Long-Term Arthralgia after Mayaro Virus Infection Correlates with Sustained Pro-inflammatory Cytokine Response

Mayaro virus (mayv),an alphavirus similar to chikungunya virus (chikv),causes an acute debilitating disease which results in the development of long-term arthralgia in more than 50% of infected individuals. currently,the immune response and its role in the development of mayv-induced persistent arthralgia remain unknown. in this study,we evaluated the immune response of individuals with confirmed mayv infection in a one-year longitudinal study carried out in loreto,peru. we report that mayv infection elicits robust immune responses that result in the development of a strong neutralizing antibody response and the secretion of pro-inflammatory immune mediators. the composition of these inflammatory mediators,in some cases,differed to those previously observed for chikv. key mediators such as il-13,il-7 and vegf were strongly induced following mayv infection and were significantly increased in subjects that eventually developed persistent arthralgia. although a strong neutralizing antibody response was observed in all subjects,it was not sufficient to prevent the long-term outcomes of mayv infection. this study provides initial immunologic insight that may eventually contribute to prognostic tools and therapeutic treatments against this emerging pathogen.