AUTHOR=Castro-Jiménez Tannya Karen , Gómez-Legorreta Laura Cristina , López-Campa Laura Alejandra , Martínez-Torres Valeria , Alvarado-Silva Marcos , Posadas-Mondragón Araceli , Díaz-Lima Nallely , Angulo-Mendez Hilda Arcelia , Mejía-Domínguez Nancy R. , Vaca-Paniagua Felipe , Ávila-Moreno Federico , García-Cordero Julio , Cedillo-Barrón Leticia , Aguilar-Ruíz Sergio Roberto , Bustos-Arriaga José TITLE=Variability in Susceptibility to Type I Interferon Response and Subgenomic RNA Accumulation Between Clinical Isolates of Dengue and Zika Virus From Oaxaca Mexico Correlate With Replication Efficiency in Human Cells and Disease Severity JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.890750 DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.890750 ISSN=2235-2988 ABSTRACT=

Dengue and Zika viruses cocirculate annually in endemic areas of Mexico, causing outbreaks of different magnitude and severity every year, suggesting a continuous selection of Flavivirus variants with variable phenotypes of transmissibility and virulence. To evaluate if Flavivirus variants with different phenotypes cocirculate during outbreaks, we isolated dengue and Zika viruses from blood samples of febrile patients from Oaxaca City during the 2016 and 2019 epidemic years. We compared their replication kinetics in human cells, susceptibility to type I interferon antiviral response, and the accumulation of subgenomic RNA on infected cells. We observed correlations between type I interferon susceptibility and subgenomic RNA accumulation, with high hematocrit percentage and thrombocytopenia. Our results suggest that Flaviviruses that cocirculate in Oaxaca, Mexico, have variable sensitivity to the antiviral activity of type I interferons, and this phenotypic trait correlates with the severity of the disease.