Interleukin-17 Contributes to Chikungunya Virus-Induced Disease
Xiang Liu, Yee-Suan Poo, Juliana Cardoso Alves, Roque Pacheco de Almeida, Helen Mostafavi, Patrick Chun Hean Tang, Richard Bucala, Mauro Martins Teixeira, Adam Taylor, Ali Zaid, Suresh Mahalingam
Abstract
CHIKV has been prevalent in Africa, Asia, and the Indian Ocean Islands for decades. There are currently no clinically approved vaccines or specific antiviral drugs targeting CHIKV. The upregulation of IL-17 detected in CHIKV disease patients and the reduced disease seen in IL-17-deficient mice suggest a correlation between IL-17 signaling pathways and CHIKV-induced arthritic inflammation. With an established role in contributing to the pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases, such as psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, IL-17 signaling plays an important role in alphavirus arthritides.