The Interplay of Dysregulated pH and Electrolyte Imbalance in Cancer.

Cancer cells and tissues have an aberrant regulation of hydrogen ion dynamics driven by a combination of poor vascular perfusion, regional hypoxia, and increased the flux of carbons through fermentative glycolysis. This leads to extracellular acidosis and intracellular alkalinization. Dysregulated pH dynamics influence cancer cell biology, from cell transformation and tumorigenesis to proliferation, local growth, invasion, and metastasis.

Donor-Specific Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Immune Tolerance in an Intrahepatic Murine Allogeneic Islet Transplantation Model with Short-Term Anti-CD154 mAb Single Treatment.

Anti-CD154 blockade-based regimens remain unequaled in prolonging graft survival in various organ transplantation models. Several studies have focused on transplantation tolerance with the anti-CD154 blockade, but none of these studies has investigated the mechanisms associated with its use as the sole treatment in animal models, delaying our understanding of anti-CD154 blockade-mediated immune tolerance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism underlying the anti-CD154 monoclonal antibody (mAb) blockade in inducing immune tolerance using an intrahepatic murine allogeneic islet transplantation model.

Case Report of Urinary Schistosomiasis in a Returned Traveler in Korea.

A 23-year-old Korean woman with a residence history in Kenya and Malawi for about 2 years presented with gross hematuria for 1 month. Blood tests were within normal range except eosinophilia. Asymmetrically diffuse wall thickening and calcification were observed at the urinary bladder on CT.

Urgent call for a global enforcement of the public sharing of health emergencies data: lesson learned from serious arboviral disease epidemics in Sudan.

One crucial element of the timely detection and identification of the causative agent(s) of a health emergency is access to live and historical data about the health risks in the area of concern. Therefore, sharing data on health emergencies is essential to the early investigation and detection teams. Although, theoretically, there is a global agreement on sharing data rapidly, in practice this is not always the case, particularly in developing countries such as Sudan, where there is continuous failure in making epidemics-related data publicly available.

Assessment of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance molecular markers from the Blue Nile State, Southeast Sudan.

Background: Plasmodium falciparum malaria is a public health problem worldwide. Malaria treatment policy has faced periodic changes due to emergence of drug resistant parasites. In Sudan chloroquine has been replaced by artesunate and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (AS/SP) in 2005 and to artemether-lumefantrine (AL) in 2017, due to the development of drug resistance.

Prevalence of 3.7 and 4.2 deletions in Sudanese patients with red cells hypochromia and microcytosis.

Objective: Alpha-thalassemia is a genetic disorder characterized by deletions of one or more α globin genes that result in deficient of α globin chains reducing haemoglobin concentration. The study aimed to screen 97 patients with microcytosis and hypochromasia for the 3.7 and 4.

Risks and Challenges of Arboviral Diseases in Sudan: The Urgent Need for Actions.

The risk of emergence and/or re-emergence of arthropod-borne viral (arboviral) infections is rapidly growing worldwide, particularly in Africa. The burden of arboviral infections and diseases is not well scrutinized because of the inefficient surveillance systems in endemic countries. Furthermore, the health systems are fully occupied by the burden of other co-existing febrile illnesses, especially malaria.

The effect of preexisting HMGB1 within fetal bovine serum on murine pancreatic beta cell biology.

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) can act as a structural protein of the chromatin and at the same time as a mediator of the immune system. Its high correlation with the graft acceptance in pancreatic islet recipients makes it a biomarker in islet transplantation. With the suspicion that preexisting HMGB1 in the fetal bovine serum (FBS) would be detrimental to the viability and function of murine beta cells, HMGB1 was removed from FBS and its impact was investigated.

Challenges and Strategies for Biomedical Researchers Returning to Low- and Middle-Income Countries after Training.

The brain drain of professionals from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to developed countries is well documented and partially due to the challenges faced by biomedical researchers to establish themselves back at home, after training abroad. These challenges may result in the loss of highly trained individuals from LMICs and reduce the availability of local expertise to develop/inform best practices in health care and to direct locally relevant research. The path of training of LMIC researchers in high-income countries is well documented.

Three-Dimensional Optical Scanning in Post-kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL).

Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis may occur after successful treatment of visceral leishmaniasis and is characterized by macules, papules, or nodules in the skin, with varying size. The response to antileishmanial therapy remains difficult to assess because there are presently no reliable biomarkers. To date, skin lesions are clinically assessed for decrease in size or change in color, which is invariably subjective.

Analysis of the MicroRNA Profile by Sequencing in Ovarian Granular Cells from Women Suffering Fluorosis with Reproductive Dysfunction.

Excessive intake of fluoride may cause female reproductive dysfunction but pathological mechanism is unclear. The miRNAs in follicular fluid are a class of small non-coding RNAs from granulosa cells. The aim of this study is to examine the differential expressions of miRNAs in ovarian granulosa cells from women suffering from fluorosis and infertility.

Bioinformatic analysis of peripheral blood RNA-sequencing sensitively detects the cause of late graft loss following overt hyperglycemia in pig-to-nonhuman primate islet xenotransplantation.

Clinical islet transplantation has recently been a promising treatment option for intractable type 1 diabetes patients. Although early graft loss has been well studied and controlled, the mechanisms of late graft loss largely remains obscure. Since long-term islet graft survival had not been achieved in islet xenotransplantation, it has been impossible to explore the mechanism of late islet graft loss.

Identification and characterization of Leishmania amastigote and axenic form antigens.

This study was aimed to identify and characterize Leishmania amastigote, and axenic form antigens. Two in vitro techniques were used to change leishmania parasite isolates from promastigote form to amastigotes and amastigote like (axenic) forms. The main strategy relied upon in vitro infection of murine macrophages cell line J774 with leishmania promastigote, at 37°C with 5% CO, while the second technique relied upon the culture of promastigote at 37°C with low pH (5.

The Sickle Cell Disease Ontology: enabling universal sickle cell-based knowledge representation.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common monogenic diseases in humans with multiple phenotypic expressions that can manifest as both acute and chronic complications. Although described more than a century ago, challenges in comprehensive disease management and collaborative research on this disease are compounded by the complex molecular and clinical phenotypes of SCD, environmental and psychosocial factors, limited therapeutic options and ambiguous terminology. This ambiguous terminology has hampered the integration and interoperability of existing SCD knowledge, and SCD research translation.

DR4-Associated Death Receptor Signal Promotes Cartilage Damage in Patients With Kashin-Beck Disease.

. To explore the relationship between the death receptor (DR) and the pathological progression of Kashin-Beck disease (KBD). .

Seroprevalence of measles, mumps, and rubella and genetic characterization of mumps virus in Khartoum, Sudan.

Background: In Sudan, neither mumps nor rubella vaccines are currently used and comprehensive data on the seroepidemiology of measles, mumps, and rubella (M.M.R), as well as information about circulating mumps virus genotypes, are lacking.

Whole-genome sequencing of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis isolates from Gadarif State, Sudan.

Background: Trachoma, caused by ocular Chlamydia trachomatis, is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Sudan first reported trachoma in the 1930s and has since been consistently endemic. Ocular C.

Differential interleukin-1β induction by uropathogenic Escherichia coli correlates with its phylotype and serum C-reactive protein levels in Korean infants.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in infants less than age 1 year. UTIs frequently recur and result in long-term effects include sepsis and renal scarring. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the most prevalent organism found in UTIs, can cause host inflammation via various virulence factors including hemolysin and cytotoxic necrotizing factors by inducing inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1β.

Computed tomographic excretory urography for diagnosing ectopic ureter in a female rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta).

Ectopic ureter is a congenital abnormality where the ureter terminates at a site other than the urinary bladder. A five-year-old female rhesus monkey presented with a urine odor, a wet perineum, and persistent dribbling of urine. An ultrasound examination revealed a cyst-like structure (1 × 0.

CD4 /CD8 T-cell ratio correlates with the graft fate in pig-to-non-human primate islet xenotransplantation.

Background: Xenogeneic islet transplantation using porcine pancreata has been a promising option for substituting human islet transplantation. Moreover, recent advances in pre-clinical results have put islet xenotransplantation closer to the possibility of clinical application. While preparing for the era of clinical xenotransplantation, developing non-invasive immune monitoring method which could predict the graft fate could benefit the patient.

A combination regimen of low-dose bortezomib and rapamycin prolonged the graft survival in a murine allogeneic islet transplantation model.

As the first FDA-approved proteasome inhibitor drug, bortezomib has been used for the treatment of multiple myeloma and lymphoma. However, its effects alone or in combination with other immunosuppressants on allogeneic islet transplantation have not been reported so far. In this study, we showed that the short-term combination treatment of low-dose bortezomib and rapamycin significantly prolonged the survival of islet allografts.

Genetic polymorphism of the N-terminal region in circumsporozoite surface protein of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from Sudan.

Background: Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum parasite is still known to be one of the most significant public health problems in sub-Saharan Africa. Genetic diversity of the Sudanese P. falciparum based on the diversity in the circumsporozoite surface protein (PfCSP) has not been previously studied.

[Effectiveness of infectious source control after transmission control of schistosomiasis in Eryuan County of Yunnan Province].

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of infectious source control at various stages of transmission control of schistosomiasis in Eryuan County of Yunnan Province, so as to provide insights into the further monitoring and management of infectious sources of schistosomiasis.

Methods: Wenbi Village, a plateau subtype region and Qiandian Village, a mountain subtype region in Eryuan County were selected as the study areas. The species, schistosome infection and transmission capability of infectious sources were investigated in Wenbi and Qiandian villages in 2011 and 2018 and were compared.