Abstract
The mosquito-borne La Crosse virus (LACV; Family Bunyaviridae) may cause encephalitis, primarily in children, and is distributed throughout much of the eastern United States. No antivirals or vaccines are available for LACV, or most other mosquito-borne viruses, and prevention generally relies on mosquito control. We sought to determine whether coffee extracts could interfere with LACV replication and vector mosquito development. Both regular and decaffeinated coffee demonstrated significant reductions in LACV replication in direct antiviral assays. This activity was not due to the presence of caffeine, which did not inhibit the virus life cycle. Aedes albopictus (Skuse; Diptera: Culicidae) mosquito larvae suffered near total mortality when reared in high concentrations of regular and decaffeinated coffee and in caffeine. Following larval exposure to sublethal coffee concentrations, adult A. albopictus mosquitoes had significantly reduced whole-body LACV titers 5 days post-infection, compared to larvae reared in distilled water. These results suggest that it may be possible to both control mosquito populations and alter the vector competence of mosquitoes for arthropod-borne viruses by introducing antiviral compounds into the larval habitat.
Highlights
La Crosse virus (LACV) is an arthropod-borne virus in the California serogroup of the genus Orthobunyavirus, of the family Bunyaviridae and is distributed throughout most of the eastern United States
ANTIVIRAL ASSAYS When regular Maxwell House Dark Roast coffee was incubated with LACV, direct antiviral activity was evident, and this activity was lost upon dilution (Figure 1)
Frontiers in Physiology | Systems Biology brand decaffeinated coffee exhibited strong antiviral effect; virus viability was significantly reduced at concentrations of 0.625–20% (p ≤ 0.0002), while the 0.15625% level was marginally significant (p = 0.0840; Figure 1A)
Summary
La Crosse virus (LACV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) in the California serogroup of the genus Orthobunyavirus, of the family Bunyaviridae and is distributed throughout most of the eastern United States. The virus is maintained in nature by transovarial passage from an infected female mosquito to her progeny via the egg and through an amplification cycle involving chipmunks and squirrels, which produce a high viremia capable of infecting other mosquitoes (Borucki et al, 2002). The natural vector is the eastern tree hole mosquito, Ochlerotatus triseriatus (Say), but other mosquitoes are competent, including the following two introduced species: Aedes albopictus (Skuse; Grimstad et al, 1989) and Ochlerotatus japonicus (Theobald; Sardelis et al, 2002). Human infections with LACV are common, though disease is rare, with an average of ∼70 cases reported annually. Infection typically presents with a generic febrile illness that may progress to severe central nervous system involvement, including seizures, mental impairment, coma, and death. Prevention generally relies on avoidance of mosquito bites, either through personal protective measures or anti-mosquito insecticides
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