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Updated: Apr 18, 2026
Vaccinia Virus Infection & Temporal Analysis of Virus Gene Expression: Part 1
Published on: April 8, 2009
Cytokine modulation correlates with severity of monkeypox disease in humans
Sara C Johnston1, Joshua C Johnson1, Spencer W Stonier1
1Virology Division, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702, USA.
Background:
Human monkeypox is a zoonotic disease endemic to parts of Africa. Similar to other orthopoxviruses, virus and host have considerable interactions through immunomodulation. These interactions likely drive the establishment of a productive infection and disease progression, resulting in the range of disease presentations and case fatality rates observed for members of the Orthopoxvirus genus.
Objectives:
Much of our understanding about the immune response to orthopoxvirus infection comes from either in vitro or in vivo studies performed in small animals or non-human primates. Here, we conducted a detailed assessment of cytokine responses to monkeypox virus using serum from acutely ill humans collected during monkeypox active disease surveillance (2005-2007) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Study Design:
Nineteen serum samples that were from patients with confirmed monkeypox virus infections were selected for cytokine profiling. Cytokine profiling was performed on the Bio-Rad Bioplex 100 system using a 30-plex human cytokine panel.
Results:
Cytokine profiling revealed elevated cytokine concentrations in all samples. Overproduction of certain cytokines (interleukin [IL]-2R, IL-10, and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor were observed in patients with serious disease (defined as >250 lesions based on the World Health Organization scoring system).
Conclusions:
The data suggest that cytokine modulation affects monkeypox disease severity in humans.
