scholarly journals Transmission event of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant reveals multiple vaccine breakthrough infections

BMC Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Farinholt ◽  
Harsha Doddapaneni ◽  
Xiang Qin ◽  
Vipin Menon ◽  
Qingchang Meng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Read Depth ◽  
Causal Variant ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Genome Analysis Toolkit ◽  
History Of ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Alpha Variant ◽  
Viral Sequencing ◽  
Internal Funding

Abstract Background This study aims to identify the causative strain of SARS-CoV-2 in a cluster of vaccine breakthroughs. Vaccine breakthrough by a highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 strain is a risk to global public health. Methods Nasopharyngeal swabs from suspected vaccine breakthrough cases were tested for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) by qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) for Wuhan-Hu1 and alpha variant. Positive samples were then sequenced by Swift Normalase Amplicon Panels to determine the causal variant. GATK (genome analysis toolkit) variants were filtered with allele fraction ≥80 and min read depth 30x. Results Viral sequencing revealed an infection cluster of 6 vaccinated patients infected with the delta (B.1.617.2) SARS-CoV-2 variant. With no history of vaccine breakthrough, this suggests the delta variant may possess immune evasion in patients that received the Pfizer BNT162b2, Moderna mRNA-1273, and Covaxin BBV152. Conclusions Delta variant may pose the highest risk out of any currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, with previously described increased transmissibility over alpha variant and now, possible vaccine breakthrough. Funding Parts of this work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (1U19AI144297) and Baylor College of Medicine internal funding.

scholarly journals Transmission event of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant reveals multiple vaccine breakthrough infections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Farinholt ◽  
Xiang Qin ◽  
Qingchang Meng ◽  
Vipin Menon ◽  
Harshavardhan Doddapaneni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Great Risk ◽  
Causal Variant ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Significant Other ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Transmission Event ◽  
History Of ◽  
Alpha Variant ◽  
Health Objective

Importance: Vaccine breakthrough by an emergent SARS-CoV-2 variant poses a great risk to global public health. Objective: To determine the SARS-CoV-2 variant responsible for 6 cases of vaccine breakthrough. Design: Nasopharyngeal swabs from suspected vaccine breakthrough cases were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by qPCR for Wuhan-Hu1 and Alpha variant. Positive samples were then sequenced by Swift Normalase Amplicon Panels to determine the causal variant. Setting: Transmission event occurred at events surrounding a wedding outside of Houston, TX. Two patients from India, likely transmitted the Delta variant to other guests. Participants: Following a positive SARS-CoV-2 qPCR test at a third-party site, six fully vaccinated patients were investigated. Three males and three females ranged from 53 to 69 years old. One patient suffered from diabetes while three others were classified as overweight. No significant other comorbidities were identified. None of the patients had a history of failed vaccination.

scholarly journals Thrombotic, inflammatory, and HIF-regulated genes and thrombosis risk in polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 1115-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radhika Gangaraju ◽  
Jihyun Song ◽  
Soo Jin Kim ◽  
Tsewang Tashi ◽  
Brandi N. Reeves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polycythemia Vera ◽  
Essential Thrombocythemia ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factor ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Thrombosis Risk ◽  
Inflammatory State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gene Transcripts ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Abstract Thrombosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET). The pathophysiology of thrombosis in these disorders remains unclear, and we hypothesized that upregulation of thrombotic, inflammatory, and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)–regulated genes may play a role in it. We performed unbiased RNA sequencing in granulocytes and platelets of PV patients and found differential expression of several thrombotic, inflammatory, and HIF-regulated genes. The expression of many of these genes positively correlated with JAK2 expression and JAK2V617F allelic burden. We then validated these findings by quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses of selected gene transcripts in a larger number of PV and ET granulocytes and platelets (58 patients) and in 28 controls, and we compared these findings in patients with and without thrombosis. The study included 29 females and 29 males; of these, 28 had a history of thrombosis. We found that transcripts of several selected genes were upregulated in patients with PV or ET compared with controls. In granulocytes, the expression levels of F3, SELP, VEGFA, and SLC2A1 were significantly higher in patients with a history of thrombosis compared with those who did not have thrombosis. Patients with a history of thrombosis have significantly higher expression of IL1RAP (P < .05) in platelets compared with those without thrombosis. Our study confirms the presence of a thrombo-inflammatory state and augmented HIF activity in PV and ET and its role in thrombosis. These data may provide the background for targeted therapies in PV and ET.

AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR INHIBITOR FREE NUCLEIC ACIDS FROM POLYPHENOL RICH LEAVES OF MUSA SPP

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N.NANDHA KUMAR ◽  
K. SOURIANATHA SUNDARAM ◽  
D. SUDHAKAR ◽  
K.K. KUMAR
Keyword(s):  
Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Proteinase K ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Banana Plant ◽  
High Molecular Weight Dna ◽  
Musa Spp ◽  
Leaf Tissues ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Excessive presence of polysaccharides, polyphenol and secondary metabolites in banana plant affects the quality of DNA and it leads to difficult in isolating good quality of DNA. An optimized modified CTAB protocol for the isolation of high quality and quantity of DNA obtained from banana leaf tissues has been developed. In this protocol a slight increased salt (NaCl) concentration (2.0M) was used in the extraction buffer. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and Octanol were used for the removal of polyphenols and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors. Proteins like various enzymes were degraded by Proteinase K and removed by centrifugation from plant extract during the isolation process resulting in pure genomic DNA, ready to use in downstream applications including PCR, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), ligation, restriction and sequencing. This protocol yielded a high molecular weight DNA isolated from polyphenols rich leaves of Musa spp which was free from contamination and colour. The average yields of total DNA from leaf ranged from 917.4 to 1860.9 ng/ìL. This modified CTAB protocol reported here is less time consuming 4-5h, reproducible and can be used for a broad spectrum of plant species which have polyphenol and polysaccharide compounds.

Pim-1 is up-regulated by constitutively activated FLT3 and plays a role in FLT3-mediated cell survival

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 1759-1767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyu-Tae Kim ◽  
Kristin Baird ◽  
Joon-Young Ahn ◽  
Paul Meltzer ◽  
Michael Lilly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Dominant Negative ◽  
Internal Tandem Duplication ◽  
Downstream Target ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Flt3 Expression ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Expression Microarrays

AbstractConstitutively activating internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations of the receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3 (Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3) play an important role in leukemogenesis, and their presence is associated with poor prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To better understand FLT3 signaling in leukemogenesis, we have examined the changes in gene expression induced by FLT3/ITD or constitutively activated wild-type FLT3 expression. Microarrays were used with RNA harvested before and after inhibition of FLT3 signaling. Pim-1 was found to be one of the most significantly down-regulated genes upon FLT3 inhibition. Pim-1 is a proto-oncogene and is known to be up-regulated by signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5), which itself is a downstream target of FLT3 signaling. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) confirmed the microarray results and demonstrated approximately 10-fold decreases in Pim-1 expression in response to FLT3 inhibition. Pim-1 protein also decreased rapidly in parallel with decreasing autophosphorylation activity of FLT3. Enforced expression of either the 44-kDa or 33-kDa Pim-1 isotypes resulted in increased resistance to FLT3 inhibition-mediated cytotoxicity and apoptosis. In contrast, expression of a dominant-negative Pim-1 construct accelerated cytotoxicity in response to FLT3 inhibition and inhibited colony growth of FLT3/ITD-transformed BaF3 cells. These findings demonstrate that constitutively activated FLT3 signaling up-regulates Pim-1 expression in leukemia cells. This up-regulation contributes to the proliferative and antiapoptotic pathways induced by FLT3 signaling. (Blood. 2005;105: 1759-1767)

scholarly journals Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 352
Author(s):  
Wei Wei ◽  
Valeria Trivellone ◽  
Christopher H. Dietrich ◽  
Yan Zhao ◽  
Kristi D. Bottner-Parker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Range ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Rflp Analysis ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Genetic Lineages ◽  
Genetic Subgroup ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Phloem Feeding ◽  
Fresh Insight

Phytoplasmas are obligate transkingdom bacterial parasites that infect a variety of plant species and replicate in phloem-feeding insects in the order Hemiptera, mainly leafhoppers (Cicadellidae). The insect capacity in acquisition, transmission, survival, and host range directly determines the epidemiology of phytoplasmas. However, due to the difficulty of insect sampling and the lack of follow-up transmission trials, the confirmed phytoplasma insect hosts are still limited compared with the identified plant hosts. Recently, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based quick screening of 227 leafhoppers collected in natural habitats unveiled the presence of previously unknown phytoplasmas in six samples. In the present study, 76 leafhoppers, including the six prescreened positive samples, were further examined to identify and characterize the phytoplasma strains by semi-nested PCR. A total of ten phytoplasma strains were identified in leafhoppers from four countries including South Africa, Kyrgyzstan, Australia, and China. Based on virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, these ten phytoplasma strains were classified into four distinct ribosomal (16Sr) groups (16SrI, 16SrIII, 16SrXIV, and 16SrXV), representing five new subgroups (16SrI-AO, 16SrXIV-D, 16SrXIV-E, 16SrXIV-F, and 16SrXV-C). The results strongly suggest that the newly identified phytoplasma strains not only represent new genetic subgroup lineages, but also extend previously undiscovered geographical distributions. In addition, ten phytoplasma-harboring leafhoppers belonged to seven known leafhopper species, none of which were previously reported insect vectors of phytoplasmas. The findings from this study provide fresh insight into genetic diversity, geographical distribution, and insect host range of phytoplasmas. Further transmission trials and screening of new potential host plants and weed reservoirs in areas adjacent to collection sites of phytoplasma harboring leafhoppers will contribute to a better understanding of phytoplasma transmission and epidemiology.

scholarly journals Cyclo-oxygenase 2, a putative mediator of vessel remodeling, is expressed in the brain AVM vessels and associates with inflammation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Keränen ◽  
Santeri Suutarinen ◽  
Rahul Mallick ◽  
Johanna P. Laakkonen ◽  
Diana Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Inflammatory Cells ◽  
Vessel Remodeling ◽  
Brain Avm ◽  
Inflammatory Drugs ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Cox2 Expression

Abstract Background Brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVM) may rupture causing disability or death. BAVM vessels are characterized by abnormally high flow that in general triggers expansive vessel remodeling mediated by cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX2), the target of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. We investigated whether COX2 is expressed in bAVMs and whether it associates with inflammation and haemorrhage in these lesions. Methods Tissue was obtained from surgery of 139 bAVMs and 21 normal Circle of Willis samples. The samples were studied with immunohistochemistry and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Clinical data was collected from patient records. Results COX2 expression was found in 78% (109/139) of the bAVMs and localized to the vessels’ lumen or medial layer in 70% (95/135) of the bAVMs. Receptors for prostaglandin E2, a COX2-derived mediator of vascular remodeling, were found in the endothelial and smooth muscle cells and perivascular inflammatory cells of bAVMs. COX2 was expressed by infiltrating inflammatory cells and correlated with the extent of inflammation (r = .231, p = .007, Spearman rank correlation). COX2 expression did not associate with haemorrhage. Conclusion COX2 is induced in bAVMs, and possibly participates in the regulation of vessel wall remodelling and ongoing inflammation. Role of COX2 signalling in the pathobiology and clinical course of bAVMs merits further studies.

Gonadotrophins modulate cell death-related genes expression in human endometrium

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Sacchi ◽  
Paola Sena ◽  
Chiara Addabbo ◽  
Erika Cuttone ◽  
Antonio La Marca
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factor ◽  
Endometrial Cells ◽  
Microtubule Associated Proteins ◽  
Genes Expression ◽  
Associated Proteins ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Cytochrome P450 Family ◽  
Apoptosis Marker

AbstractBackgroundGonadotrophins exert their functions by binding follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) or luteinizing hormone and human chorionic gonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) present on endometrium. Within ovaries, FSH induces autophagy and apoptosis of granulosa cells leading to atresia of non-growing follicles, whereas hCG and LH have anti-apoptotic functions. Endometrial cells express functioning gonadotrophin receptors. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of gonadotrophins on physiology and endometrial cells survival.Materials and methodsCollected endometria were incubated for 48 or 72 h with 100 ng/mL of recombinant human FSH (rhFSH), recombinant human LH (rhLH) or highly purified hCG (HPhCG) alone or combined. Controls omitted gonadotrophins. The effect of gonadotrophins on cytochrome P450 family 11 subfamily A polypeptide 1 (CYP11A1), hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF1A), and cell-death-related genes expression was evaluated by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Immunohistochemistry for microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B (MAP1LC3B) and apoptotic protease activating factor 1 (APAF-1) was performed.ResultsGonadotrophins are able to modulate the endometrial cells survival. FSH induced autophagy and apoptosis by increasing the relative expression of MAP1LC3B and FAS receptor. In FSH-treated samples, expression of apoptosis marker APAF-1 was detected and co-localized on autophagic cells. hCG and LH does not modulate the expression of cell-death-related genes while the up-regulation of pro-proliferative epiregulin gene was observed. When combined with FSH, hCG and LH prevent autophagy and apoptosis FSH-induced.ConclusionsDifferent gonadotrophins specifically affect endometrial cells viability differently: FSH promotes autophagy and apoptosis while LH and hCG alone or combined with rhFSH does not.

scholarly journals Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies Among Health Care Personnel at a Health Care System in Pakistan

2021 ◽  
pp. 101053952110110
Author(s):  
Salma Abbas ◽  
Aun Raza ◽  
Ayesha Iftikhar ◽  
Aamir Khan ◽  
Shahzaib Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Health Care Personnel ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Antibody Testing ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Past Infection ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
History Of ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Health care personnel (HCP) are at high risk for coronavirus disease-2019 acquisition. Serum antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) indicate past infection. Our institution offered SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing to HCP. We surveyed HCP with positive test results to explore past exposure to SARS-CoV-2, details of symptoms during the preceding 6 months, and a history of SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction testing. A total of 2162 HCP underwent antibody testing. Eight hundred fifty-seven (39.6%) employees tested positive and, of these, 820 (95.7%) participated in the survey. When adjusted for age, males had higher odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies compared with females (OR = 1.68; 95% CI = 1.37-2.05; P = .00) and clinical staff had higher odds of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity compared with nonclinical staff (OR = 1.273; 95% CI = 1.06-1.53; P = .01). Implementation of effective infection control measures is essential to protect HCP from coronavirus disease-2019.

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