Corticosteroids for dengue - why don't they work?

Journal article

BACKGROUND: Dysregulated immune responses may contribute to the clinical complications that occur in some patients with dengue. FINDINGS: In Vietnamese pediatric dengue cases randomized to early prednisolone therapy, 81 gene-transcripts (0.2% of the 47,231 evaluated) were differentially abundant in whole-blood between high-dose (2 mg/kg) prednisolone and placebo-treated patients two days after commencing therapy. Prominent among the 81 transcripts were those associated with T and NK cell cytolytic functions. Additionally, prednisolone therapy was not associated with changes in plasma cytokine levels. CONCLUSION: The inability of prednisolone treatment to markedly attenuate the host immune response is instructive for planning future therapeutic strategies for dengue.

Authors: Nguyen, T; Nguyen, T; Vu, T; Farrar, J; Hoang, T

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: PLoS neglected tropical diseases
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 12
• Pages: e2592
• Publication date: 2013-01-01
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002592
• EISSN: 1935-2735
• ISSN: 1935-2727
• Language: English
• Keywords: Female; Immunologic Factors; Dengue; Placebos; Prednisolone; Male; Cytokines; Adolescent; Child, Preschool; Killer Cells, Natural; Vietnam; Young Adult; Treatment Failure; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic; Gene Expression Profiling; Immunomodulation; Child; Humans