Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Worldwide Perspective

Major infectious disease outbreaks, such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, create significant distress for the general population, and pose a heavy burden on the healthcare systems called to care for affected individuals and contain the spread of the disease [...]

ĐA HÌNH MICROSATELLITE LIÊN KẾT VỚI GEN HEPCIDIN/HAMP TIỀM NĂNG TRONG CHỌN GIỐNG CÁ RÔ PHI VẰN KHÁNG BỆNH DO Streptococcus iniae

Bệnh xuất huyết do vi khuẩn Streptococcus sp là mầm bệnh truyền nhiễm chính gây thiệt hại đáng kể đến sản lượng cá rô phi toàn cầu. Hepcidin/HAMP ở cá đã được báo cáo có liên quan đến miễn dịch bẩm sinh chống lại các mầm bệnh vi khuẩn. Trong nghiên cứu này, chúng tôi tiến hành phân tích mối quan hệ giữa tính đa hình microsatellites/SSRs liên kết với gen hepcidin/HAMP và khả năng kháng bệnh do Streptococcus iniae trên cá rô phi vằn dòng NT1 (Đài Loan). 17 chỉ thị SSRs và cặp mồi đặc hiệu đã được thiết kế dựa trên WebSat. Kết quả đánh giá trên 95 cá thể cho thấy 9/17 chỉ thị SSRs có tính đa hình cao và tuân theo định luật Hardy-Weinberg. Các chỉ thị này sẽ được sử dụng để đánh giá khả năng kháng vi khuẩn S. iniae. 29 cá rô phi NT1 thế hệ thứ nhất (khối lượng 23,59 ± 5,388 g/con) đã được cảm nhiễm với vi khuẩn S. iniae 89353 bằng phương pháp tiêm, với liều tiêm LD50 là 1,3x105 cfu/mL. Kết quả phân tích cho thấy, có sự sai khác có ý nghĩa thống kê về kiểu gen và tần số alen giữa nhóm sống và nhóm chết sau cảm nhiễm vi khuẩn ở 3 chỉ thị SSRs (SSR7, SSR9 và SSR16) (p<0,05). Đây là marker có tiềm năng cho chọn giống cá rô phi Đài Loan kháng bệnh do S. iniae. ABSTRACT Streptococcus has been recognized as a major infectious disease-causing significant economic loss in tilapia aquaculture in many countries. The hepatic antimicrobial peptide hepcidin/HAMP was reported to be associated with innate immunity which defends against various bacterial pathogens and viruses. In this study, we analyzed the corelation between the microsatellites/SSRs polymorphism in the hepcidin/HAMP genes and the resistance to Streptococcus iniae in the NT1strain (tilapia strain in Taiwan). Seventeen of hepcidin/HAMP-related SSRs and 17 SSR-specific PCR primer were designed using WebSat. The result showed that 9/17 hepcidin/HAMP-related SSRs were polymorphic markers and there is significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) (p<0,05). These SSRs were examined for disease resistance to S. iniae. Twenty-nine the First generation (G1) tilapia of NT1 strain (average weight of 23,59 ± 5,388g/fish) were challenged with virulent S. iniae 89353 through intraperioneal injection at dose of LD50 (1,3x105 cfu/ml). In this study, the genotype and the allele frequency in three SSRs (SSR7, SSR9 và SSR16) were significantly different between two groups (death fish with infected signals of S. iniae and alive fish infected with S. iniae) (p<0,05). Three SSRs (SSR7, SSR9 và SSR16) are considered as potential molecular markers for selective breeding of Taiwanese tilapia which resists to S. iniae.

MiR-495 regulates cellular ROS levels by targeting sod2 to inhibit intracellular survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease pathogen. To date, tuberculosis is a major infectious disease that endangers human health. To better prevent and treat tuberculosis, it is important to study the pathogenesis of M. tb . Based on early-stage laboratory research results, in this study, we verified the upregulation of sod2 in Bacillus Calmette–Guérin ( BCG ) and H37Rv infection. By detecting BCG / H37Rv intracellular survival in sod2 -silenced and sod2 - overexpressing macrophages, sod2 was found to promote the intracellular survival of BCG / H37Rv. Then, miR-495 was determined to be downregulated by BCG / H37Rv . BCG / H37Rv can upregulate sod2 expression by miR-495 to promote the intracellular survival of BCG / H37Rv through a decline in ROS levels. This study provides a theoretical basis for developing new drug targets and treating tuberculosis.

Single mosquito metatranscriptomics identifies vectors, emerging pathogens and reservoirs in one assay

Mosquitoes are major infectious disease-carrying vectors. Assessment of current and future risks associated with the mosquito population requires knowledge of the full repertoire of pathogens they carry, including novel viruses, as well as their blood meal sources. Unbiased metatranscriptomic sequencing of individual mosquitoes offers a straightforward, rapid and quantitative means to acquire this information. Here, we profile 148 diverse wild-caught mosquitoes collected in California and detect sequences from eukaryotes, prokaryotes, 24 known and 46 novel viral species. Importantly, sequencing individuals greatly enhanced the value of the biological information obtained. It allowed us to a) speciate host mosquito, b) compute the prevalence of each microbe and recognize a high frequency of viral co-infections, c) associate animal pathogens with specific blood meal sources, and d) apply simple co-occurrence methods to recover previously undetected components of highly prevalent segmented viruses. In the context of emerging diseases, where knowledge about vectors, pathogens, and reservoirs is lacking, the approaches described here can provide actionable information for public health surveillance and intervention decisions.

2-aminobenzimidazoles for leishmaniasis: From initial hit discovery to in vivo profiling

Leishmaniasis is a major infectious disease with hundreds of thousands of new cases and over 20,000 deaths each year. The current drugs to treat this life-threatening infection have several drawbacks such as toxicity and long treatment regimens. A library of 1.8 million compounds, from which the hits reported here are publicly available, was screened against Leishmania infantum as part of an optimization program; a compound was found with a 2-aminobenzimidazole functionality presenting moderate potency, low metabolic stability and high lipophilicity. Several rounds of synthesis were performed to incorporate chemical groups capable of reducing lipophilicity and clearance, leading to the identification of compounds that are active against different parasite strains and have improved in vitro properties. As a result of this optimization program, a group of compounds was further tested in anticipation of in vivo evaluation. In vivo tests were carried out with compounds 29 (L. infantum IC50: 4.1 μM) and 39 (L. infantum IC50: 0.5 μM) in an acute L. infantum VL mouse model, which showed problems of poor exposure and lack of efficacy, despite the good in vitro potency.

Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis Diagnosis and Management – New Paradigm Shift Narratives

Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) is a major infectious disease problem due to the increasing numbers of patients undergoing valve replacement surgery. PVE can present diagnostic difficulties echocardiographically, especially when complicating transvascular placement techniques. Moreover, outbreaks of unusual PVE pathogens, such as Mycobacterium chimaera, have presented major diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas.

A REVIEW STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF FUNGI AND AFLATOXIN ON STEM CELLS

Infection with pathogenic fungi, such as invasive Aspergillosis, remains a major infectious disease. Causes of death after transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCT), although a new antibody to bacteria has been present in recent years. The increase in deaths due to infection with fungi such as Aspergillus is mainly due to the difficulty of diagnosing invasive fungi in the early stages of development because laboratory tests require a combination of multiple procedures, low-quality tests and other surgical procedures in the case of detection of fungi. This study sheds light on Research that has dealt with focusing on the relationship between fungi and the toxins they produce, such as aflatoxin toxins, and the deaths that occur after stem cell transplantation in many patients who need this type of treatment. Shedding light on these studies can take a positive turn to saving the lives of many patients by discovering the reasons behind the occurrence of deaths after a stem cell transplant. It was found through the studies covered in this report that most of the antibodies in the blood of patients were Positive ring against fungi that were present in-patient samples such as sputum, blood, diuresis and other samples in addition to false positive rings, as well as negative rings, but at lower rate