Differential\nProteomic Profiling at Different Phases\nof Dengue Infection: An Intricate Insight from Proteins to Pathogenesis

Dengue fever is a rapidly emerging\ntropical disease and\nan important\ncause of morbidity in its severe form worldwide. A wide spectrum of\nthe pathophysiology is associated with the transition of dengue fever\nto severe dengue, which is driven by the host immune response and\nmight reflect in patients’ proteome profile. This study aims\nto analyze the plasma from different phases of dengue-infected patients\nat two time points. A mass-spectrometry-based proteomic approach was\nutilized to understand the involvement of probable candidate proteins\ntoward developing a more severe, hemorrhagic form of dengue fever.\nDengue-infected hospital-admitted patients with <5 days of fever\nwere included in this study. Patient samples from the acute phase\nwere screened for the presence of NS1 antigen using ELISA and subjected\nto molecular serotyping. Dengue molecular serotype-confirmed patient\nsamples, pairwise from acute and critical phases with healthy control\nwere subjected to qualitative and quantitative proteomic analysis,\nand then pathway analysis was performed. The protein–protein\ninteraction network between the dengue virus and host proteins was\ndepicted in the search for proteins associated with severe dengue\npathophysiology. An array of apolipoprotein, cytokines, and endothelial\nproteins in association with virus replication and endothelial dysfunction\nwere validated as biomolecules involved in severe dengue pathophysiology.