Rift Valley Fever Virus Primes Immune Responses in Cells.

The ongoing global emergence of arthropod-borne (arbo) viruses has accelerated research into the interactions of these viruses with the immune systems of their vectors. Only limited information exists on how bunyaviruses, such as Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), are sensed by mosquito immunity or escape detection. RVFV is a zoonotic phlebovirus (Bunyavirales; ) of veterinary and human public health and economic importance.

Epidemics of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Sudan between 2010 and 2020.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic arboviral disease that poses a great threat to global health in the Old World, and it is endemic in Europe, Asia, and Africa, including Sudan. In this retrospective study, we reviewed previous epidemiological reports about the major epidemics of CCHF throughout Sudan between 2010 and 2020. During these epidemics, the infection of humans with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), the causative agent of CCHF, was diagnosed using qRT-PCR.

Differential cytokine expression in direct and indirect co-culture of islets and mesenchymal stromal cells.

Background: Transplantation of allogenic Langerhans islets (ISL) has been employed as an alternative to pancreas transplantation to provide endogenous supply of insulin and treat hypoglycemia unawareness in type 1 diabetes. Nevertheless, the process of islets isolation exposes the islets to hypoxia and other aggressive conditions that results in the recover of less than half of the islets present in the pancreas. Several studies demonstrated that co-culturing islets with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) before implantation enhances islets survival and function and this effect is mediated by cytokines.

Surgical Morbidity and Lung Function Changes After Laser-Assisted Pulmonary Metastasectomy: A Prospective Bicentric Study.

The surgical resection of pulmonary metastases is associated with a survival benefit in selected patients. The use of laser devices for pulmonary metastasectomy (PM) is believed to facilitate the complete resection of metastases while preserving a maximum of healthy parenchyma. This is a prospective study to evaluate surgical outcome including the changes of lung function after laser-assisted surgery (LAS).

First report of epidemic dengue fever and malaria co-infections among internally displaced persons in humanitarian camps of North Darfur, Sudan.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate an outbreak of a non-malaria, undifferentiated febrile illness, among internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in humanitarian camps in North Darfur, Sudan, in 2019.

Methods: An investigation team was deployed to North Darfur to identify suspected cases and collect blood samples, and clinical and demographical data. Blood samples were examined microscopically for Plasmodium spp and tested for dengue (DENV) and yellow fever viruses by reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

A COVID-19 vaccine candidate using SpyCatcher multimerization of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain induces potent neutralising antibody responses.

There is need for effective and affordable vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 to tackle the ongoing pandemic. In this study, we describe a protein nanoparticle vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine is based on the display of coronavirus spike glycoprotein receptor-binding domain (RBD) on a synthetic virus-like particle (VLP) platform, SpyCatcher003-mi3, using SpyTag/SpyCatcher technology.

The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein has a broad tropism for mammalian ACE2 proteins.

SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in late 2019, leading to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that continues to cause significant global mortality in human populations. Given its sequence similarity to SARS-CoV, as well as related coronaviruses circulating in bats, SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have originated in Chiroptera species in China. However, whether the virus spread directly to humans or through an intermediate host is currently unclear, as is the potential for this virus to infect companion animals, livestock, and wildlife that could act as viral reservoirs.

Unique Outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Sudan, 2019.

We report a unique outbreak of Rift Valley fever in the Eldamar area, Sudan, May-July 2019, that resulted in 1,129 case-patients and 19 (1.7%) deaths. Patients exhibited clinical signs including fever (100%), headache (79%), and bleeding (4%).

Evaluation of the immunogenicity of prime-boost vaccination with the replication-deficient viral vectored COVID-19 vaccine candidate ChAdOx1 nCoV-19.

Clinical development of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, a replication-deficient simian adenoviral vector expressing the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein was initiated in April 2020 following non-human primate studies using a single immunisation. Here, we compared the immunogenicity of one or two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in both mice and pigs. Whilst a single dose induced antigen-specific antibody and T cells responses, a booster immunisation enhanced antibody responses, particularly in pigs, with a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 neutralising titres.

Identification and RNAi Profile of a Novel Iflavirus Infecting Senegalese Mosquitoes.

The inland floodwater mosquito (Meigen, 1830) is a competent vector of numerous arthropod-borne viruses such as Rift Valley fever virus () and Zika virus (). spp. have widespread Afrotropical distribution and are common European cosmopolitan mosquitoes.

The Aedes aegypti Domino Ortholog p400 Regulates Antiviral Exogenous Small Interfering RNA Pathway Activity and Expression.

Arboviruses are pathogens of humans and animals. A better understanding of the interactions between these pathogens and the arthropod vectors, such as mosquitoes, that transmit them is necessary to develop novel control measures. A major antiviral pathway in the mosquito vector is the exogenous small interfering RNA (exo-siRNA) pathway, which is induced by arbovirus-derived double-stranded RNA in infected cells.

Slums, Space, and State of Health-A Link between Settlement Morphology and Health Data.

Approximately 1 billion slum dwellers worldwide are exposed to increased health risks due to their spatial environment. Recent studies have therefore called for the spatial environment to be introduced as a separate dimension in medical studies. Hence, this study investigates how and on which spatial scale relationships between the settlement morphology and the health status of the inhabitants can be identified.

Risks and Challenges of Arboviral Diseases in Sudan: The Urgent Need for Actions.

The risk of emergence and/or re-emergence of arthropod-borne viral (arboviral) infections is rapidly growing worldwide, particularly in Africa. The burden of arboviral infections and diseases is not well scrutinized because of the inefficient surveillance systems in endemic countries. Furthermore, the health systems are fully occupied by the burden of other co-existing febrile illnesses, especially malaria.

Use of an Outbred Rat Hepacivirus Challenge Model for Design and Evaluation of Efficacy of Different Immunization Strategies for Hepatitis C Virus.

Background And Aims: The lack of immunocompetent small animal models for hepatitis C virus (HCV) has greatly hindered the development of effective vaccines. Using rodent hepacivirus (RHV), a homolog of HCV that shares many characteristics of HCV infection, we report the development and application of an RHV outbred rat model for HCV vaccine development.

Approach And Results: Simian adenovirus (ChAdOx1) encoding a genetic immune enhancer (truncated shark class II invariant chain) fused to the nonstructural (NS) proteins NS3-NS5B from RHV (ChAd-NS) was used to vaccinate Sprague-Dawley rats, resulting in high levels of cluster of differentiation 8-positive (CD8 ) T-cell responses.

The role of ZAP and OAS3/RNAseL pathways in the attenuation of an RNA virus with elevated frequencies of CpG and UpA dinucleotides.

Zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is a powerful restriction factor for viruses with elevated CpG dinucleotide frequencies. We report that ZAP similarly mediates antiviral restriction against echovirus 7 (E7) mutants with elevated frequencies of UpA dinucleotides. Attenuation of both CpG- and UpA-high viruses and replicon mutants was reversed in ZAP k/o cell lines, and restored by plasmid-derived reconstitution of expression in k/o cells.

Spindle-E Acts Antivirally Against Alphaviruses in Mosquito Cells.

Mosquitoes transmit several human- and animal-pathogenic alphaviruses ( family). In alphavirus-infected mosquito cells two different types of virus-specific small RNAs are produced as part of the RNA interference response: short-interfering (si)RNAs and PIWI-interacting (pi)RNAs. The siRNA pathway is generally thought to be the main antiviral pathway.

Mutational analysis of Rift Valley fever phlebovirus nucleocapsid protein indicates novel conserved, functional amino acids.

Rift Valley fever phlebovirus (RVFV; Phenuiviridae, Phlebovirus) is an important mosquito-borne pathogen of both humans and ruminants. The RVFV genome is composed of tripartite, single stranded, negative or ambisense RNAs. The small (S) segment encodes both the nucleocapsid protein (N) and the non-structural protein (NSs).

The Diabetic Foot as a Proxy for Cardiovascular Events and Mortality Review.

Purpose Of Review: This article reviewed very recent papers (2016) discussing or bringing clinical evidences of the possible common pathways leading to diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) and increased mortality rates.

Recent Findings: Diabetic patients with diabetic foot syndrome have a mortality rate greater than twofold when compared with non-ulcerated diabetics. In addition, the 5-year mortality rate following amputation is estimated at 39-68%, a life expectancy comparable to aggressive types of cancer or advanced congestive heart failure.

CpG and UpA dinucleotides in both coding and non-coding regions of echovirus 7 inhibit replication initiation post-entry.

Most vertebrate and plant RNA and small DNA viruses suppress genomic CpG and UpA dinucleotide frequencies, apparently mimicking host mRNA composition. Artificially increasing CpG/UpA dinucleotides attenuates viruses through an entirely unknown mechanism. Using the echovirus 7 (E7) model in several cell types, we show that the restriction in E7 replication in mutants with increased CpG/UpA dinucleotides occurred immediately after viral entry, with incoming virions failing to form replication complexes.

The Antiviral RNAi Response in Vector and Non-vector Cells against Orthobunyaviruses.

Background: Vector arthropods control arbovirus replication and spread through antiviral innate immune responses including RNA interference (RNAi) pathways. Arbovirus infections have been shown to induce the exogenous small interfering RNA (siRNA) and Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathways, but direct antiviral activity by these host responses in mosquito cells has only been demonstrated against a limited number of positive-strand RNA arboviruses. For bunyaviruses in general, the relative contribution of small RNA pathways in antiviral defences is unknown.

Local Concentrations of CC-Chemokine-Ligand 18 Correlate with Tumor Size in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and Are Elevated in Lymph Node-positive Disease.

Background: The tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in tumor growth and spreading. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) make up a large proportion of the tumor mass and are one of the main producers of CC-chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18), which is believed to carry out important functions in the immunological interactions that promote tumor progression.

Materials And Methods: Cytokines/chemokines were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from the tumor site and serum before and after resection in patients with proven non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Dengue in Java, Indonesia: Relevance of Mosquito Indices as Risk Predictors.

Background: No vaccine is currently available for dengue virus (DENV), therefore control programmes usually focus on managing mosquito vector populations. Entomological surveys provide the most common means of characterising vector populations and predicting the risk of local dengue virus transmission. Despite Indonesia being a country strongly affected by DENV, only limited information is available on the local factors affecting DENV transmission and the suitability of available survey methods for assessing risk.