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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, January 1999, p. 55-60, Vol. 6, No. 1
Laboratorio di Virologia, Istituto Superiore
di Sanità, Rome, Italy
Received 15 May 1998/Returned for modification 21 August
1998/Accepted 28 September 1998
The Toscana virus (family Bunyaviridae, genus
Phlebovirus) is the only sandfly-transmitted virus that
demonstrates neurotropic activity. Clinical cases ranging from aseptic
meningitis to meningoencephalitis caused by Toscana virus are yearly
observed in central Italy during the summer, and several cases have
been reported among tourists returning from zones of endemicity (Italy,
Portugal, Spain, and Cyprus). In Toscana virus patients, immunoglobulin
M (IgM) antibodies, usually present at the onset of symptoms, can
reveal elevated titers by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and can
persist for at least 1 year. IgG antibodies can be absent at the onset
of symptoms: titers rise in convalescent sera and persist for many years. At least five proteins have been identified in Toscana virus-infected cells: nucleoprotein N, glycoproteins G1 and G2, a large
protein (L) assumed to be a component of the polymerase, and two
nonstructural proteins, NSm and NSs. We report results of a study on
the antibody response to individual viral proteins in patients with
Toscana virus-associated acute neurologic disease. Immunoblotting and
semiquantitative radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA) allow
identification of nucleoprotein N as the major antigen responsible for
both IgM and IgG responses. Antibodies to proteins other than
nucleoprotein N are detected only by RIPA. Antibodies to glycoproteins
are detected in about one-third of patients, and whereas their presence
always predicts neutralization, some serum samples with neutralizing
activity have undetectable levels of antibodies to G1-G2. Antibodies to
nonstructural proteins NSm and NSs are also identified. The results
obtained raise some questions about antigenic variability and relevant
neutralization epitopes of Toscana virus.
1071-412X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Humoral Response in Toscana Virus Acute Neurologic
Disease Investigated by Viral-Protein-Specific Immunoassays
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Arbovirus Unit,
Laboratory of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale
Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. Phone: 39 06 49903242. Fax: 39 06 49902082. E-mail: nicolett{at}virus1.net.iss.it.
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