Japanese encephalitis virus infection: effect on brain development and repair

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the most prevalent form of viral encephalitis endemic to many parts of Asia where periodic outbreaks take hundreds of lives. It is caused by the JE virus (JEV), belonging to the family Flaviviridae. Recent studies have shown that there is a potential risk of an introduction of JEV into the United States, Italy and other European countries where the threat of this disease was previously unknown, leading to a growing concern that JEV will soon become a global pathogen and cause of worldwide pandemics. JEV infects mostly children, who are in a dynamic state of brain development and the JE survivors are often left with severe neurological sequelae. This may be attributed to the depletion of neural progenitor cells by the virus which in the process suppresses the cycling ability of these cells, preventing their proliferation. This review focuses on this fatal viral infection which poses a major threat in the developing countries, especially among the children, by killing neurons and also depleting the neural progenitor pool with progressive infection. The therapeutic use of the drug Minocycline, a tetracycline derivative in imparting protection against this disease, has also been highlighted which can be a major breakthrough in the treatment of JE.