The large Hellenic Study of Uveitis: epidemiology, etiologic factors and classification.

Purpose: To analyse the demography, etiology, and classification of uveitis at a tertiary academic referral center.

Methods: An observational study was conducted on the archives of uveitic patients at the Ocular Inflammation Service of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital of Ioannina (Greece) from 1991 to 2020. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological profile of patients, including their demographics and the main etiologic factors of uveitis.

The Large Hellenic Study of Uveitis: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Algorithms, Complications, and Final Outcome.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present the diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms, complications, and final outcome in the management of uveitic patients at a tertiary academic referral center.

Design: Observational study.

Methods: Analysis of the archives of 6191 uveitic patients at the Ocular Inflammation Service of the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital of Ioannina in Greece from 1991 to 2020.

Spirochetal uveitis: Spectrum of clinical manifestations, diagnostic and therapeutic approach, final outcome and epidemiological data.

Purpose: Analysis of cases with spirochetal uveitis related to spirochetes in a tertiary referral academic center.

Methods: Retrospective study of patients diagnosed with uveitis attributed to Treponema pallidum, Leptospira spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi from June 1991 until December 2019.

Evaluating Infectious, Neoplastic, Immunological, and Degenerative Diseases of the Central Nervous System with Cerebrospinal Fluid-Based Next-Generation Sequencing.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear and paucicellular fluid that circulates within the ventricular system and the subarachnoid space of the central nervous system (CNS), and diverse CNS disorders can impact its composition, volume, and flow. As conventional CSF testing suffers from suboptimal sensitivity, this review aimed to evaluate the role of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the work-up of infectious, neoplastic, neuroimmunological, and neurodegenerative CNS diseases. Metagenomic NGS showed improved sensitivity-compared to traditional methods-to detect bacterial, viral, parasitic, and fungal infections, while the overall performance was maximized in some studies when all diagnostic modalities were used.

Survives the Treatment of Posttraumatic Cellulitis in the Shelter of an Obscured Fish-Bone Fragment.

Fish bone and/or spine puncture injuries can result in infection of the upper extremities with aquatic bacterial pathogens. Additionally, in such injuries, the inoculation of foreign organic material is frequent and may further complicate the clinical presentation and course of the resulting infection. We describe the case of a 45-year-old female patient with a minimal fish rostrum puncture trauma acquired during preparation of fresh fish meal, which resulted in a galloping hand cellulitis.

Nutritional Status and the Influence of the Vegan Diet on the Gut Microbiota and Human Health.

The human gut microbiota is considered a well-known complex ecosystem composed of distinct microbial populations, playing a significant role in most aspects of human health and wellness. Several factors such as infant transitions, dietary habits, age, consumption of probiotics and prebiotics, use of antibiotics, intestinal comorbidities, and even metabolic diseases may continously alter microbiota diversity and function. The study of vegan diet-microbiota interactions is a rapidly evolving field, since plenty of research has been focused on the potential effects of plant-based dietary patterns on the human gut microbiota.

WarmStart colorimetric LAMP for the specific and rapid detection of HPV16 and HPV18 DNA.

Background And Objectives: Persistent infection with High-Risk HPV genotypes is the principal cause for the development of cervical cancer with HPV16 and HPV18 to be the most frequently identified HPV genotypes observed in approximately 70% of cervical cancer cases worldwide. The present study focused on the development of a simple molecular methodology based on WarmStart colorimetric LAMP for the specific identification of HPV16 and HPV18.

Methods: The method was developed by designing LAMP type-specific primer sets that target the E6 gene.

Polymorphic variability in the exon 19 of the RB1 gene and its flanking intronic sequences in HPV16-associated precancerous lesions in the Greek population.

Purpose: The tumour suppressor protein RB plays a decisive role in negative control of the cell cycle, inhibiting tumour development. The present analysis investigated the prevalence of the nucleotide polymorphism A153104G, which is located at intron 18 of the RB1 gene, and investigated the impact of the polymorphic variability in the exon 19 and its flanking intronic sequences on the severity of cervical disease in HPV16-positive Greek women.

Methodology: The nucleotide polymorphism A153104G was detected by PCR-RFLP assay, while the amplicons were further subjected to cloning and sequencing.

Detection of negative and positive RNA strand of poliovirus Sabin 1 and echovirus E19 by a stem-loop reverse transcription PCR.

Unlabelled: In this report a strand specific RT-PCR was established for the detection of the replicative negative RNA strand of poliovirus sabin 1 (Sabin1) and Echovirus 19 (E19) strains. The key for the successful conduction of the assay was the use of a specific reverse transcription primer targeting the 5'-UTR of enteroviruses that consisted of a stem-loop structure at the 5'-end and an enteroviral-specific sequence at the 3'-end. The stem loop RT-PCR was found to be an accurate and sensitive method, detecting even 10 CCID of poliovirus sabin 1 (Sabin1) and E19 strains 6 h postinfection (p.

Extent of coronary artery disease in patients undergoing angiography for stable or acute coronary syndromes.

Background: We aimed to investigate whether the angiographic extent of coronary artery disease (CAD) differs in patients undergoing coronary angiography for stable CAD or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and identify predictors of CAD extent in these patients.

Methods: We enrolled 584 consecutive patients (463 with stable CAD, 121 with ACS) with angiographically established CAD (≥1 stenosis >25%). The Gensini score was used to assess the extent of coronary atherosclerosis.

Tuberculous Posterior Sclero-Uveitis with Features of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Uveitis: An Unusual Case.

BACKGROUND Ocular tuberculosis (TB) is a clinical entity that presents with a wide range of clinical manifestations. It is regarded as an extremely challenging condition from the point of view of diagnostic approach and calls for early diagnosis and prompt treatment, as it can potentially lead to blindness. CASE REPORT This is a case report of a 32-year-old male from southern India who has been living and working in Greece over the last 10 years and presented with 2-week history of pain and progressive visual impairment of his left eye.

Molecular approaches for HPV genotyping and HPV-DNA physical status.

Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes is the leading cause of cervical cancer development. To this end several studies have focused on designing molecular assays for HPV genotyping, which are considered as the gold standard for the early diagnosis of HPV infection. Moreover, the tendency of HPV DNA to be integrated into the host chromosome is a determining event for cervical oncogenesis.

Serum Neutralization Assay for the Determination of Antibody Levels Against Non-Polio Enterovirus Strains in Central and Western Greece.

Mutations and recombination events have been identified in enteroviruses. Point mutations accumulate with a frequency of 6.3 × 10(-4) per base pair per replication cycle affecting the fitness, the circulation, and the infectivity of enteroviral strains.

Causality evaluation of bacterial species isolated from patients with community-acquired lower leg cellulitis.

Introduction: Lower leg cellulitis is a diffuse inflammation of the cutaneous connective tissue following invasion of microorganisms and with potential to recur. The causative agent is not routinely identified in clinical practice, and the empirical therapy initiated primarily targets the 'conventional' disease pathogens, Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus.

Objective: To evaluate at case level, the role of bacterial species isolated from lesional skin in the pathogenesis of community-acquired lower leg cellulitis.

Development of a multiplex RT-PCR assay for the identification of recombination types at different genomic regions of vaccine-derived polioviruses.

Polioviruses (PVs) are the causal agents of acute paralytic poliomyelitis. Since the 1960s, poliomyelitis has been effectively controlled by the use of two vaccines containing all three serotypes of PVs, the inactivated poliovirus vaccine and the live attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Despite the success of OPV in polio eradication programme, a significant disadvantage was revealed: the emergence of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP).

Laboratory diagnosis of human visceral leishmaniasis.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by the Leishmania donovani complex, is a vector-borne systemic disease, with a worldwide distribution causing high morbidity and mortality in the developing world. VL patients may be asymptomatic or they may present symptoms and findings of a systemic infection. The positive predictive value of clinical diagnosis in patients with typical symptoms is usually high, but more often, the signs and symptoms are inconclusive and mistaken with other co-endemic diseases.

Molecular epidemiology and evolutionary dynamics of Echovirus 3 serotype.

Echovirus 3 (E3) serotype has been related with several neurologic diseases, although it constitutes one of the rarely isolated serotypes, with no report of epidemics in Europe. The aim of the present study was to provide insights into the molecular epidemiology and evolution of this enterovirus serotype, while an E3 strain was isolated from sewage in Greece, four years after the initial isolation of the only reported E3 strain in the same geographical region. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete VP1 genomic region of that E3 strain and of those available in GenBank suggested three main genogroups that were further subdivided into seven subgenogroups.

Value of adding an IGRA to the TST to screen for latent tuberculous infection in Greek health care workers.

Setting: Ioannina University Hospital, Ioannina, Greece.

Objective: To evaluate the value of adding an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) to the tuberculin skin test (TST) for detecting latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) in a Greek university hospital among health care workers (HCWs) predominantly vaccinated with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG).

Design: Of 788 HCWs enrolled, 68.

Characterization of novel intergenogroup and intergenotype recombinant noroviruses from central Greece.

Noroviruses (NoVs) are a major causative agent of acute gastroenteritis in humans. They are members of the Caliciviridae family and based on the genetic analysis of the RdRp and capsid regions, human NoVs are divided into three genogroups (Gs), GI, GII, and GIV. The three genogroups further segregate into distinct lineages called genotypes.

The Balkan region: NDM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae ST11 clonal strain causing outbreaks in Greece.

Objectives: Despite the fact that the NDM-1 carbapenemase has successfully disseminated worldwide, outbreaks remain uncommon in the European region. We describe the characteristics of the first outbreaks caused by NDM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae clonal isolates in Greece.

Methods: Between January 2010 and June 2013, 132 non-repetitive carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates, which gave a positive modified Hodge test and were phenotypically suspected of metallo-β-lactamase production, were recovered from patients hospitalized at Ioannina University Hospital.

PCR assays for the identification of rare recombination types from VP1 to 3D genomic region of vaccine derived poliovirus strains.

Poliomyelitis has been effectively controlled by the use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) or trivalent live attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Since 1964, the use of OPV in mass vaccinations has resulted in drastic reductions of the number of poliomyelitis cases caused by wild-type polioviruses. However, the characterization of OPV derivatives with increased neurovirulence, constituted a real problem with respect to OPV safety.

Circulation of intergenotype recombinant noroviruses GII.9/GII.6 from 2006 to 2011 in central Greece.

Noroviruses (NoVs) are members of the Caliciviridae family and are recognized as a worldwide cause of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis. Based on the genetic analysis of the RdRp and capsid regions, human NoVs are divided into three genogroups (Gs), GI, GII, and GIV, which further segregate into distinct lineages called genotypes. In this study, in an attempt to discern the circulation of an intergenotypic recombinant GII.

Combined 5' UTR RFLP analysis and VP1 sequencing for epidemic investigation of enteroviruses.

Enteroviruses, the main cause of aseptic meningitis, consist of 100 serotypes, and many of them have been associated with large outbreaks. In the present study, a comparison of RFLP analysis of the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) and sequencing of both the 5'UTR and VP1 regions was conducted for epidemiological linkage of 27 clinical enterovirus strains. The clinical enterovirus strains were clustered into five restriction profile groups.