Sporadic cases of acute hepatitis E among ten native Nigerian adults were reported in Port-Harcourt (Nigeria). Hepatitis E virus (HEV) was detected in serum and/or faecal samples of seven patients by RT-PCR of the open reading frame (ORF)-1 polymerase region and the 3'-end of ORF2. Restriction analysis widely used to distinguish genotypes I and III showed that all Nigerian strains have a pattern similar to the Mexican strain (NotI, nt 286; SmaI, nt 397; no KpnI restriction site) but displayed a BsmI restriction site at nt 213 as do most African HEV strains sequenced so far. Sequence analysis performed from internal ORF1 and ORF2 PCR products displayed strong homogeneity between the HEV isolates, determining a regional cluster. Phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences revealed that these strains were more related to the Mexican prototype genotype III (87% homology in ORF1, 80% homology in ORF2) than to either the African strain genotype I (74% homology in ORF1, 77% homology in ORF2) or the USA strain genotype II (75% homology in ORF1, 77% homology in ORF2). Genetic divergence up to 15% in ORF2 with the Mexican genotype clearly defined a new subgenotype within genotype III. At the amino acid level, Nigerian strains showed more homology with genotype III (96%) than with genotype I (92%). This study clearly determined the co-existence of genotypes I and III in Africa. These Nigerian HEV strains belonging to genotype III, but sharing some properties with genotype I, could be one of the missing links between African and Latin American HEV and could help us to determine the phylogenetic evolution of HEV from the ancestral virus.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-81-4-903 | DOI Listing |
Acta Parasitol
January 2025
ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Purpose: Bats constitute 20% of all mammal species, playing a vital role in ecosystem health as pollinators, seed dispersers, and regulators of insect populations. However, these animals can also be reservoirs for infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria, and enteroparasites such as Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, and Balantioides coli, raising questions about their role in the epidemiology of these agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Fungi (Basel)
January 2025
Kashkin Research Institute of Medical Mycology, North-Western State Medical University Named after I.I. Mechnikov, 191015 Saint Petersburg, Russia.
is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen causing nosocomial transmission and invasive infections with high mortality. This study aimed to investigate the genetic relationships, enzymatic activities, and drug-resistance profiles of isolates to evaluate the population and epidemiological diversity of candidiasis in Russia. A total of 112 clinical isolates of were analyzed from May 2017 to March 2023 in 18 hospitals across Saint Petersburg, the Leningrad Region, and Moscow.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Virol
January 2025
Departmento de Doenças Dermatológicas, Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. Electronic address:
Background: In dengue hyperendemic regions, the evolution of the virus is marked by frequent virus introduction/reintroduction and clade replacement events, occasionally linked to an epidemic outbreak. From 2023 onwards, an increase in the detection of DENV-3 cases has been reported in different regions of Brazil. Thus, molecular and genomic surveillance of circulating DENV strains is crucial for public health preparedness and response efforts for the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Heart J Digit Health
January 2025
Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, 401 East River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Aims: Many studies have utilized data sources such as clinical variables, polygenic risk scores, electrocardiogram (ECG), and plasma proteins to predict the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, few studies have integrated all four sources from a single study to comprehensively assess AF prediction.
Methods And Results: We included 8374 (Visit 3, 1993-95) and 3730 (Visit 5, 2011-13) participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study to predict incident AF and prevalent (but covert) AF.
Cardiovasc Diabetol
January 2025
Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No.167, Beijing, 100037, China.
Aim: Both clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are conditions closely associated with advancing age. This study delves into the possible implications and prognostic significance of CHIP and T2DM in patients diagnosed with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).
Methods: Deep-targeted sequencing employing a unique molecular identifier (UMI) for the analysis of 42 CHIP mutations-achieving an impressive mean depth of coverage at 1000 × -was conducted on a cohort of 1430 patients diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction (473 patients with T2DM and 930 non-DM subjects).
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