News
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| 26 May 2010 • Several scientific reports and commentaries |
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| Following a documentary on Ljungan virus on Swedish television SVT1 February 9 2009 T. Bergström and J.Å. Liljeqvist, two virologists from the University of Gothenburg wrote a critical commentary in the Swedish Läkartidningen (see Ljungan virus/Publications) |
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| The Scientific report on Sudden infant deaths syndrome and Ljungan virus previously reported there was followed by a commentary both in Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology and New England Journal of Medicine (see Ljungan virus/Publications.
The temporal variation of Ljungan virus antibody levels in relation to autoantibodies and possible correlation to typ1 diabetes was reported in the Open pediatric medici9ne Journal ((see Ljungan virus/Publications)
No Ljungan virus RNA was found using PCR in stool samples from patients with typ1 diabetes. The study was conducted in Norway and the scientists draw the conclusion that it is unlikely that Ljungan virus is involved in the development of type 1 diabetes in children. (see Ljungan virus/Publications)
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| Ljungan virus has been found in Yellow necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) and Bank voles (Myodes glareolus) trapped in northern Italy 2006. This is the first time Ljungan virus is found in Italy. The study is reported in the scientific Journal of Wildlife Diseases |
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| A study from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden shows that the CD-1 mice infected early in life with LV develop a type-2-like diabetes later in life. Antibodies directed against LV and an antiviral medicine (Pleconaril) normalized the blood glucose level in these mice. The combination treatment of antibodies and antiviral medicine worked best. Antiviral therapy and antibody treatment also delayed the onset of disease in type 1 diabetes-prone rats. The results point to LV being an essential component in the development of diabetes in these animal models. The results also indicate that antiviral treatment may have the potential to play a very important role in treatment of diabetes. The results are presented in Microbiology and Immunology, 2009, Oct 53 (10) Pages 567 – 572.
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| The proposal rests on three distinct lines of evidence: the new finding of Ljungan virus (LV) in brain, heart and lung tissue in cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the observation that LV causes a related disease in various species of animals, and the association between the incidence of SIDS and the abundance of an animal reservoir of LV. In addition, recently the scientific journal Birth Defects Research reported that LV is also associated with intrauterine fetal death and malformations (hydrocephaly and anencephaly).
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| A fourth genotype of Ljungan (LV) virus strain (64-7855) has now been characterized. This virus was isolated from a vole (Myodes gapperi) trapped in New York State, USA in the 1960s. Phylogenetic analysis indicate that recombination (exchange of genetic information) has taken place during the evolution of this virus. These findings are reported in Journal of General Virology 2009 Apr;90:843-53
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| A series of elective abortions due to hydrocephaly and anencephaly and a control group of a severe genetic disorder (Down syndrome) were investigated for presence of LV infection using both immunohistochemistry and real time RT-PCR. LV was diagnosed in nine out of 10 hydrocephaly, five out of nine anencephaly and in one out of 18 control cases. These data suggest that LV is associated with a substantial proportion of central nervous system malformations in humans. The same research group has recently reported the association between LV and intrauterine death. The findings are reported in the last issue of Birth Defects Research ”Zoonotic Ljungan Virus Associated with Central Nervous System Malformations in Terminated Pregnancy”
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| Following up on prior animal and human studies of Ljungan virus (LV) in intrauterine fetal death (IUFD), tissues from a small number of human cases were analyzed by both immunohistochemistry and real time RT-PCR. Presence of LV specific antigen and viral RNA was found, confirming the previous report of LV in IUFD cases, this time using two independent techniques. LV was also found in one IUFD case from the United States. This work strengthens the scientific evidence that LV plays a role in IUFD in humans. Scientists from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, suggest that LV is included in IUFD diagnostic investigations worldwide. The findings are reported in Birth Defects Research (part A) |
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| 18 January 2009 • Fetal death persists in Ljungan virus infected mice Read more >> |
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| Laboratory mice infected with Ljungan virus (LV) early in pregnancy suffer from perinatal death. A recent study shows that female mice infected with LV continue to suffer from perinatal death during repeated pregnancies. Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet followed mice during six months and the results are presented in Birth Defects Research (Part B) |
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| Female mice infected during pregnancy and their adult offspring were followed during repeated pregnancies over a period of six months. Annika Samsioe and her colleagues at Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, found that dams infected as adults as well as their adult female offspring, suffered from perinatal death during repeated pregnancies. The data implies that Ljungan virus persists in mice after the initial infection and is responsible for disease in later pregnancy. The findings serve as a model for human intrauterine fetal death in which women suffering from IUFD have an increased risk for IUFD in subsequent pregnancies. |
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| The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta has reported the development of a new real time PCR-assay for all known Ljungan viruses and Parecho viruses (both belong to the Picornavirus family). The new real time PCR can be used on different kinds of specimens from both animals and humans when a Ljungan virus or Parecho virus infection is suspected. If positive, the PCR is combined with another assay to determine part of the viral sequence making it possible to type the diagnosed virus. The new real time PCR is described in the last issue of Journal of Clinical Microbiology. |
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| 20 April 2008 • New diagnostic tools available Read more >> |
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| A research group at Kalmar University has successfully made Ljungan virus protein specific antibodies. These antibodies can be used in the diagnosis of Ljungan virus infection. Details of these novel reagents are presented in the Journal of Virological Methods. |
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| Genetic information from the Ljungan virus has been introduced into bacteria. The bacteria are then able to produce Ljungan virus protein in large quantities. Specific polyclonal antibodies directed against the virus proteins have then been made. Such antibodies with a defined reactivity are very useful tools in the diagnosis of Ljungan virus infection and in Ljungan virus research in general |
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| A research group in Kalmar has recently published information that sheds light on the mystery of what happens when somebody is infected with the Ljungan virus. The scientists have, among other things, followed what happens in the cell when it is infected with the Ljungan virus and how the virus is spread between the cells. |
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| A new picorna virus called Seal Picornavirus 1 has recently been found in seals by the Beafort Sea north of Alaska. The scientists who isolated the virus have sequenced the virus genome which shows a distant relation to the Ljungan virus. The scientists are arguing that the new virus is so different from other members in the picornavirus family that it ought to constitute a new group of its own (its own genus). It is still unknown whether this recently discovered virus causes disease in the seals. |
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| Earlier studies have shown that several species of rodents infected with the Ljungan virus develop type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes). The present study conducted at Uppsala University shows that Ljungan virus infected voles also have signs of type 2 diabetes (adult diabetes). It is the insulin-producing beta-cell of the animals that have been studied and the scientists are now pointing out the possibility that the Ljungan virus can be involved in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. |
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| 02 August 2007 • Unexpected find in diabetes infected laboratory rat Read more >> |
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| The renowned “diabetes rat”, involved in more than a thousand scientific studies, carries the so called Ljungan virus. The discovery was made by a research team from Sweden, USA, and Germany. If scientists would also be able to cure the rat, this would be a major step towards the ability to treat and prevent diabetes in humans. |
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| In the middle of the 1970s it was established that a certain type of laboratory rat spontaneously develops juvenile or typ1 diabetes. The rat was named BB-rat, since it came from the “Biobreeding laboratory”. It is now clear that the BB-rat carries the Ljungan virus. Animals from Karolinska Institute as well as from an American laboratory in Seattle have proven infected. |
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| 01 June 2007 • Ljungan virus causes fetal deaths among pregnant women Read more >> |
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| The Ljungan virus may cause previously unexplained cases of foetal death in humans. This is the conclusion of a Swedish-American pilot study, where evidence has been found of Ljungan virus infection in children that have died during late pregnancy. The results are published in the scientific journal Birth Defects Research. |
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| Unborn babies that die in late pregnancy, so called intra-uterine foetal death, cause great trauma to the parents. Often these deaths remain unexplained. When scientists established that intra-uterine foetal death covaries with the presence of rodents in the wild, this was connected to the Ljungan virus. The virus causes among other things diabetes and foetal death in rodents. |
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