Unlabelled: Neutralizing antibody titers and binding antibody levels are considered correlates of protection against severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. The clinical utility of serology should be reevaluated in light of the emergence of escape variants, as commercial antibody-binding assays have not been adapted to the virus' antigenic evolution. We compared anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers in four quantitative serological tests based on variable ancestral spike antigens (three in-house ELISAs and the prototype VIDAS SARS-CoV-2 IgG QUANT assay) and neutralization assays against the pseudotyped Wuhan, BA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn medicine, virological diagnosis is mainly based on the detection of the viral genome and antigens, or on the identification of specific antibodies produced in response to infection. These strategies are suitable for characterizing an active infection or past contact with an already known virus. The recent development of tests for evaluating the host's cellular immune response opens new perspectives for personalized patient care based on immunomonitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA breadth of preclinical studies now support the rationale of pluripotent stem cell-derived cell replacement therapies to alleviate motor symptoms in Parkinsonian patients. Replacement of the primary dysfunctional cell population in the disease, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLoss of endothelial integrity and vascular leakage are central features of sepsis pathogenesis; however, no effective therapeutic mechanisms for preserving endothelial integrity are available. Here we show that, compared to dermal microvessels, brain microvessels resist infection by Neisseria meningitidis, a bacterial pathogen that causes sepsis and meningitis. By comparing the transcriptional responses to infection in dermal and brain endothelial cells, we identified angiopoietin-like 4 as a key factor produced by the brain endothelium that preserves blood-brain barrier integrity during bacterial sepsis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) bone and joint infections (BJIs) are uncommon. We evaluated the characteristics of BJIs and identified differences according to immune status.
Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective study in France involving patients with documented NTM BJI over a 9-year period.
Kinetoplastids are unicellular eukaryotic flagellated parasites found in a wide range of hosts within the animal and plant kingdoms. They are known to be responsible in humans for African sleeping sickness (Trypanosoma brucei), Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi), and various forms of leishmaniasis (Leishmania spp.), as well as several animal diseases with important economic impact (African trypanosomes, including Trypanosoma congolense).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal coastal areas are at risk due to geomorphological issues, climate change-induced sea-level rise, and increasing human population, settlements, and socioeconomic activities. Here, the study examines the vulnerability of the West African (WA) coast using six satellite-derived geophysical variables and two key socioeconomic parameters as indicators of coastal vulnerability index (CVI). These geophysical and socioeconomic variables are integrated to develop a CVI for the WA coast.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough uncommon, Epstein-Barr virus-related neurological disorders represent the seventh most frequent cause of infectious encephalitis in adults. The limited number of publications on EBV encephalitis mainly document isolated clinical cases. This study aimed to summarize published data on EBV encephalitis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPediatr Infect Dis J
September 2023
A 3-year-old male originating from Djibouti presented with a cervical mass evolving for 2 months. Tuberculous lymphadenopathy was suspected based on biopsy results, and he improved quickly on standard antituberculous quadritherapy. Subsequently some features of the mycobacterium that grew in culture were unusual.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic Procurement refers to governments' purchasing activities of goods, services, and construction of public works. In the European Union (EU), it is an essential sector, corresponding to 15% of the GDP. EU public procurement generates large amounts of data, because award notices related to contracts exceeding a predefined threshold must be published on the TED (EU's official journal).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic virus infecting more than 95% of the world's population. After primary infection-responsible for infectious mononucleosis in young adults-the virus persists lifelong in the infected host, especially in memory B cells. Viral persistence is usually without clinical consequences, although it can lead to EBV-associated cancers such as lymphoma or carcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Removal of circulating plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by the liver relies on efficient endocytosis and intracellular vesicle trafficking. Increasing the availability of hepatic LDL receptors (LDLRs) remains a major clinical target for reducing LDL-C levels. Here, we describe a novel role for RNF130 (ring finger containing protein 130) in regulating plasma membrane availability of LDLR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) rarely causes severe disease, even in solid organ transplant recipients. This paper describes a fatal case of HSV-2 infection, probably transmitted from a donor to a kidney transplant recipient. The donor was seropositive for HSV-2 but not for HSV-1, whereas the recipient was seronegative for both viruses before transplantation, suggesting that the graft was the source of infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor more than two years after the emergence of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019), significant regional differences in morbidity persist. These differences clearly show lower incidence rates in several regions of the African and Asian continents. The work reported here aimed to test the hypothesis of a pre-pandemic natural immunity acquired by some human populations in central and western Africa, which would, therefore, pose the hypothesis of an original antigenic sin with a virus antigenically close to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSerological markers for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection are commonly used to diagnose infectious mononucleosis and establish a serological status in pretransplant patients. This study prospectively assessed 1043 serum specimens sent to the laboratory for physician-ordered EBV testing. The three markers-antiviral capsid antigen (VCA) immunoglobulin M (IgM), anti-VCA immunoglobulin G (IgG), and anti-Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA) antibodies-were tested using the Elecsys and the Liaison immunoassays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReal-time PCR plays a key role in the diagnosis of viral infections. Multiple kits can detect or quantify genomes of various viruses with the same thermocycling program. Detection of RNA viruses includes an additional step of reverse transcription and challenge their detection in a single run with DNA viruses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ZEBRA (Z EBV replication activator) protein is the major transcription factor of EBV, expressed upon EBV lytic cycle activation. An increasing body of studies have highlighted the critical role of EBV lytic infection as a risk factor for lymphoproliferative disorders, such as post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). We studied 108 transplanted patients (17 PTLD and 91 controls), retrospectively selected from different hospitals in France and in the Netherlands.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirologie (Montrouge)
May 2022
For the past three years, the nature and evolution of human viruses have been taught in University Grenoble-Alpes without relying on the systematic list of all virus families. A «historical» approach allows to define three main categories of viruses following if they have co-evolved with humans for a very long time (ancient human viruses), if they began to infect humans in the Neolithic or later (recent human viruses) or if they are still animal viruses that are transmitted to humans sporadically (zoonotic viruses). We present below the principles and some examples of this pedagogic separation which has not the pretention to replace the classical taxonomic classification based on morphological and sequence similarity (ICTV classification) or on the form and replication mode of the viral genome (Baltimore classification).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The quality of medical care depends on effective physician-patient communication. Interpersonal skills can be improved through teaching, but the determinants are poorly understood. We therefore assessed the factors associated with the interpersonal skills of medical students during simulated medical consultations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnteric viruses are widely spread in water environments, some being harmful for human communities. Regular epidemics highlight the usefulness of analysing such viruses in wastewaters as a tool for epidemiologists to monitor the extent of their dissemination among populations. In this context, CNovel™ Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) was chosen for its high porosity and high adsorption capacity to investigate sorbent ability to be used as part of of virus detection probes.
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