Publications by authors named "P HEIDT"

Article Synopsis
  • The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the need for deeper research into immune responses for better treatments and vaccines.
  • A study screened over 60,000 asymptomatic people in the Southeastern U.S., finding about 3% had positive IgG antibodies against the viral Spike protein, with higher levels linked to better inhibition of ACE2 binding.
  • Compared to asymptomatic individuals, SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic patients showed lower antibody responses and less effective inhibition of ACE2, suggesting that healthy individuals can generate strong immune responses without showing symptoms.
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Bloodstream infections and graft-versus-host disease are common complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) procedures, associated with the gut microbiota that acts as a reservoir for opportunistic pathogens. Selective gut decontamination (SGD) and total gut decontamination (TGD) during HSCT have been associated with a decreased risk of developing these complications after transplantation. However, because studies have shown conflicting results, the use of these treatments remains subject of debate.

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Endometriosis is a poorly understood common debilitating women's reproductive disorder resulting from proliferative and ectopic endometrial tissue associated with variable clinical symptoms including dysmenorrhea (painful menstrual periods), dyspareunia (pain on intercourse), female infertility, and an increased risk of malignant transformation. The rhesus macaque () develops a spontaneous endometriosis that is very similar to that seen in women. We hypothesized that specific major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles may contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

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M.bovis BCG vaccination against tuberculosis (TB) notoriously displays variable protective efficacy in different human populations. In non-human primate studies using rhesus macaques, despite efforts to standardise the model, we have also observed variable efficacy of BCG upon subsequent experimental M.

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Nuclear warfare at the end of World War II inspired Dick W. van Bekkum to study total-body irradiation (TBI) in animal models. After high-dose TBI, mice died from "primary disease" or bone marrow (BM) aplasia.

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