Tick-Borne Pathogens Associated with Medically Important Ticks in Alabama: A Four-Year Survey.

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) represent a significant threat to human health in the United States. Based on reported cases of notifiable TBDs to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the state of Alabama is no exception, yet previously there has been no active surveillance program in place to comprehensively assess the presence and prevalence of tick vectors and their associated TBD pathogens in Alabama. Here we summarize initial findings from a 4-year survey to address this unmet need.

A Trans-Agency Workshop on the Pathophysiology of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury.

Research and development of medical countermeasures (MCMs) for radiation-induced lung injury relies on the availability of animal models with well-characterized pathophysiology, allowing effective bridging to humans. To develop useful animal models, it is important to understand the clinical condition, advantages and limitations of individual models, and how to properly apply these models to demonstrate MCM efficacy. On March 20, 2019, a meeting sponsored by the Radiation and Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP) within the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) brought together medical, scientific and regulatory communities, including academic and industry subject matter experts, and government stakeholders from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), to identify critical research gaps, discuss current clinical practices for various forms of pulmonary damage, and consider available animal models for radiation-induced lung injury.

Evaluation of DNA-Launched Virus-Like Particle Vaccines in an Immune Competent Mouse Model of Chikungunya Virus Infection.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection can result in chronic and debilitating arthralgia affecting humans in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, yet there are no licensed vaccines to prevent infection. DNA launched virus like particle (VLP) vaccines represent a potentially safer alternative to traditional live-attenuated vaccines; however, fully characterized immunocompetent mouse models which appropriately include both male and female animals for preclinical evaluation of these, and other, vaccine platforms are lacking. Utilizing virus stocks engineered to express mutations reported to enhance CHIKV virulence in mice, infection of male and female immunocompetent mice was evaluated, and the resulting model utilized to assess the efficacy of candidate DNA launched CHIKV VLP vaccines.

AR12 (OSU-03012) suppresses GRP78 expression and inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication.

AR12 is a derivative of celecoxib which no-longer acts against COX2 but instead inhibits the ATPase activity of multiple chaperone proteins, in particular GRP78. GRP78 acts as a sensor of endoplasmic reticulum stress and is an essential chaperone required for the life cycle of all mammalian viruses. We and others previously demonstrated in vitro and in vivo that AR12 increases autophagosome formation and autophagic flux, enhances virus protein degradation, preventing virus reproduction, and prolonging the survival of infected animals.

Pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir phosphate and oseltamivir carboxylate in non-pregnant and pregnant rhesus monkeys.

Oseltamivir is an antiviral drug approved to treat influenza in humans. Although the dosing regimen of this drug is well established for non-pregnant patients, it is not clear if the significant physiological alterations associated with pregnancy affect the pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir and, thus, warrant different dosing regimens to assure efficacy. In this study, we investigated the suitability of rhesus macaques as an animal model for studying oseltamivir pharmacokinetics during all trimesters of pregnancy in comparison to pre-pregnant conditions.

Immune response to recombinant Burkholderia pseudomallei FliC.

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a flagellated Gram-negative bacterium which is the causative agent of melioidosis. The disease poses a major public health problem in tropical regions and diabetes is a major risk factor. The high mortality rate of melioidosis is associated with severe sepsis which involves the overwhelming production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Revised structures for the predominant O-polysaccharides expressed by Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei.

O-Polysaccharides (OPS) were isolated from purified Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei lipopolysaccharides by mild-acid hydrolysis and gel-permeation chromatography. 1-D and 2-D (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy experiments revealed that the OPS antigens were unbranched heteropolymers with the following structures: Collectively, our results demonstrate that the predominant OPS antigens expressed by B. pseudomallei and B.

Development of capsular polysaccharide-based glycoconjugates for immunization against melioidosis and glanders.

Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei, the etiologic agents of melioidosis and glanders, respectively, cause severe disease in humans and animals and are considered potential agents of biological warfare and terrorism. Diagnosis and treatment of infections caused by these pathogens can be challenging and, in the absence of chemotherapeutic intervention, acute disease is frequently fatal. At present, there are no human or veterinary vaccines available for immunization against these emerging/re-emerging infectious diseases.

Rickettsia prowazekii uses an sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and a novel dihydroxyacetone phosphate transport system to supply triose phosphate for phospholipid biosynthesis.

Rickettsia prowazekii is an obligate intracellular pathogen that possesses a small genome and a highly refined repertoire of biochemical pathways compared to those of free-living bacteria. Here we describe a novel biochemical pathway that relies on rickettsial transport of host cytosolic dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and its subsequent conversion to sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) for synthesis of phospholipids. This rickettsial pathway compensates for the evolutionary loss of rickettsial glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, the typical endogenous source of G3P.

Development of a validation algorithm for 'present on admission' flagging.

Background: The use of routine hospital data for understanding patterns of adverse outcomes has been limited in the past by the fact that pre-existing and post-admission conditions have been indistinguishable. The use of a 'Present on Admission' (or POA) indicator to distinguish pre-existing or co-morbid conditions from those arising during the episode of care has been advocated in the US for many years as a tool to support quality assurance activities and improve the accuracy of risk adjustment methodologies. The USA, Australia and Canada now all assign a flag to indicate the timing of onset of diagnoses.

A classification of hospital-acquired diagnoses for use with routine hospital data.

Objective: To develop a tool to allow Australian hospitals to monitor the range of hospital-acquired diagnoses coded in routine data in support of quality improvement efforts.

Design And Setting: Secondary analysis of abstracted inpatient records for all episodes in acute care hospitals in Victoria for the financial year 2005-06 (n=2.032 million) to develop a classification system for hospital-acquired diagnoses; each record contains up to 40 diagnosis fields coded with the ICD-10-AM (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, Australian modification).

Amoxicillin for postexposure inhalational anthrax in pediatrics: rationale for dosing recommendations.

We reviewed information about the safety and plasma pharmacokinetic data for amoxicillin, specifically related to its potential use for postexposure inhalational anthrax. Amoxicillin (45 mg/kg/d) given orally in 3 divided doses to pediatric patients <40 kg should yield an adequate time above the MIC for susceptible Bacillus anthracis (< or =0.5 microg/mL) over most of the dosing interval (75-100%).

Improving pediatric dosing through pediatric initiatives: what we have learned.

Objective: The goal was to review the impact of pediatric drug studies, as measured by the improvement in pediatric dosing and other pertinent information captured in the drug labeling.

Methods: We reviewed the pediatric studies for 108 products submitted (July 1998 through October 2005) in response to a Food and Drug Administration written request for pediatric studies, and the subsequent labeling changes. We analyzed the dosing modifications and focused on drug clearance as an important parameter influencing pediatric dosing.

FDA perspective on antivirals against biothreats: communicate early and often.

Development of antiviral products for certain highly pathogenic viruses with limited available treatments, such as viruses that may have biothreat potential, is critically important and challenging. The mission of the FDA is to protect the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and quality of such products. Human clinical trials are critically important whenever relevant naturally occurring diseases can appropriately be studied.

Peer-reviewed publication of clinical trials completed for pediatric exclusivity.

Context: Much of pediatric drug use is off-label because appropriate pediatric studies have not been conducted and the drugs have not been labeled by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in children. In 1997, Congress authorized the FDA to grant extensions of marketing rights known as "pediatric exclusivity" if FDA-requested pediatric trials were conducted. As a result, there have been over 100 product labeling changes.

Child and adolescent psychopharmacology in the new millennium: a workshop for academia, industry, and government.

Objective: To give academic researchers, government officials, and industry scientists an opportunity to assess the state of pediatric psychopharmacology and identify challenges facing professionals in the field.

Method: Increased federal spending and the introduction of pediatric exclusivity led to large increases in pediatric psychopharmacology research in the 1990s. Despite the increase in research, concerns exist about methods and incentives for making new medications available for use in pediatric psychiatric disorders.

Cysteine-scanning mutagenesis and thiol modification of the Rickettsia prowazekii ATP/ADP translocase: characterization of TMs IV-VII and IX-XII and their accessibility to the aqueous translocation pathway.

We have determined the accessibility of the Rickettsia prowazekii ATP/ADP translocase transmembrane domains (TMs) IV-VII and IX-XII to the putative, water-filled ATP translocation pathway. A library of 177 independent mutants, each with a single cysteine substitution, was expressed in Escherichia coli, and those with substantial ATP transport activity were assayed for inhibition by thiol-reactive, methanethiosulfonate (MTS) reagents. The MTS reagents used were MTSES (negatively charged), MTSET (positively charged), and MTSEA (amphipathic).

"Black box" 101: How the Food and Drug Administration evaluates, communicates, and manages drug benefit/risk.

A prominently displayed boxed warning, the so-called "black box," is added to the labeling of drugs or drug products by the Food and Drug Administration when serious adverse reactions or special problems occur, particularly those that may lead to death or serious injury. Healthcare providers are often not knowledgeable about the origin, meaning, and implications of these "black box" warnings. In this review, our goal is to provide insight into how the Food and Drug Administration evaluates, communicates, and manages drug benefit/risk.

Stability, dose uniformity, and palatability of three counterterrorism drugs-human subject and electronic tongue studies.

Purpose: These studies evaluated the ability of common household food and drink products to mask the bitter taste of three selected anti-terrorism drugs.

Methods: Three anti-terrorism drugs (doxycycline, ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, and potassium iodide) were mixed with a variety of common household food and drinks, and healthy adult volunteers evaluated the resulting taste and aftertaste. In parallel, the ASTREE Electronic Tongue was used to evaluate taste combinations.

Cysteine-scanning mutagenesis and thiol modification of the Rickettsia prowazekii ATP/ADP translocase: evidence that transmembrane regions I and II, but not III, are structural components of the aqueous translocation channel.

The contribution of transmembrane regions I, II, and III of the Rickettsia prowazekii ATP/ADP translocase to the structure of the putative water-filled ATP translocation channel was evaluated from the accessibility of hydrophilic, thiol-reactive, methanethiosulfonate reagents to a library of 68 independent cysteine-substitution mutants heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. The MTS reagents used were MTSES (negatively charged) and MTSET and MTSEA (both positively charged). Mutants F036C, Y042C, and R046C (TM I), K066C and P072C (TM II), and F101C, F105C, F108C, Y113C, and P114C (TM III) had no assayable transport activity, indicating that cysteine substitution at these positions may not be tolerated.