This work aimed to study the role of different SARS-CoV-2 lineages in the epidemiology of multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo state), with comparison within Brazil and globally. Viral genomic sequencing was combined with clinical and sociodemographic information of 2,379 subjects at a large Brazilian hospital. On the whole 2,395 complete SARS-CoV-2 genomes were obtained from April 2020 to January 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPorcine circovirus type 2d (PCV2d) is becoming the predominant PCV genotype and considerably affects the global pig industry. Nevertheless, currently, no commercial PCV2d vaccine is available. Preventing and controlling the disease caused by PCV2d is therefore based on other genotype-based vaccines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn outbreak of over 1,000 COVID-19 cases in Provincetown, Massachusetts (MA), in July 2021-the first large outbreak mostly in vaccinated individuals in the US-prompted a comprehensive public health response, motivating changes to national masking recommendations and raising questions about infection and transmission among vaccinated individuals. To address these questions, we combined viral genomic and epidemiological data from 467 individuals, including 40% of outbreak-associated cases. The Delta variant accounted for 99% of cases in this dataset; it was introduced from at least 40 sources, but 83% of cases derived from a single source, likely through transmission across multiple settings over a short time rather than a single event.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple summer events, including large indoor gatherings, in Provincetown, Massachusetts (MA), in July 2021 contributed to an outbreak of over one thousand COVID-19 cases among residents and visitors. Most cases were fully vaccinated, many of whom were also symptomatic, prompting a comprehensive public health response, motivating changes to national masking recommendations, and raising questions about infection and transmission among vaccinated individuals. To characterize the outbreak and the viral population underlying it, we combined genomic and epidemiological data from 467 individuals, including 40% of known outbreak-associated cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (Trikafta) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October 2019 for treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) in patients 12 years and older with at least one F508del mutation in the CFTR protein. There were no documented reports of testicular pain during clinical trials. In this case series, we discuss 7 males between 17 and 39 years of age who reported testicular pain or discomfort within the first two weeks of starting therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Parasitol Parasites Wildl
April 2020
, a zoonotic protozoan parasite, infects a wide range of mammals. The southern United States has endemic sylvatic transmission cycles maintained by several species of wildlife and domestic dogs. We hypothesized that urban-dwelling opossums () in South Texas are infected with , and that tissue pathology would be associated with infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrypanosoma cruzi is a zoonotic protozoan parasite transmitted by triatomines that infects a wide range of mammals. South Texas is a hotspot for triatomines, T. cruzi-infected dogs and wildlife, and local transmission to humans also occurs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA proposed strategy to cure HIV uses latency-reversing agents (LRAs) to reactivate latent proviruses for purging HIV reservoirs. A variety of LRAs have been identified, but none has yet proven effective in reducing the reservoir size in vivo. Nanocarriers could address some major challenges by improving drug solubility and safety, providing sustained drug release, and simultaneously delivering multiple drugs to target tissues and cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin implicated in the phenomena of synaptic plasticity in the adult. It is found in terminals of nociceptive primary afferents. Following a pain-related stimulus, it is released in the spinal cord, where it activates its high-affinity receptor TrkB, leading to the phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the modulation of synaptic transmission in the spinal cord, and several circumstantial lines of evidence suggest that it has the ability to modulate the activity of the NMDA receptor. Here we dissect the signalling mechanisms by which BDNF exerts its neuromodulatory role on the NMDA receptor subunit 1 (NR1). Using a preparation of adult isolated dorsal horn with dorsal roots attached, we found that electrical stimulation of roots induced a concomitant release of BDNF and an increased phosphorylation of NR1, which was partly prevented by the BDNF sequestering molecule, TrkB-IgG.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe NMDA receptor and the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, are involved in central sensitisation and synaptic plasticity in the spinal cord. Recent evidence suggests that BDNF modulates NMDA responses, by a yet unknown mechanism. The phosphorylation of the NMDA subunit 1 following BDNF exposure has been investigated in the neonatal rat spinal cord.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMembers of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) family of cytokines have been implicated as major mediators of the response of the adult nervous system to injury. The basis for an interaction of IL-6 cytokines with adult sensory neurones has been established by analysing the levels and distribution of the two signal-transducing receptor subunits, glycoprotein 130 (gp130) and leukaemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR), in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of male adult rats before and following nerve injury. All sensory neurones express gp130-immunoreactivity (IR) in the cytoplasm and on the plasma membrane.
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