In November 2011, the Japanese encephalitis virus was reported in Culex bitaeniorhynchus in South Korea.Recently, whole genome microarray research of neurons infected with the Japanese encephalitis virus has shown that neurons play an important role in their own defense against Japanese encephalitis infection. Although this challenges the long-held belief that neurons are immunologically quiescent, an improved understanding of the proinflammatory effects responsible for immune-mediated control of viral infection and neuronal injury during Japanese encephalitis infection is an essential step for developing strategies for limiting the severity of CNS disease.A number of drugs have been investigated to either reduce viral replication or provide neuroprotection in cell lines or studies upon mice. None are currently advocated in treating human patients. The use of rosmarinic acid, arctigenin, and oligosaccharides with degree of polymerization 6 from Gracilaria sp. or Monostroma nitidum has been shown to be effective in a mouse model of Japanese encephalitis. Curcumin has been shown to impart neuroprotection against Japanese encephalitis infection in an in vitro study. Curcumin possibly acts by decreasing cellular reactive oxygen species level, restoration of cellular membrane integrity, decreasing pro-apoptotic signaling molecules, and modulating cellular levels of stress-related proteins. It has also been shown that the production of infective viral particles from previously infected neuroblastoma cells is reduced, which is achieved by inhibition of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Minocycline in mice resulted in marked decreases in the levels of several markers, viral titer, and the level of proinflammatory mediators and also prevented blood–brain barrier damage.
Harrison experimentally induced malignant hyperthermia with halothane anesthesia in genetically susceptible pigs, and obtained an 87.5% survival rate, where seven of his eight experiments survived after intravenous administration of dantrolene. The efficacy of dantrolene in humans was later confirmed in a large, multicenter study published in 1982, and confirmed epidemiologically in 1993. Before dantrolene, the only available treatment for malignant hyperthermia was procaine, which was associated with a 60% mortality rate in animal models. References
External links
"Dantrolene". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine. "Dantrolene sodium". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.