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About the Authors:
Trevor V. Gale
Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
Timothy M. Horton
Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
Donald S. Grant
Roles Data curation, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing - review & editing
Affiliations Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Program, Kenema Government Hospital, Kenema, Sierra Leone, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Robert F. Garry
Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing - review & editing
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliations Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America, Zalgen Labs, LLC, Germantown, Maryland, United States of America, Tulane Center of Excellence, Global Viral Network, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5683-3250Abstract
Lassa fever afflicts tens of thousands of people in West Africa annually. The rapid progression of patients from febrile illness to fulminant syndrome and death provides incentive for development of clinical prognostic markers that can guide case management. The small molecule profile of serum from febrile patients triaged to the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Ward at Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone was assessed using untargeted Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. Physiological dysregulation resulting from Lassa virus (LASV) infection occurs at the small molecule level. Effects of LASV infection on pathways mediating blood coagulation, and lipid, amino acid, nucleic acid metabolism are manifest in changes in the levels of numerous metabolites in the circulation. Several compounds, including platelet activating factor (PAF), PAF-like molecules and products of heme breakdown emerged as candidates that may prove useful in diagnostic assays to inform better care of Lassa fever patients.
Author summary
Lassa fever afflicts tens of thousands of people in West Africa each year. The disease progresses rapidly, but there are no tests available to determine which patients are at high risk for dying. We measured the levels of small molecules in the blood of febrile patients with and without infection by...