BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine elicits robust virus-specific antibodies but poor cross-protective CD8 memory T cell responses in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Background: COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have demonstrated 95 % efficacy in the general population. However, their immunogenicity in adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), who exhibit weaken immune responses, remains insufficiently explored.

Methods: Longitudinal analysis of innate immune responses following PRR-agonists and BNT162b2 vaccine stimulations, along with S-specific antibody responses, memory T cell recall responses, and RNA-sequencing were assessed in eight T1D adolescents and 16 healthy controls at six different timepoints.

Comparative evaluation of sensititre YeastOne and VITEK2 antifungal susceptibility tests with CLSI broth microdilution method of clinical isolates in Taiwan.

Unlabelled: Commercial antifungal susceptibility tests were available for clinical yeast isolates. However, the updated Sensititre YeastOne (SYO) version YO10C excluded species for susceptibility testing. Uncorrelation of antifungal susceptibility patterns by SYO and therapeutic outcomes had been recently reported.

Potential effectiveness of parenteral nemonoxacin in the treatment of infections: , , and mouse studies.

Introduction: Antimicrobial therapy plays a crucial role in the management of CDI patients. However, the standard agent for treating CDIs is limited to oral fidaxomicin or vancomycin. For patients made nil by mouth, there is a clinically urgent and essential need to develop an intravenous antibiotic.

Haemolysin Ahh1 secreted from Aeromonas dhakensis activates the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages and mediates severe soft tissue infection.

Severe soft tissue infections caused by Aeromonas dhakensis, such as necrotizing fasciitis or cellulitis, are prevalent in southern Taiwan and around the world. However, the mechanism by which A. dhakensis causes tissue damage remains unclear.

Phage transcriptional regulator X (PtrX)-mediated augmentation of toxin production and virulence in Clostridioides difficile strain R20291.

Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, and spore-forming bacterial member of the human gut microbiome. The primary virulence factors of C. difficile are toxin A and toxin B.

Novel metal peroxide nanoboxes restrain infection beyond the bactericidal and sporicidal activity.

spores are considered as the major source responsible for the development of . infection (CDI), which is associated with an increased risk of death in patients and has become an important issue in infection control of nosocomial infections. Current treatment against CDI still relies on antibiotics, which also damage normal flora and increase the risk of CDI recurrence.

Phosphate burden induces vascular calcification through a NLRP3-caspase-1-mediated pyroptotic pathway.

Aims: The aim of this study is to clarify the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in phosphate burden-induced vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification.

Main Methods: VSMC calcification was induced using a high concentration of inorganic phosphate. After pharmacological inhibition or genetic silencing of the NLRP3 inflammasome, pyroptosis, or potassium efflux, the cells were examined by RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence, and western blotting to identify the NLRP3-mediated pathway for VSMC calcification.

Age and prior vaccination determine the antibody level in children with primary SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection.

Background: Protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection relies on immunity generated after primary infection. However, humoral immunity following primary infection with the Omicron variant is not well understood.

Methods: We prospectively recruited children <19 years with virologically-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection at National Cheng Kung University Hospital from February 2022 to September 2022 during the first wave of Omicron BA.

RopB-regulated SpeB cysteine protease degrades extracellular vesicles-associated streptolysin O and bacterial proteins from group A .

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can be released from gram-positive bacteria and would participate in the delivery of bacterial toxins. (group A , GAS) is one of the most common pathogens of monomicrobial necrotizing fasciitis. Spontaneous inactivating mutation in the CovR/CovS two-component regulatory system is related to the increase of EVs production via an unknown mechanism.

NSUN2 is a glucose sensor suppressing cGAS/STING to maintain tumorigenesis and immunotherapy resistance.

Glucose metabolism is known to orchestrate oncogenesis. Whether glucose serves as a signaling molecule directly regulating oncoprotein activity for tumorigenesis remains elusive. Here, we report that glucose is a cofactor binding to methyltransferase NSUN2 at amino acid 1-28 to promote NSUN2 oligomerization and activation.

The composition of the maternal breastmilk microbiota influences the microbiota network structure during early infancy.

Background/purpose(s): Human breastmilk (BM) is important for microbiome maturation in infants across different body sites. Streptococcus and Staphylococcus are considered universally predominant genera in the BM microbiota. However, whether the differential abundance of Streptococcus and Staphylococcus in BM can differentially affect microbiome maturation in infants remains unclear.

Pre-existing humoral immunity and CD4 T cell response correlate with cross-reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants after heterologous prime-boost vaccination.

Background: Information regarding the heterologous prime-boost COVID vaccination has been fully elucidated. The study aimed to evaluate both humoral, cellular immunity and cross-reactivity against variants after heterologous vaccination.

Methods: We recruited healthcare workers previously primed with Oxford/AstraZeneca ChAdOx1-S vaccines and boosted with Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine boost to evaluate the immunological response.

Inguinal Fat Compensates Whole Body Metabolic Functionality in Partially Lipodystrophic Mice with Reduced PPARγ Expression.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) gene mutations in humans and mice lead to whole-body insulin resistance and partial lipodystrophy. It is unclear whether preserved fat depots in partial lipodystrophy are beneficial for whole-body metabolic homeostasis. We analyzed the insulin response and expression of metabolic genes in the preserved fat depots of mice, a familial partial lipodystrophy type 3 (FPLD3) mouse model resulting from a 75% decrease in transcripts.

NLRP3 inflammasome activation, metabolic danger signals, and protein binding partners.

The NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is an oligomeric complex that assembles in response to exogenous signals of pathogen infection and endogenous danger signals of non-microbial origin. When NLRP3 inflammasome assembly activates caspase-1, it promotes the maturation and release of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1B and IL-18. Aberrant activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome has been implicated in various diseases, including chronic inflammatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases.

Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Nucleotide-Binding Domain Leucine-Rich Repeat Protein 1 with Colonization or Infection.

Introduction: Nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat protein (NLRP) is critical in the inflammasome-activation pathway, which is important for host survival and the clearance of . Therefore, the influence of NLRP1 polymorphisms on colonization (CdC) or infection (CDI) was analyzed.

Materials And Methods: A prospective cohort study consisted of hospitalized adults was conducted from January 2011 to January 2013.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ as the gatekeeper of tight junction in infection.

is a major causative pathogen of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea and severe colitis. Despite the use of vancomycin and fidaxomicin as standard drugs for the treatment of infection (CDI), clinical relapse rates remain high. Therefore, new alternative therapeutics to treat CDI are urgently required.

Risk Factors and Clinical Impact of Carbapenem-Resistant Coinfections Among Hospitalized Patients with Infection.

Introduction: The risk factors and clinical impact of carbapenem-resistant (CRE) coinfection among hospitalized patients with infection (CDI) were analyzed in this study.

Materials And Methods: A clinical study was performed at the medical wards of Tainan Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare in southern Taiwan. Patients with CDI between January 2013 and April 2020 were included.

Akt: a key transducer in cancer.

Growth factor signaling plays a pivotal role in diverse biological functions, such as cell growth, apoptosis, senescence, and migration and its deregulation has been linked to various human diseases. Akt kinase is a central player transmitting extracellular clues to various cellular compartments, in turn executing these biological processes. Since the discovery of Akt three decades ago, the tremendous progress towards identifying its upstream regulators and downstream effectors and its roles in cancer has been made, offering novel paradigms and therapeutic strategies for targeting human diseases and cancers with deregulated Akt activation.

Impacts of Corticosteroid Therapy at Acute Stage of Hospital-Onset Infections.

Introduction: The influence of corticosteroid therapy before or after the onset of infections (CDIs) on the clinical outcomes of adults with hospital-onset CDIs was investigated.

Materials And Methods: A clinical study was conducted on the medical wards of a teaching hospital between January 2013 and April 2020. Adults (aged ≥ 20 years) with hospital-onset CDIs (ie, symptom onset at least 48 hours after hospitalization) were included.

Postnatal Dexamethasone Therapy Impairs Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis and Autophagy Flux in Neonatal Rat Pups.

Very preterm infants may require dexamethasone (Dex) for facilitating extubation or treating bronchopulmonary dysplasia. However, Dex may result in disturbance of metabolisms. This study was to investigate the effects of postnatal short course Dex exposure on brown adipose tissue (BAT) in neonatal rats.

Reappraisal of the clinical role of metronidazole therapy for Clostridioides difficile infection in Taiwan: A multicenter prospective study.

Background/purpose: Although metronidazole is not recommended to treat Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in Western countries, it was still to be recommended for the treatment of non-severe CDI among Taiwanese adults in 2020. This controversy in the clinical role of metronidazole therapy for CDI was examined in a prospective clinical study.

Methods: The study was conducted from January 2015 to December 2016 in three hospitals in Taiwan.