Using a population-based, representative telephone survey, ~930 000 New York City residents had COVID-19 illness beginning 20 March-30 April 2020, a period with limited testing. For every 1000 persons estimated with COVID-19 illness, 141.8 were tested and reported as cases, 36.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Public Health
February 2021
Objectives: Congenital portosystemic shunt (CPSS) in a growth-restricted fetus may lead to cardiac overload and ultimately hemodynamic imbalance. The aim of the study was to describe the application of tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) for surveillance of cardiac function in growth-restricted fetuses diagnosed with CPSS.
Methods: The study group consisted of 7 fetuses with growth restriction diagnosed with CPSS between 2018 and 2020.
Common laboratory mice such as BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice are not permissive to SARS-CoV2 infection. Sensitization of laboratory mice with Adenovirus expressing human ACE2 (Ad5-hACE2) provides a rapid model for testing viral intervention Despite the lack of lethal outcome, Ad5-hACE2-sensitized mice show 20% weight loss on average upon viral challenge with infectious virus being detected at the site of sensitization. This protocol describes the sensitization and subsequent infection of common laboratory mice for use in testing anti-viral interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To assess the prenatal growth pattern of the normal kidney contralateral to a multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK).
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in a single referral center over 4 years. Cases diagnosed prenatally as MCDK and confirmed postnatally constituted the study group.
Studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected patients and experimentally infected animals indicate a critical role for augmented expression of proinflammatory chemokines and cytokines in severe disease. Here, we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 infection of human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) and monocyte-derived dendritic cells was abortive, but induced the production of multiple antiviral and proinflammatory cytokines (interferon-α, interferon-β, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukins 1β, 6, and 10) and a chemokine (CXCL10). Despite the lack of efficient replication in MDMs, SARS-CoV-2 induced profound interferon-mediated cell death of host cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObligate symbioses involving intracellular bacteria have transformed eukaryotic life, from providing aerobic respiration and photosynthesis to enabling colonization of previously inaccessible niches, such as feeding on xylem and phloem, and surviving in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. A major challenge in the study of obligate symbioses is to understand how they arise. Because the best studied obligate symbioses are ancient, it is especially challenging to identify early or intermediate stages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: In this study we investigate the disease etiology in 12 patients with de novo variants in FAR1 all resulting in an amino acid change at position 480 (p.Arg480Cys/His/Leu).
Methods: Following next-generation sequencing and clinical phenotyping, functional characterization was performed in patients' fibroblasts using FAR1 enzyme analysis, FAR1 immunoblotting/immunofluorescence, and lipidomics.
Unlabelled: Combating the COVID-19 pandemic requires potent and low-cost therapeutics. We identified a novel series of single-domain antibodies (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause morbidity and mortality. Since SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the cause for COVID-19, some have questioned whether exposure to seasonal common cold coronaviruses (CCCs) could provide tangible protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection or disease. In this issue of the JCI, Sagar et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Disorders affecting adrenal steroidogenesis promote an imbalance in the normally tightly controlled secretion of mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, and androgens. This may lead to differences/disorders of sex development in the fetus, as seen in virilized girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Despite the important endocrine function of human fetal adrenals, neither normal nor dysregulated adrenal steroidogenesis is understood in detail.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSRX246 is a vasopressin (AVP) 1a receptor antagonist that crosses the blood-brain barrier. It reduced impulsive aggression, fear, depression and anxiety in animal models, blocked the actions of intranasal AVP on aggression/fear circuits in an experimental medicine fMRI study and demonstrated excellent safety in Phase 1 multiple-ascending dose clinical trials. The present study was a 3-arm, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, 12-week, dose escalation study of SRX246 in early symptomatic Huntington's disease (HD) patients with irritability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe vast individual differences in the developmental origins of risk and resilience pathways combined with sophisticated capabilities of big data science increasingly point to the imperative of large, neurodevelopmental consortia to capture population heterogeneity and key variations in developmental trajectories. At the same time, such large-scale population-based designs involving multiple independent sites also must weigh competing demands. For example, the need for efficient, scalable assessment strategies must be balanced with the need for nuanced, developmentally sensitive phenotyping optimized for linkage to neural mechanisms and specification of common and distinct exposure pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Although much has been learned in the first few months of the pandemic, many features of COVID-19 pathogenesis remain to be determined. For example, anosmia is a common presentation, and many patients with anosmia show no or only minor respiratory symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFβ-Coronaviruses are a family of positive-strand enveloped RNA viruses that includes the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Much is known regarding their cellular entry and replication pathways, but their mode of egress remains uncertain. Using imaging methodologies and virus-specific reporters, we demonstrate that β-coronaviruses utilize lysosomal trafficking for egress rather than the biosynthetic secretory pathway more commonly used by other enveloped viruses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes a highly lethal pneumonia that emerged in 2012. There is limited information on MERS-CoV pathogenesis, as data from patients are scarce and the generation of animal models reproducing MERS clinical manifestations has been challenging. Human dipeptidyl peptidase 4 knock-in (hDPP4-KI) mice and a mouse-adapted MERS-CoV strain (MERS-6-1-2) were recently described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman coronaviruses (hCoVs) cause severe respiratory illness in the elderly. Age-related impairments in innate immunity and suboptimal virus-specific T cell and antibody responses are believed to cause severe disease upon respiratory virus infections. This phenomenon has recently received increased attention, as elderly patients are at substantially elevated risk for severe COVID-19 disease and experience increased rates of mortality following SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with younger populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Friedreich ataxia (FA) is a progressive genetic neurodegenerative disorder with no approved treatment. Omaveloxolone, an Nrf2 activator, improves mitochondrial function, restores redox balance, and reduces inflammation in models of FA. We investigated the safety and efficacy of omaveloxolone in patients with FA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPoly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) superfamily members covalently link either a single ADP-ribose (ADPR) or a chain of ADPR units to proteins using NAD as the source of ADPR. Although the well-known poly(ADP-ribosylating) (PARylating) PARPs primarily function in the DNA damage response, many noncanonical mono(ADP-ribosylating) (MARylating) PARPs are associated with cellular antiviral responses. We recently demonstrated robust up-regulation of several PARPs following infection with murine hepatitis virus (MHV), a model coronavirus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurotherapeutics
October 2020
While rehabilitation therapies always help patients with ataxia, there are currently no FDA-approved treatments for ataxia. Medications are available to treat symptoms that may complicate an ataxic illness, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBi-allelic loss-of-function variants in genes that encode subunits of the adaptor protein complex 4 (AP-4) lead to prototypical yet poorly understood forms of childhood-onset and complex hereditary spastic paraplegia: SPG47 (AP4B1), SPG50 (AP4M1), SPG51 (AP4E1) and SPG52 (AP4S1). Here, we report a detailed cross-sectional analysis of clinical, imaging and molecular data of 156 patients from 101 families. Enrolled patients were of diverse ethnic backgrounds and covered a wide age range (1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the aetiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an emerging respiratory infection caused by the introduction of a novel coronavirus into humans late in 2019 (first detected in Hubei province, China). As of 18 September 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has spread to 215 countries, has infected more than 30 million people and has caused more than 950,000 deaths. As humans do not have pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2, there is an urgent need to develop therapeutic agents and vaccines to mitigate the current pandemic and to prevent the re-emergence of COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Aplasia and hypoplasia of the major salivary glands, particularly the parotid glands, were reported to be associated with trisomy 21. This study aimed to evaluate the value of first-trimester nonvisualization of the parotid gland in a high-risk population of fetuses with increased nuchal translucency (NT).
Methods: A single-center prospective observational cohort study was conducted.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2020
Microglia are considered both pathogenic and protective during recovery from demyelination, but their precise role remains ill defined. Here, using an inhibitor of colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R), PLX5622, and mice infected with a neurotropic coronavirus (mouse hepatitis virus [MHV], strain JHMV), we show that depletion of microglia during the time of JHMV clearance resulted in impaired myelin repair and prolonged clinical disease without affecting the kinetics of virus clearance. Microglia were required only during the early stages of remyelination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF