An American study has revealed the mechanism by which rotavirus induces diarrhea in cases of gastroenteritis.
- Very common in young children, gastroenteritis results in diarrhea, poor absorption of nutrients and weight loss.
- Rotavirus is the main cause of acute viral gastroenteritis.
- Researchers have recently observed the mechanism by which rotavirus induces diarrhea.
Every year, epidemics of gastroenteritis occur between December and April, mainly among children under five years old living in communities. Rotavirus is the main cause of acute viral gastroenteritis, which presents with diarrhea, poor absorption of nutrients and weight loss.
Discovery of the mechanism by which rotavirus causes diarrhea
However, how rotavirus causes diarrhea was still unknown until a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Researchers have identified a new mechanism by which rotavirus causes diarrhea by interfering with nutrient absorption in the intestine.
For the purposes of this research, scientists from Baylor College of Medicine (United States) studied models of monkey kidney cells and human intestinal enteroids, in other words miniature and simplified versions of an organ. “Human intestinal enteroids have revolutionized the study of gastrointestinal (GI) viruses like rotavirus. These untransformed multicellular cell cultures retain host genetic properties, cellular organization, and recapitulate the function of the gastrointestinal epithelium. -human intestinal. They constitute biologically relevant model systems for the study of human gastrointestinal infections”explained Dr. Sue E. Crawford, co-author of the study and assistant professor of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine.
Diarrhea: rotavirus destroys a specific enzyme
When infected, rotavirus causes the formation of a higher number of lipid droplets than normal in the cells it infects. When examining this process, the study authors noticed that rotavirus binds to DGAT1, an enzyme, responsible for the formation of lipid droplets, and is responsible for its breakdown or degradation.
It has also been found that some children are born with mutations in DGTA1, which can render the enzyme nonfunctional. “This led us to think that the degradation of DGAT1 by rotavirus could be a mechanism by which the virus induces diarrhea (…) Like children with a genetic deficiency in DGAT1 which causes diarrhea, when rotavirus degrades DGAT1, resulting in reduced production of enzymes that break down the foods we eat and disruption of the mechanisms that transport nutrients into cells, leading to diarrhea.”said Hunter Smith, co-author and graduate student in Mary Estes and Crawford’s lab at Baylor.
