Pathophysiology and mechanism of long COVID: a comprehensive review.

Background: After almost 2 years of fighting against SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the number of patients enduring persistent symptoms long after acute infection is a matter of concern. This set of symptoms was referred to as "long COVID", and it was defined more recently as "Post COVID-19 condition" by the World health Organization (WHO). Although studies have revealed that long COVID can manifest whatever the severity of inaugural illness, the underlying pathophysiology is still enigmatic.

Developing a quality management system for the European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA): toward European HTA collaboration.

Objectives: The European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) was established in 2006 and comprises over eighty organizations from thirty European countries. In its fifth project phase (Joint Action 3), EUnetHTA set up a quality management system (QMS) to improve the efficiency and standardization of joint work. This article presents EUnetHTA's new QMS and outlines experiences and challenges during its implementation.

EUnetHTA information management system: development and lessons learned.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the techniques used in achieving consensus on common standards to be implemented in the EUnetHTA Information Management System (IMS); and to describe how interoperability between tools was explored.

Methods: Three face to face meetings were organized to identify and agree on common standards to the development of online tools. Two tools were created to demonstrate the added value of implementing interoperability standards at local levels.

Planned and ongoing projects (pop) database: development and results.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to present the development, structure and results of a database on planned and ongoing health technology assessment (HTA) projects (POP Database) in Europe.

Methods: The POP Database (POP DB) was set up in an iterative process from a basic Excel sheet to a multifunctional electronic online database. The functionalities, such as the search terminology, the procedures to fill and update the database, the access rules to enter the database, as well as the maintenance roles, were defined in a multistep participatory feedback loop with EUnetHTA Partners.

[Access reorganization to the scientifc resources for the Belgian health federal institutions: creation of VDIC and the Vesalius.be portal].

For several years, the Belgian federal civil servant has had insufficient access to the documentary resources in the field of the public health. A virtual structure gathering the collections of all of the federal resource centres and organizing the work of their teams was implemented in 2005: the Vesalius Documentation Information Centre (VDIC). A portal providing access to the scientific resources was officially launched in 2006.

Sezary syndrome cells unlike normal circulating T lymphocytes fail to migrate following engagement of NT1 receptor.

Circulating malignant Sezary cells are a clonal proliferation of CD4+CD45RO+ T lymphocytes primarily involving the skin. To study the biology of these malignant T lymphocytes, we tested their ability to migrate in chemotaxis assays. Previously, we had shown that the neuropeptide neurotensin (NT) binds to freshly isolated Sezary malignant cells and induces through NT1 receptors the cell migration of the cutaneous T cell lymphoma cell line Cou-L.

Behavioral, physiologic, and habitat influences on the dynamics of Puumala virus infection in bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus).

Populations of bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) were monitored during a 4-year study in southern Belgium to assess the influence of agonistic behavior, reproductive status, mobility, and distribution of the rodents on the dynamics of Puumala virus (abbreviation: PUUV; genus: Hantavirus) infection. Concordance was high between data from serologic testing and results of viral RNA detection. Wounds resulting from biting or scratching were observed mainly in adult rodents.

Functional characterization of neurotensin receptors in human cutaneous T cell lymphoma malignant lymphocytes.

Cutaneous T cell lymphomas are a clonal proliferation of CD4+ T lymphocytes primarily involving the skin. Mycosis fungoides is an epidermotropic CD4+ cutaneous T cell lymphoma, and a more aggressive form, Sezary syndrome, occurs when the malignant cells become nonepidermotropic. The role of neuropeptides in the growth and chemotaxis capacity of cutaneous T cell lymphoma cells remains unknown.

Genetic characterization of Puumala hantavirus strains from Belgium: evidence for a distinct phylogenetic lineage.

Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) sequences were recovered from red bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) trapped between 1996 and 1998 in four localities of southern Belgium: Thuin, Montbliart, Momignies and Couvin. In addition, three PUUV isolates originating from bank voles trapped in the 1980s in southern (Montbliart) and northern (Turnhout) Belgium were genetically characterized. Analysis of the complete S and partial M segment sequences showed that the Belgian PUUV strains constitute a genetic lineage, distinct from other known PUUV lineages from Europe and Japan.

Functional, biochemical and molecular biological evidence for a possible beta(3)-adrenoceptor in human near-term myometrium.

The possible existence of a beta(3)-adrenoceptor (beta(3)-AR) in human near-term myometrium was investigated by in vitro functional and biochemical studies and analysis of mRNA expression. SR 59119A and SR 59104A and CGP 12177 (two selective agonists and a partial agonist, respectively, of the beta(3)-AR), salbutamol and terbutaline (beta(2)-AR agonists) each produced a concentration-dependent relaxation of the myometrial spontaneous contractions. There were no differences in pD(2) values for the relaxing potencies of terbutaline, salbutamol, CGP 12177 and SR 59119A.

Inhibition by SR 59119A of isoprenaline-, forskolin- and VIP-induced relaxation of human isolated bronchi.

In the human isolated bronchus (HIB) it has been shown that beta(3)-adrenoceptor stimulation fails to induce relaxation of airway smooth muscle. It has however been reported in human ventricular endomyocardial biopsies that beta(3)-adrenoceptor stimulation induced a marked negative inotropic effect which could be linked to Gi protein activation. The aims of this study were: (1) to determine in HIB (internal diameter 1-2 mm) whether the selective beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonist SR 59119A (N[7-methoxy-1,2,3, 4-tetrahydronaphthalen-(2R)methyl]-(2R)-2-hydroxy-2-(3-chloroph eny l)e thanamine hydrochloride) was able to inhibit adenylate-cyclase-mediated airway smooth muscle relaxation induced by isoprenaline, forskolin or vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and (2) to investigate the role of the Gi protein in this interaction.

[Problem-based learning, description of a pedagogical method leading to evidence-based medicine].

Problem-Based Learning is an educational method which uses health care scenarios to provide a context for learning and to elaborate knowledge through discussion. Additional expectations are to stimulate critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and to develop clinical reasoning taking into account the patient's psychosocial environment and preferences, the economic requirements as well as the best evidence from biomedical research. Appearing at the end of the 60's, it has been adopted by 10% of medical schools world-wide.

Spatial and temporal dynamics of Puumala hantavirus infection in red bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) populations in Belgium.

Dynamics of hantavirus infection and population densities in rodents were investigated from 1996 to 1999 in southern Belgium. Evidence of Puumala infection was restricted to Clethrionomys glareolus. Although the serotype was not determined, antibodies against hantavirus were also found in eight Apodemus sylvaticus.

In vitro functional evidence of different neurotensin-receptors modulating the motor response of human colonic muscle strips.

1. The newly developed non-peptide neurotensin (NT)-receptor antagonists SR 48692 and SR 142948 were used to challenge NT responses of human colonic circular smooth muscle strips in vitro. The presence of NT1 and NT2 receptor transcripts in this tissue was tested by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT - PCR) analysis.

Construction of two ordered cDNA libraries enriched in genes encoding plasmalemma and tonoplast proteins from a high-efficiency expression library.

We constructed a high-efficiency expression library from Arabidopsis cDNA clones by introducing a poly (dC) stretch at the 5' end of the clones. This library enables the synthesis of proteins from all the cDNA clones present. We have screened the high-efficiency expression library with antibodies raised against total proteins from Arabidopsis plasmalemma and tonoplast.

Identification of TIAR as a protein binding to the translational regulatory AU-rich element of tumor necrosis factor alpha mRNA.

In monocyte/macrophages, the translation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) mRNA is tightly regulated. In unstimulated cells, translation of TNF-alpha mRNA is blocked. Upon stimulation with lipopolysaccharides, this repression is overcome, and the mRNA becomes efficiently translated.

Neurotensin is an antagonist of the human neurotensin NT2 receptor expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The human levocabastine-sensitive neurotensin NT2 receptor was cloned from a cortex cDNA library and stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in order to study its binding and signalling characteristics. The receptor binds neurotensin as well as several other ligands already described for neurotensin NT1 receptor. It also binds levocabastine, a histamine H1 receptor antagonist that is not recognised by neurotensin NT1 receptor.

Monoallelically expressed gene related to p53 at 1p36, a region frequently deleted in neuroblastoma and other human cancers.

We describe a gene encoding p73, a protein that shares considerable homology with the tumor suppressor p53. p73 maps to 1p36, a region frequently deleted in neuroblastoma and other tumors and thought to contain multiple tumor suppressor genes. Our analysis of neuroblastoma cell lines with 1p and p73 loss of heterozygosity failed to detect coding sequence mutations in remaining p73 alleles.

Emopamil-binding protein, a mammalian protein that binds a series of structurally diverse neuroprotective agents, exhibits delta8-delta7 sterol isomerase activity in yeast.

Delta8-delta7 sterol isomerase is an essential enzyme on the sterol biosynthesis pathway in eukaryotes. This endoplasmic reticulum-resident membrane protein catalyzes the conversion of delta8-sterols to their corresponding delta7-isomers. No sequence data for high eukaryote sterol isomerase being available so far, we have cloned a murine sterol isomerase-encoding cDNA by functional complementation of the corresponding deficiency in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Molecular cloning of a levocabastine-sensitive neurotensin binding site.

A search for sequences homologous to the neurotensin receptor cDNA in a rat hypothalamic library has identified a novel neurotensin receptor (NTR-2). The 1539 bp cDNA encodes a 416 amino acid protein and shows highest homology to the previously cloned neurotensin receptor (NTR-1) (64% homology and 43% identity). Binding and pharmacological studies demonstrate that NTR-2 expressed in COS cells recognizes neurotensin (NT) with high affinity as well as several other agonists and antagonists.

ORL1, a novel member of the opioid receptor family. Cloning, functional expression and localization.

Selective PCR amplification of human and mouse genomic DNAs with oligonucleotides encoding highly conserved regions of the delta-opioid and somatostatin receptors generated a human DNA probe (hOP01, 761 bp) and its murine counterpart (mOP86, 447 bp). hOP01 was used to screen a cDNA library from human brainstem. A clone (named hORL1) was isolated, sequenced and found to encode a protein of 370 amino acids whose primary structure displays the seven putative membrane-spanning domains of a G protein-coupled membrane receptor.

Primary structure and functional expression of mouse pituitary and human brain corticotrophin releasing factor receptors.

Corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) is the principal hypothalamic factor governing the pituitary-adrenal axis, but the wide extra-pituitary distribution of CRF and its receptors suggest a major role for this neuropeptide in the integration of the overall physiological and behavioral responses of an organism to stress. We have cloned a CRF receptor complementary DNA (cDNA) by expression in COS-7 cells of a cDNA library from the AtT20 mouse pituitary tumour cell line. The cloned mouse cDNA was then as a probe to isolate a human CRF receptor cDNA from a human brain cDNA library.

Molecular cloning of a human beta 3-adrenergic receptor cDNA.

We report the molecular cloning of a beta 3-adrenergic receptor [beta 3-AR] cDNA from human brown adipose tissue. The cDNA-encoded protein is identical to the previously cloned beta 3-AR but with 6 additional amino acids at the C-terminus. The C-terminus is shared by the beta 3 receptors expressed in human neuroblastoma cells [SK-N-MC] [Mol.