Avian metapneumovirus subtype B in a Northern shoveler () wintering in Italy: implications for the domestic-wild bird interface?

Wild birds sampled in Italy tested for aMPV detection and characterization.aMPV-B found for the first time in a wintering Northern shoveler.Close phylogenetic relationship with aMPV-B strains circulating in Italian poultry.

Protective Mechanisms of Vaginal Lactobacilli against Sexually Transmitted Viral Infections.

The healthy cervicovaginal microbiota is dominated by various species, which support a condition of eubiosis. Among their many functions, vaginal lactobacilli contribute to the maintenance of an acidic pH, produce antimicrobial compounds, and modulate the host immune response to protect against vaginal bacterial and fungal infections. Increasing evidence suggests that these beneficial bacteria may also confer protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) caused by viruses such as human papillomavirus (HPV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV).

Prospective validation of the EASL management algorithm for acute kidney injury in cirrhosis.

Background & Aims: The management of acute kidney injury (AKI) in cirrhosis is challenging. The EASL guidelines proposed an algorithm for the management of AKI, but this has never been validated. We aimed to prospectively evaluate this algorithm in clinical practice.

Vaginal Lactobacilli Supernatants Protect from Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection in Cell Culture Models.

A healthy vaginal microbiota hosts as the most predominant genus. Lactobacilli play a role in human health through the production of diverse antimicrobial substances that can act against human pathogens or modulate the immune system. Previous reports highlighted the ability of vaginal lactobacilli to counteract viruses causing STIs, e.

Alcoholic Foamy Degeneration, an Entity Resembling Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis: Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Molecular Profiling.

Background & Aims: Alcoholic foamy degeneration (AFD) is a condition with similar clinical presentation to alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH), but with a specific histologic pattern. Information regarding the prevalence and prognosis of AFD is scarce and there are no tools for a noninvasive diagnosis.

Methods: A cohort of patients admitted to the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona for clinical suspicion of AH who underwent liver biopsy was included.

Immune responses and clinical outcomes after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with liver disease and liver transplant recipients.

Background & Aims: Comparative assessments of immunogenicity following different COVID-19 vaccines in patients with distinct liver diseases are lacking. SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell and antibody responses were evaluated longitudinally after one to three vaccine doses, with long-term follow-up for COVID-19-related clinical outcomes.

Methods: A total of 849 participants (355 with cirrhosis, 74 with autoimmune hepatitis [AIH], 36 with vascular liver disease [VLD], 257 liver transplant recipients [LTRs] and 127 healthy controls [HCs]) were recruited from four countries.

Two-year multidisciplinary follow-up of COVID-19 patients requiring invasive and noninvasive respiratory support.

Background: COVID-19 patients frequently develop respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Data on long-term survival of patients who had severe COVID-19 are insufficient. We assessed and compared two-year survival, CT imaging, quality of life, and functional recovery of COVID-19 ARDS patients requiring respiratory support with invasive (IMV) versus noninvasive ventilation (NIV).

Adding Inflammatory Markers and Refining National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Criteria Improve Diagnostic Accuracy for Alcohol-associated Hepatitis.

Background & Aims: Although histology is considered the gold standard for diagnosis of alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH), it is not required for entry into therapeutic studies if patients meet National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) consensus criteria for probable AH. Our aim was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of NIAAA criteria against liver biopsy and to explore new criteria to enhance diagnostic accuracy for AH.

Methods: A total of 268 consecutive patients with alcohol-related liver disease with liver biopsy were prospectively included: 210 and 58 in the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively.

Ammonium quantification in human plasma by proton nuclear magnetic resonance for staging of liver fibrosis in alcohol-related liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Liver fibrosis staging is a key element driving the prognosis of patients with chronic liver disease. Currently, biopsy is the only technique capable of diagnosing liver fibrosis in patients with alcohol-related liver disease (ArLD) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) unequivocally. Noninvasive (e.

Stigmatization is common in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and correlates with quality of life.

Background And Aims: Stigmatization is a well-documented problem of some diseases. Perceived stigma is common in alcohol-related liver disease and hepatitis C, but little information exists on stigma in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Aim of the study was to investigate frequency and characteristics of perceived stigma among patients with NAFLD.

Reticulon-1C Involvement in Muscle Regeneration.

Skeletal muscle is a very dynamic and plastic tissue, being essential for posture, locomotion and respiratory movement. Muscle atrophy or genetic muscle disorders, such as muscular dystrophies, are characterized by myofiber degeneration and replacement with fibrotic tissue. Recent studies suggest that changes in muscle metabolism such as mitochondrial dysfunction and dysregulation of intracellular Ca homeostasis are implicated in many adverse conditions affecting skeletal muscle.

Specificity, Safety, Efficacy of EGFRvIII-Retargeted Oncolytic HSV for Xenotransplanted Human Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma is a lethal primary brain tumor lacking effective therapy. The secluded onset site, combined with the infiltrative properties of this tumor, require novel targeted therapies. In this scenario, the use of oncolytic viruses retargeted to glioblastoma cells and able to spread across the tumor cells represent an intriguing treatment strategy.

Sequential changes in urinary biomarker levels in patients with cirrhosis and severe hepatorenal syndrome.

Whether tubular injury develops in patients with acute kidney injury owing to hepatorenal syndrome (AKI-HRS) is controversial. We performed repeated measurements of biomarkers of tubular injury during a 14-day period in 60 patients with cirrhosis and AKI (34 with AKI-HRS meeting the classical definition of type 1 HRS and 26 with AKI owing to acute tubular necrosis, AKI-ATN). Nineteen of 34 patients had resolution of AKI-HRS, while the remainder had persistent AKI-HRS.

Silver Nanoparticles Derived by Reveal Anticancer and Apoptosis-Inducing Effects.

The fight against cancer is one of the main challenges for medical research. Recently, nanotechnology has made significant progress, providing possibilities for developing innovative nanomaterials to overcome the common limitations of current therapies. In this context, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) represent a promising nano-tool able to offer interesting applications for cancer research.

A notable proportion of liver transplant candidates with alcohol-related cirrhosis can be delisted because of clinical improvement.

Background & Aims: To what extent patients with alcohol-related decompensated cirrhosis can improve until recovery from decompensation remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the probability of recovery and delisting due to improvement in patients with alcohol-related decompensated cirrhosis on the waiting list (WL) for liver transplantation (LT).

Methods: We conducted a registry-based, multicenter, retrospective study including all patients admitted to the LT WL in Catalonia (Spain) with the indication of alcohol-, HCV-, cholestasis- or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis-related decompensated cirrhosis between January 2007 and December 2018.

Renal Replacement Therapy for Acute Kidney Injury in Severe Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis as a Bridge to Transplant or Recovery.

Background: Acute kidney injury is seen in approximately 30% of patients with severe alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) and is associated with increased mortality. Controversy exists surrounding initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in these patients, as most are ineligible for early transplantation.

Aims: The primary aim was to identify predictors of survival and identify patients who may benefit from RRT as a bridge to transplant or recovery.

Interaction between metabolic syndrome and alcohol consumption, risk factors of liver fibrosis: A population-based study.

Background And Aims: Alcohol and metabolic syndrome (MS) coexist frequently as cofactors of liver disease. Previous studies suggest a deleterious effect of MS in advanced alcohol-related liver disease (ArLD). However, it is unknow whether MS can increase the risk of liver fibrosis in early stages of ArLD.

SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Testing: The Tower of Babel.

Background And Aim: Testing represents one of the main pillars of public health response to SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic. This paper shows how accuracy and utility of testing programs depend not just on the type of tests, but on the context as well.

Methods: We describe the testing methods that have been developed and the possible testing strategies; then, we focus on two possible methods of population-wide testing, i.

Herpes Simplex Virus Oncolytic Immunovirotherapy: The Blossoming Branch of Multimodal Therapy.

Oncolytic viruses are smart therapeutics against cancer due to their potential to replicate and produce the needed therapeutic dose in the tumor, and to their ability to self-exhaust upon tumor clearance. Oncolytic virotherapy strategies based on the herpes simplex virus are reaching their thirties, and a wide variety of approaches has been envisioned and tested in many different models, and on a range of tumor targets. This huge effort has culminated in the primacy of an oncolytic HSV (oHSV) being the first oncolytic virus to be approved by the FDA and EMA for clinical use, for the treatment of advanced melanoma.

Outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with chronic liver disease: An international registry study.

Background & Aims: Chronic liver disease (CLD) and cirrhosis are associated with immune dysregulation, leading to concerns that affected patients may be at risk of adverse outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on patients with pre-existing liver disease, which currently remains ill-defined.

Methods: Between 25th March and 8th July 2020, data on 745 patients with CLD and SARS-CoV-2 (including 386 with and 359 without cirrhosis) were collected by 2 international registries and compared to data on non-CLD patients with SARS-CoV-2 from a UK hospital network.

The potential antimalarial efficacy of hemocompatible silver nanoparticles from Artemisia species against P. falciparum parasite.

Malaria represents one of the most common infectious diseases which becoming an impellent public health problem worldwide. Antimalarial classical medications include quinine-based drugs, like chloroquine, and artesunate, a derivative of artemisinin, a molecule found in the plant Artemisia annua. Such therapeutics are very effective but show heavy side effects like drug resistance.

Nanocytometer for smart analysis of peripheral blood and acute myeloid leukemia: a pilot study.

We realize an ultracompact nanocytometer for real-time impedimetric detection and classification of subpopulations of living cells. Nanoscopic nanowires in a microfluidic channel act as nanocapacitors and measure in real time the change of the amplitude and phase of the output voltage and, thus, the electrical properties of living cells. We perform the cell classification in the human peripheral blood (PBMC) and demonstrate for the first time the possibility to discriminate monocytes and of lymphocytes in a label-free format.