Taking a bite out of nutrition and arbovirus infection

Abstract

Nutrition is a key factor in host-pathogen defense. Malnutrition can increase both host susceptibility and severity of infection through a number of pathways, and infection itself can promote nutritional deterioration and further susceptibility. Nutritional status can also strongly influence response to vaccination or therapeutic pharmaceuticals. Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) have a long history of infecting humans, resulting in regular pandemics as well as an increasing frequency of autochthonous transmission. Interestingly, aside from host-related factors, nutrition could also play a role in the competence of vectors required for transmission of these viruses. Nutritional status of the host and vector could even influence viral evolution itself. Therefore, it is vital to understand the role of nutrition in the arbovirus lifecycle. This Review will focus on nutritional factors that could influence susceptibility and severity of infection in the host, response to prophylactic and therapeutic strategies, vector competence, and viral evolution.

Fig 1. Influence of nutrition on the arbovirus vector–host cycle.

Growth and development of mosquitoes as well as several pathways (epizootic, enzootic, and urban epidemic) could be impacted by the nutrition of both the host and the vector species. Red stars indicate areas where nutrition could have the most impact on susceptibility, severity of infection, and even vector competence.

Fig 2. Correlation of malnutrition with reported distributions of arboviruses.

Prevalence (by percent) of children under the age of 5 that are (A) underweight for their age, (B) wasted, or (C) stunted are shown in blue. Data are the most recent statistics for each country indicated available from the United Nations Children’s Fund (available at http://data.unicef.org) and were mapped using QGIS 2.18.12. Overlay colors indicate reported distributions of DENV (light red shading), YFV (pink border), CHIKV (orange border), ZIKV (yellow border), JEV (green border), and RVFV (purple border). Distributions are adapted from Weaver et al. 2017 [214]. CHIKV, chikungunya virus; DENV, dengue virus; JEV, Japanese encephalitis virus; RVFV, Rift Valley Fever virus; YFV, yellow fever virus; ZIKV, Zika virus.