Publications by authors named "A Balkema-Buschmann"
Article Synopsis
- - RNA viruses like influenza and coronaviruses pose significant health threats, often lacking effective vaccines or treatments, while others like filo- and henipaviruses have high mortality rates despite limited outbreaks.
- - The antiviral drug 4'-Fluorouridine (4'-FlU) inhibits RNA virus replication by targeting the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, but its effectiveness varies across different viruses, necessitating strategies to improve its potency.
- - Researchers found that inhibiting dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) enhances the antiviral effects of 4'-FlU against several RNA viruses, including in models of infection, potentially by depleting uridine, which boosts 4'-FlU's incorporation into viral
Article Synopsis
- Bats are considered the primary hosts for many coronaviruses, particularly Betacoronaviruses, which can cause severe respiratory diseases in humans.
- Research showed that Egyptian fruit bats were more susceptible to respiratory infections (like SARS-CoV-2) compared to oral infections, with significant differences in virus shedding and immune response.
- The study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is likely inactivated in the bats' stomachs, making oral infections less effective, highlighting the unique pathology of coronavirus infections in bats.
Hibernation is a widespread and highly efficient mechanism to save energy in mammals. However, one major challenge of hibernation is maintaining blood circulation at low body temperatures, which strongly depends on the viscoelastic properties of red blood cells (RBCs). Here, we examined at physiologically relevant timescales the thermomechanical properties of hundreds of thousands of individual RBCs from the hibernating common noctule bat (), the nonhibernating Egyptian fruit bat (), and humans ().
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGolden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) are a well-established animal model for human infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) due to their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, robust virus replication and pathological manifestations similar to human COVID-19 pneumonia. To investigate the physiological changes upon infection in this animal model, we explored the alterations in daily energy expenditure (DEE), water turnover, body mass, body temperature, and locomotor activity in non-infected and SARS-CoV-2 infected Golden Syrian hamsters for four days post SARS-CoV-2. DEE was measured using the doubly labelled water method, which allows for the accurate estimation of carbon dioxide production and, consequently, energy expenditure in animals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Cedar henipavirus (CedV) is a non-pathogenic virus isolated from bats in Australia, related to the dangerous Hendra and Nipah viruses, which are classified at BSL4 due to their threat to humans.
- * In a study, researchers tested eight fruit bats of varying ages with CedV to understand how age affects their susceptibility to the virus.
- * Despite the inoculation, no bats showed significant illness, only trace viral RNA was detected post-infection, and minor changes in body temperature and activity were observed that could have been otherwise missed.