I have been researching in my investigations on myokines. Thus some familiar names show up here... TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, etc. Note that IL-6 and IL-8 function as myokines when released from contracting muscles.) I have added notes in parentheses for those who may have missed classes in biochemistry and cell biology (if you have not studied these topics, you should!) Here are the details from Wikipedia: Endothelial cells, macrophages, monocytes, and liver cells are the main targets of infection. After infection, a secreted glycoprotein (sGP) known as the Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP) is synthesized. Ebola replication overwhelms protein synthesis of infected cells and host immune defenses. The GP forms a trimeric complex (consisting of a chain of three identical GP molecules), which binds the virus to the endothelial (flat) cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels (that is, cells which make up the interior wall of blood vessels). The sGP forms a dimeric protein that interferes with the signalling of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell (which engulfs and digests debris and invading microorganisms), which allows the virus to evade the immune system by inhibiting early steps of neutrophil activation. These white blood cells also serve as carriers to transport the virus throughout the entire body to places such as the lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and spleen. The presence of viral particles and cell damage resulting from budding causes the release of chemical signals (to be specific, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, etc., which also function as myokines under different conditions), which are the signalling molecules for fever and inflammation. The cytopathic effect (causing disease or damage at the cellular level), from infection in the endothelial cells, results in a loss of vascular integrity (the inner walls of blood vessels break down). This loss in vascular integrity is furthered with synthesis of GP, which reduces specific integrins responsible for cell adhesion to the inter-cellular structure (integrins bind the endothelial cells together to make the blood vessel wall), and damage to the liver, which leads to improper clotting (that is, increased bleeding). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease#Pathophysiology
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 18:13:09 +0000
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