Publications by authors named "Aga E"

Ebeiedinone and peimisine are the major active ingredients of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus. In this study, we looked at how these two forms of isosteroidal alkaloids protect human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells from oxidative stress and apoptosis caused by cigarette smoke extract (CSE). First, the cytotoxicity was determined using the CCK8 assay, and an oxidative stress model was established.

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Background: Bulbus (BFP) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has long been used to treat lung diseases, but the active components and mechanism are still unclear.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of the total alkaloid extract from BFP (BFP-TA) on cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced Beas-2B cells injury.

Design: The Beas-2B cells injury model was induced by 2% CSE, then the effect of BFP-TA on the levels of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) was detected according to the instructions of the T-AOC assay kit, the SOD detection kit and the MDA detection kit, and the production of ROS was detected by fluorescence microscopy.

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Purpose: In recent years, the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been increasing year by year, but therapeutic drugs has no breakthrough. The total alkaloid extract from Bulbus (BFP-TA) is widely used in treating lung diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of BFP-TA in COPD mice.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease, leading to severe inflammatory infiltration and joint damage, accompanied by a decrease in pH of joint microenvironment. Macrophages play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA, with high expression of bovine serum albumin (BSA) receptors on the surface of macrophages. Resveratrol (Res) has strong anti-inflammatory effects, but its application is limited due to its poor water solubility and low bioavailability.

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HIV-1 infection greatly alters the NK cell phenotypic and functional repertoire. This is highlighted by the expansion of a rare population of FcRγ- NK cells exhibiting characteristics of traditional immunologic memory in people with HIV (PWH). Although current antiretroviral therapy (ART) effectively controls HIV-1 viremia and disease progression, its impact on HIV-1-associated NK cell abnormalities remains unclear.

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BACKGROUNDIdentifying factors that predict the timing of HIV rebound after treatment interruption will be crucial for designing and evaluating interventions for HIV remission.METHODSWe performed a broad evaluation of viral and immune factors that predict viral rebound (AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5345). Participants initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) during chronic (N = 33) or early (N = 12) HIV infection with ≥ 2 years of suppressive ART and restarted ART if they had 2 viral loads ≥ 1,000 copies/mL after treatment interruption.

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Article Synopsis
  • Clinical trials for COVID-19 therapeutics often measure antiviral activity by assessing changes in nasal SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels, typically using statistical methods like ANCOVA or MMRM.
  • Using single imputation for results below the assay’s lower limits of quantification (LLoQ) can introduce bias in estimating treatment effects.
  • The article underscores best practices for analyzing quantitative viral RNA data, emphasizing the importance of detailing assay specifics, completeness summaries, and considering values below LLoQ as censored measurements.
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Immunocompromised individuals are disproportionately affected by severe coronavirus disease 2019, but immune compromise is heterogenous, and viral dynamics may vary by the degree of immunosuppression. In this study, we categorized ACTIV-2/A5401 participants based on the extent of immunocompromise into none, mild, moderate, and severe immunocompromise. Moderate/severe immunocompromise was associated with higher nasal viral load at enrollment (adjusted difference in means: 0.

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Background: Globally, over 20 million children are unvaccinated and over 25 million missed their follow-up doses during the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, they face vaccine-preventable diseases and unnecessary deaths. This is especially the case for those with HIV or living in vulnerable settings. Using cell phones to send reminders to parents has been shown to improve vaccination rates.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: As the second-largest traditional medical system in China, Tibetan medicine has a long history and abundant resources. To promote the development of the Tibetan medicine industry, it is essential to study the pharmacological activities of Tibetan medicine based on its traditional usage methods.

Aim Of The Study: Pneumonia has been a worldwide health problem with high morbidity and mortality rates, especially in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic.

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"Zicao" has a long medicinal history and has a variety of pharmacological activities. As the main resource of "zicao" in Tibet, Y. L.

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Importance: Development of effective, scalable therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2 is a priority.

Objective: To test the efficacy of combined tixagevimab and cilgavimab monoclonal antibodies for early COVID-19 treatment.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Two phase 2 randomized blinded placebo-controlled clinical trials within the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV)-2/A5401 platform were performed at US ambulatory sites.

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Article Synopsis
  • Many clinical trials for COVID-19 treatments assess antiviral effectiveness by monitoring changes in nasal SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels.
  • Using methods like ANCOVA or MMRM and filling in missing data (imputation) can distort treatment effect estimates.
  • The paper emphasizes best practices for data analysis, recommending the careful treatment of measurements below the lower limits of quantification (LLoQ) and full transparency regarding assay details and participant outcomes.
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HIV post-treatment controllers (PTCs) are rare individuals who maintain low levels of viremia after stopping antiretroviral therapy (ART). Understanding the mechanisms of HIV post-treatment control will inform development of strategies aiming at achieving HIV functional cure. In this study, we evaluated 22 PTCs from 8 AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) analytical treatment interruption (ATI) studies who maintained viral loads ≤400 copies/mL for ≥24 wk.

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is a well-known traditional medicine in Tibet Autonomous Region, which has benefits, such as anti-hypoxia, neurotrophic action on nerves, easing coughs and relieving asthma, strengthening the body and prolonging life. However, few research have focused on its negative effects, possibly jeopardizing its safety. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the acute and subacute toxicity of an alcoholic extract from (GLA) in vivo.

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Article Synopsis
  • Identifying characteristics associated with SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding can help in understanding how the virus behaves, how it causes disease, and the risk of its spread.
  • A study evaluated SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in different body fluids from participants, finding strong correlations between nasopharyngeal and nasal RNA levels, as well as factors affecting these levels like age and race.
  • Results showed that older age increases RNA levels, and women clear the virus more quickly than men, potentially explaining differences in COVID-19 severity.
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Background: Biological sex and the estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) modulate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activity. Few women have enrolled in clinical trials of latency reversal agents (LRAs); their effectiveness in women is unknown. We hypothesized that ESR1 antagonism would augment induction of HIV expression by the LRA vorinostat.

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Background: Children vaccination is a key intervention for their survival, especially among refugees. Yet, children vaccination registration is done manually in refugees camps and there is no possibility to send reminders to parents to come back on time. We aimed to boost the parental registration of children's vaccination records on a Children Immunization app (CIMA) while also availing the parents with useful parenting skills under COVID-19-related stress.

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Background: Romidepsin (RMD) is a histone deacetylase inhibitor reported to reverse HIV-1 latency. We sought to identify doses of RMD that were safe and induced HIV-1 expression.

Methods: Enrollees had HIV-1 RNA <40 copies/mL on antiretroviral therapy.

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Clinical trials including an analytical treatment interruption (ATI) are vital for evaluating the efficacy of novel strategies for HIV remissions. We briefly describe an interactive tool for predicting viral rebound timing in ATI trials and the impact of posttreatment controller (PTC) definitions on PTC frequency estimates. A 4-week viral load threshold of 1000 cps/ml provides both high specificity and sensitivity for PTC detection.

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Background: Development of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remission strategies requires precise information on time to HIV rebound after treatment interruption, but there is uncertainty regarding whether modern antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens and timing of ART initiation may affect this outcome.

Methods: AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) A5345 enrolled individuals who initiated ART during chronic or early HIV infection and on suppressive ART for ≥2 years. Participants underwent carefully monitored antiretroviral interruption.

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Background: We explored the contributions of the Family Health Days (FHDs) concept, which was developed by the Uganda Ministry of Health (MOH) and UNICEF as a supplementary quarterly outreach program in addition to strengthening the routine expanded program for immunization (EPI), with the aim to increase coverage, through improved access to the unimmunized or unreached and under-immunized children under 5 years.

Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study of the Uganda MOH, Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) and UNICEF in house FHDs data was conducted covering six quarterly implementations of the program between April 2012 and December 2013. The FHDs program was implemented in 31 priority districts with low routine vaccination coverage from seven sub-regions in Uganda in a phased manner using places of worship for service delivery.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study was conducted to test the effectiveness of high-titre anti-influenza plasma versus low-titre plasma in treating severe influenza A infections, as previous research lacked rigorous trial design.
  • The randomized, double-blind phase 3 trial involved 41 medical centers in the US and included both children and adults with confirmed influenza A, assessing outcomes over a 28-day period.
  • The main goal was to evaluate clinical status after 7 days using a six-point scale that categorized patients from death to full recovery, ensuring unbiased results by masking treatment assignments to all participants.
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Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils (PMNs) are metabolically highly active phagocytes, present in abundant numbers in the circulation. These active cells take the onus of clearing invading pathogens by crowding at inflammatory sites in huge numbers. Though PMNs are extremely short living and die upon spontaneous apoptosis, extended lifespan has been observed among those cells arrive at the inflammation sites or tackle intracellular infections or face any microbial challenges.

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Background: HIV posttreatment controllers are rare individuals who start antiretroviral therapy (ART), but maintain HIV suppression after treatment interruption. The frequency of posttreatment control and posttreatment interruption viral dynamics have not been well characterized.

Methods: Posttreatment controllers were identified from 14 studies and defined as individuals who underwent treatment interruption with viral loads ≤400 copies/mL at two-thirds or more of time points for ≥24 weeks.

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