Nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Response among COVID-19 Patients Receiving Favipiravir.

We retrospectively studied nasopharyngeal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral load in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who were hospitalized between January 13 and April 1, 2020. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was conducted using primers and probes targeting the ORF1ab and N genes. All patients were classified in the following groups: Group 1: received favipiravir + chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine + lopinavir/ritonavir or darunavir/ritonavir for 5-10 days, Group 2: received chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine + lopinavir/ritonavir or darunavir/ritonavir for 5-10 days, and Group 3: no antiviral medication.

Prime-boost immunization of codon optimized HIV-1 CRF01_AE Gag in BCG with recombinant vaccinia virus elicits MHC class I and II immune responses in mice.

The HIV-1 CRF01_AE gag gene was modified by codon restriction for Mycobacterium spp. and transformed into BCG; and it was designated as rBCG/codon optimized gagE. This produced 11 fold higher HIV-1 gag protein expression than the recombinant native gene rBCG/HIV-1gagE.

Enhancement of cell-mediated immune response in mice by whole HIV-1 gag in Mycobacterium bovis BCG as a live vaccine candidate.

In this study, we employed a recombinant Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) harboring whole HIV-1 CRF01_AE gag DNA as a candidate vaccine to investigate specific cell-mediated immunity in BALB/c mice. Construction of the stable expression recombinant BCG was achieved by demonstrating by Western blot detection of protein of approximately 55 kDa. By a single injection of 0.

Prime-boost vaccination using recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG and recombinant vaccinia virus DIs harboring HIV-1 CRF01_AE gag in mice: influence of immunization routes.

We have previously reported that live vector-based HIV-1 gag vaccine candidate using BCG as a vector was achievable in BALB/c mice. Although the gag-specific CTL induced by this live candidate vaccine is significantly high, persistence of CTL remains unclear. Thus, efforts were made to explore the potential of recombinant Vaccinia virus DIs strain harboring the same HIV-1 CRF01_AE gag gene (rVaccinia/ HIV-1gagE) present in the BCG construct, using different immunization routes.

Identification of clinical isolates of Leptospira spp by pulsed field gel-electrophoresis and microscopic agglutination test.

Twenty-five clinical isolates of Leptospira spp were characterized by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and pulsed field gel-electrophoresis (PFGE) in comparison with 23 reference Leptospira serovars and with the saprophytic L. biflexa serovar Patoc. PFGE DNA profiling was more specific and reliable than MAT.

Specific immune response and pathological findings in BALB/c mice inoculated with recombinant BCG expressing HIV-1 antigen.

Recombinant BCGs (rBCGs) containing extrachromosomal plasmids with different HIV-1 insert sequences: nef, env (V3J1 and E9Q), gag p17 or whole gag p55 were evaluated for their immunogenicity, safety and persistent infection in BALB/c mice. Animal injected with, rBCG-plJKV3J1, rBCG-pSO gag p17 or rBCG-pSO gag p55 could elicit lymphocyte proliferation as tested by specific HIV-1 peptides or protein antigen. Inoculation with various concentration of rBCG-pSO gag p55 generated satisfactory specific lymphocyte proliferation in dose escalation trials.

Mortality analysis of HIV-1 infected patients for prioritizing antiretroviral drug therapy.

Mortality data of patients, classified according to their clinical status and CD4+ cell count status, would be very useful to guide clinicians to prioritizing patients who need antiretroviral drug therapy. In the current study, the authors re-analyzed data derived from a previously published retrospective study of HIV-1-infected individuals at Lampang Hospital in northern Thailand. According to the Cox proportional hazard model, compared to asymptomatic patients with a high CD4+ cell count (> 200 cell/microl), the mortality rate of asymptomatic patients with a medium CD4+ cell count (100-199 cell/microl) did not significantly differ.

Determination of HIV type 1 CRF01_AE gag p17 and env-V3 consensus sequences for HIV/AIDS vaccine design.

A molecular epidemiological study of the gag p17 and env-V3 regions on HIV-infected drug users and blood donors was carried out in northern Thailand from 1998 through 2002 to determine the predominant subtype and consensus sequence (CS) for circulating HIV-1 strains. CRF01_AE was concluded to be a predominant strain and the nucleotide CSs in gag p17 and env-V3 showed only 1.26% and no difference from CS in the Los Alamos database, respectively.

Lymphocyte and NK cell subpopulations in HIV seronegative Thais.

Lymphocyte subpopulations, i.e. T, B and natural killer (NK) cells including NK cell subsets which express CD16 molecules (with or without co-expression of CD56 molecules) and NK cell subsets which express CD56 molecules (with or without co-expression of CD16 molecules) were enumerated by two color-flow cytometry in a total of 125 HIV seronegative Thai adults.

Survival benefit from non-highly active antiretroviral therapy in a resource-constrained setting.

Mortality rates among HIV-1-infected patients attending a government hospital in northern Thailand were investigated to evaluate the effect of antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapy on mortality. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data and history of ARV drug therapy were collected from all HIV-1-infected adult patients who attended the Day Care Center clinic from October 2, 1995 through October 31, 1999. The survival status of patients until October 31, 1999 was ascertained from the hospital records, mailing letters, and death certificates at the Provincial Health Office.

Characteristic of HIV-1 in V3 loop region based on seroreactivity and amino acid sequences in Thailand.

The third variable (V3) domain of the envelop (env) protein has been used for determining genetic subtype and phenotypic characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolates. Based on the seroreactivity of the HIV-1 subtype by V3 peptide binding enzyme immunoassay (EIA) of 351 samples obtained in 1998 from HIV-1 infected individuals and AIDS patients, we found that 283 (80.6%) were subtype E, 20 (5.

Genetic variations of human herpesvirus 7 by analysis of glycoproteins B and H, and R2-repeat regions.

Clinical isolates of human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) from the saliva of healthy individual were investigated for genetic variations in the regions of two immediate-early (IE) genes, the glycoprotein B (gB) and glycoprotein H (gH) genes, and in R2-repeat. The genomic DNA of 24 isolates from citizens of Thailand, Japan, and the United States was amplified to detect size variations in the IE-1 and IE-2 loci, but none was observed, suggesting that there was no deletion or insertion in these genes, in contrast with an IE gene of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6). The sequences of the gB gene from isolates acquired from 5 Japanese and 8 Thai subject were then compared with those of American strains JI and RK with respect to codons that are known to differentiate gB alleles.