Parasitic infections during pregnancy in Gabon affect glycosylation patterns of maternal and child antibodies.

Antibody glycosylation patterns can affect antibody functionality and thereby contribute to protection against invading pathogens. During pregnancy, maternal antibodies can be transferred through the placenta and contribute to modulating both the mother's and her child's immune responses. Although several studies of IgG glycosylation during pregnancy have been carried out, very few cohorts studied were from sub-Saharan Africa, where exposure to microorganisms and parasites is high.

Beyond buzzwords: fostering interdisciplinary and collaborative global health research in Germany and beyond.

Background: Germany has increased its political and financial commitment for global health, but this needs to be backed by a robust global health research ecosystem with strong partnerships in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Objective: This article suggests pathways for empowering researchers to operate beyond their disciplinary silos and strengthen partnerships across sectors and countries. The authors identify barriers and enablers of operations from a nascent research network in Germany, trusting that this experience can inform other initiatives seeking to stoke interdisciplinary and collaborative global health research.

A multiantigenic Orf virus-based vaccine efficiently protects hamsters and nonhuman primates against SARS-CoV-2.

Among the common strategies to design next-generation COVID-19 vaccines is broadening the antigenic repertoire thereby aiming to increase efficacy against emerging variants of concern (VoC). This study describes a new Orf virus-based vector (ORFV) platform to design a multiantigenic vaccine targeting SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid antigens. Vaccine candidates were engineered, either expressing spike protein (ORFV-S) alone or co-expressing nucleocapsid protein (ORFV-S/N).

Impact of helminth infections during pregnancy on maternal and newborn Vitamin D and on birth outcomes.

Poor birth outcomes in low- and middle income countries are associated with maternal vitamin D deficiency and chronic helminth infections. Here, we investigated whether maternal Schistosoma haematobium affects maternal or cord vitamin D status as well as birth outcomes. In a prospective cross-sectional study of pregnant women conducted in Lambaréné, Gabon, we diagnosed maternal parasitic infections in blood, urine and stool.

Immune responses associated with protection induced by chemoattenuated PfSPZ vaccine in malaria-naive Europeans.

Vaccination of malaria-naive volunteers with a high dose of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites chemoattenuated by chloroquine (CQ) (PfSPZ-CVac [CQ]) has previously demonstrated full protection against controlled human malaria infection (CHMI). However, lower doses of PfSPZ-CVac [CQ] resulted in incomplete protection. This provides the opportunity to understand the immune mechanisms needed for better vaccine-induced protection by comparing individuals who were protected with those not protected.

Safety and efficacy of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnant women with HIV from Gabon and Mozambique: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: The cornerstone of malaria prevention in pregnancy, intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, is contraindicated in women with HIV who are receiving co-trimoxazole prophylaxis. We assessed whether IPTp with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is safe and effective in reducing the risk of malaria infection in women with HIV receiving co-trimoxazole prophylaxis and antiretroviral drugs.

Methods: For this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, women with HIV attending the first antenatal care clinic visit, resident in the study area, and with a gestational age up to 28 weeks were enrolled at five sites in Gabon and Mozambique.

The exception that proves the rule: Virulence gene expression at the onset of Plasmodium falciparum blood stage infections.

Controlled human malaria infections (CHMI) are a valuable tool to study parasite gene expression in vivo under defined conditions. In previous studies, virulence gene expression was analyzed in samples from volunteers infected with the Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) NF54 isolate, which is of African origin. Here, we provide an in-depth investigation of parasite virulence gene expression in malaria-naïve European volunteers undergoing CHMI with the genetically distinct Pf 7G8 clone, originating in Brazil.

Prevalence and impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on maternal and infant health in African populations: protocol of a multicentre prospective cohort study (MA-CoV project).

Introduction: Pregnant women are currently considered a vulnerable population to SARS-CoV-2 infection, with increased risk of severe COVID-19, preterm birth and maternal mortality. There is, however, a paucity of data on the burden of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in sub-Saharan countries. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and health effects of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in selected sites from Gabon and Mozambique.

First-in-human use of a modular capsid virus-like vaccine platform: an open-label, non-randomised, phase 1 clinical trial of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine ABNCoV2.

Background: Capsid virus-like particles (cVLP) have proven safe and immunogenic and can be a versatile platform to counter pandemics. We aimed to clinically test a modular cVLP COVID-19 vaccine in individuals who were naive to SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: In this phase 1, single-centre, dose-escalation, adjuvant-selection, open-label clinical trial, we recruited participants at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and sequentially assigned them to seven groups.

The IgG glycome of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals reflects disease course and severity.

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies play an important role in the immune response against viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. As the effector functions of IgG are modulated by -glycosylation of the Fc region, the structure and possible function of the IgG -glycome has been under investigation in relation to divergent COVID-19 disease courses. Through LC-MS analysis we studied both total IgG1 and spike protein-specific IgG1 Fc glycosylation of 129 German and 163 Brazilian COVID-19 patients representing diverse patient populations.

Stabilized recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen enhances vaccine immunogenicity and protective capacity.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein is synthesized as a large precursor protein and must be activated by proteolytic cleavage into S1 and S2. A recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) expressing native, full-length S protein (MVA-SARS-2-S) is currently under investigation as a candidate vaccine in phase I clinical studies. Initial results from immunogenicity monitoring revealed induction of S-specific antibodies binding to S2, but low-level antibody responses to the S1 domain.

Humoral antimalaria immune response in Nigerian children exposed to helminth and malaria parasites.

Background: Malaria and helminthic parasites are endemic in tropical countries, and co-infections might influence host-parasite interactions. In this community-based cross-sectional study, the effect that the presence of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) (Hookworm, and could have on the immunoglobulin (Ig) candidate protein of the malaria vaccine GMZ2 levels was evaluated.

Methods: Blood, stool, and urine samples were collected from 5-15-year-old children to diagnose (Pf), STH, and , respectively.

A PfSPZ vaccine immunization regimen equally protective against homologous and heterologous controlled human malaria infection.

Immunization with radiation-attenuated Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) sporozoites (SPZ) in PfSPZ Vaccine, has provided better vaccine efficacy (VE) against controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) with the same parasites as in the vaccine (homologous) than with genetically distant parasites (heterologous). We sought to identify an immunization regimen that provided similar VE against CHMI with homologous and heterologous Pf for at least 9 weeks in malaria-naïve adults. Such a regimen was identified in part 1 (optimization), an open label study, and confirmed in part 2 (verification), a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in which VE was assessed by cross-over repeat CHMI with homologous (PfNF54) and heterologous (Pf7G8) PfSPZ at 3 and 9-10 weeks.

Cellular and antibody response in GMZ2-vaccinated Gabonese volunteers in a controlled human malaria infection trial.

Background: Antibody and cellular memory responses following vaccination are important measures of immunogenicity. These immune markers were quantified in the framework of a vaccine trial investigating the malaria vaccine candidate GMZ2.

Methods: Fifty Gabonese adults were vaccinated with two formulations (aluminum Alhydrogel and CAF01) of GMZ2 or a control vaccine (Verorab).

Efficacy, T cell activation and antibody responses in accelerated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite chemoprophylaxis vaccine regimens.

Repeated direct venous inoculation of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ) together with antimalarial chemoprophylaxis (PfSPZ-CVac) is the most potent way to induce sterile immunity against P. falciparum infection in malaria-naive volunteers. However, established schedules are complex and long.

Maternal mortality due to valvular heart disease: a population-based study in Turkey.

Background/aim: To assess the clinical and demographic features of maternal mortality cases among patients with cardiac valvular diseases between 2012 and 2019.

Methods: Maternal mortality due to valvular heart disease between January 2012 and December 2019 in Turkey was retrospectively analyzed. The cases were classified according to New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification based on the severity of the heart disease.

SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies Are Persisting in Saliva for More Than 15 Months After Infection and Become Strongly Boosted After Vaccination.

SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in saliva serve as first line of defense against the virus. They are present in the mucosa, more precisely in saliva, after a recovered infection and also following vaccination. We report here the antibody persistence in plasma and in saliva up to 15 months after mild COVID-19.

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in HIV-infected pregnant women: protocol of a multicentre, two-arm, randomised, placebo-controlled, superiority clinical trial (MAMAH project).

Introduction: Malaria infection during pregnancy is an important driver of maternal and neonatal health especially among HIV-infected women. Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine is recommended for malaria prevention in HIV-uninfected women, but it is contraindicated in those HIV-infected on cotrimoxazole prophylaxis (CTXp) due to potential adverse effects. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PPQ) has been shown to improve antimalarial protection, constituting a promising IPTp candidate.

Longitudinal monitoring of laboratory markers characterizes hospitalized and ambulatory COVID-19 patients.

Early detection of severe forms of COVID-19 is absolutely essential for timely triage of patients. We longitudinally followed-up two well-characterized patient groups, hospitalized moderate to severe (n = 26), and ambulatory mild COVID-19 patients (n = 16) at home quarantine. Human D-dimer, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, cardiac troponin I, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were measured on day 1, day 7, day 14 and day 28.

Exploratory analysis of the effect of helminth infection on the immunogenicity and efficacy of the asexual blood-stage malaria vaccine candidate GMZ2.

Background: Helminths can modulate the host immune response to Plasmodium falciparum and can therefore affect the risk of clinical malaria. We assessed here the effect of helminth infections on both the immunogenicity and efficacy of the GMZ2 malaria vaccine candidate, a recombinant protein consisting of conserved domains of GLURP and MSP3, two asexual blood-stage antigens of P. falciparum.