This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Leyssen, P.
Right arrow Articles by Neyts, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Leyssen, P.
Right arrow Articles by Neyts, J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 2000, p. 67-82, Vol. 13, No. 1
0893-8512/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Perspectives for the Treatment of Infections with Flaviviridae

Pieter Leyssen, Erik De Clercq, and Johan Neyts*

Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

The family Flaviviridae contains three genera: Hepacivirus, Flavivirus, and Pestivirus. Worldwide, more than 170 million people are chronically infected with Hepatitis C virus and are at risk of developing cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. In addition, infections with arthropod-borne flaviviruses (such as dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, Murray Valley encephalitis, West Nile, and yellow fever viruses) are emerging throughout the world. The pestiviruses have a serious impact on livestock. Unfortunately, no specific antiviral therapy is available for the treatment or the prevention of infections with members of the Flaviviridae. Ongoing research has identified possible targets for inhibition, including binding of the virus to the cell, uptake of the virus into the cell, the internal ribosome entry site of hepaciviruses and pestiviruses, the capping mechanism of flaviviruses, the viral proteases, the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and the viral helicase. In light of recent developments, the prevalence of infections caused by these viruses, the disease spectrum, and the impact of infections, different strategies that could be pursued to specifically inhibit viral targets and animal models that are available to study the pathogenesis and antiviral strategies are reviewed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Rega Institute for Medical Research, Department of Chemotherapy, K. U. Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Phone: 32-16-33.73.41. Fax: 32-16-33.73.40. E-mail: Johan.Neyts{at}rega.kuleuven.ac.be.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 2000, p. 67-82, Vol. 13, No. 1
0893-8512/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Leyssen, P., De Clercq, E., Neyts, J. (2006). The Anti-Yellow Fever Virus Activity of Ribavirin Is Independent of Error-Prone Replication. Mol. Pharmacol. 69: 1461-1467 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Leyssen, P., Balzarini, J., De Clercq, E., Neyts, J. (2005). The Predominant Mechanism by Which Ribavirin Exerts Its Antiviral Activity In Vitro against Flaviviruses and Paramyxoviruses Is Mediated by Inhibition of IMP Dehydrogenase. J. Virol. 79: 1943-1947 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Shu, P.-Y., Huang, J.-H. (2004). Current Advances in Dengue Diagnosis. CVI 11: 642-650 [Full Text]  
  • Jaiswal, S., Khanna, N., Swaminathan, S. (2003). Replication-Defective Adenoviral Vaccine Vector for the Induction of Immune Responses to Dengue Virus Type 2. J. Virol. 77: 12907-12913 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Charlier, N., Leyssen, P., Paeshuyse, J., Drosten, C., Schmitz, H., Van Lommel, A., De Clercq, E., Neyts, J. (2002). Infection of SCID mice with Montana Myotis leukoencephalitis virus as a model for flavivirus encephalitis. J. Gen. Virol. 83: 1887-1896 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Miller, D. J., Schwartz, M. D., Ahlquist, P. (2001). Flock House Virus RNA Replicates on Outer Mitochondrial Membranes in Drosophila Cells. J. Virol. 75: 11664-11676 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»