Virulence Profiles of Wild-Type, P.1 and Delta SARS-CoV-2 Variants in K18-hACE2 Transgenic Mice.

Since December 2019, the world has been experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and we now face the emergence of several variants. We aimed to assess the differences between the wild-type (Wt) (Wuhan) strain and the P.1 (Gamma) and Delta variants using infected K18-hACE2 mice.

Long-term effect of uncomplicated Plasmodium berghei ANKA malaria on memory and anxiety-like behaviour in C57BL/6 mice.

Background: Cerebral malaria, the main complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection in humans, is associated with persistent neurocognitive sequels both in human disease and the murine experimental model. In recent years, cognitive deficits related to uncomplicated (non-cerebral) malaria have also been reported in chronically exposed residents of endemic areas, but not in some murine experimental models of non-cerebral malaria. This study aimed at evaluating the influence of uncomplicated malaria on different behavioural paradigms associated with memory and anxiety-like parameters in a murine model that has the ability to develop cerebral malaria.

Sera of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus react with plasmodial antigens and can inhibit the in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum.

The acquisition of protective immunity in malaria is a slow process during which autoantibodies are produced. The present work aimed at studying a possible interference of autoimmune responses on malaria immune protection. This was done by investigating the presence of autoantibodies in the sera of malarious patients, by searching for reactivity of autoantibodies from autoimmune patients against plasmodial antigens, and by studying the effect of such antibodies on the in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum.

Severe anemia affects both splenectomized and non-splenectomized Plasmodium falciparum-infected Aotus infulatus monkeys.

Severe anemia is the earliest and a frequently fatal complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection. Here we describe Aotus infulatus as a primate model suitable to study this malaria complication. Both non-splenectomized and splenectomized monkeys receiving different inocula of P.