909 results match your criteria: "Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine[Affiliation]"

Objectives: The study aimed to identify a quantitative signature of circulating small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) as a biomarker for pulmonary tuberculosis disease (active-TB/ATB) and explore their regulatory roles in host-pathogen interactions and disease progression.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study recruiting subjects diagnosed with active-TB (drug-sensitive and drug-resistant) and healthy controls. Sera samples were collected and utilized for preparing small RNA libraries.

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Descendants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant now account for almost all SARS-CoV-2 infections. The Omicron variant and its sublineages have spike glycoproteins that are highly diverged from the pandemic founder and first-generation vaccine strain, resulting in significant evasion from monoclonal antibody therapeutics and vaccines. Understanding how commonly elicited antibodies can broaden to cross-neutralize escape variants is crucial.

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Kidney function in healthcare clients in Khayelitsha, South Africa: Routine laboratory testing and results reflect distinct healthcare experiences by age for healthcare clients with and without HIV.

PLOS Glob Public Health

May 2024

Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Wellcome Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

In South Africa, PLHIV are eligible for free ART and kidney function screening. Serum creatinine (SCr) laboratory test data from the National Health Laboratory Service are collated at the Provincial Health Data Centre and linked with other routine health data. We analysed SCr and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) results for PLHIV and HIV-negative healthcare clients aged 18-80 years accessing healthcare in Khayelitsha, South Africa and comorbidity profiles at SCr and eGFR testing.

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Investigating somatic variants and pathways in mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) colorectal carcinoma in South Africa.

J Clin Pathol

May 2024

Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Aims: Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and an emerging public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Several authors have described an increased frequency of mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) CRC in sub-Saharan Africa, but these tumours remain poorly characterised molecularly. We sought to interrogate the somatic molecular genetic landscape of dMMR CRC in a cohort of young patients to better inform Lynch syndrome (LS) screening strategies and personalised medicine approaches in our setting.

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Background: In South African antiretroviral guidelines, selected patients failing second-line protease inhibitor (PI)-based therapy qualify for genotypic resistance testing - those with PI resistance receive darunavir-based third-line regimens; those without PI resistance continue current regimen with adherence support. The Western Cape province, from September 2020, implemented a strategy of tenofovir-lamivudine-dolutegravir (TLD) for patients, provided there was no tenofovir resistance, irrespective of PI resistance.

Objectives: To evaluate virologic outcomes with TLD among adults failing second-line PI regimens with no tenofovir resistance.

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Repurposing of anti-malarial drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis: realistic strategy or fanciful dead end?

Malar J

May 2024

Center for Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, Location University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Background: Drug repurposing offers a strategic alternative to the development of novel compounds, leveraging the known safety and pharmacokinetic profiles of medications, such as linezolid and levofloxacin for tuberculosis (TB). Anti-malarial drugs, including quinolones and artemisinins, are already applied to other diseases and infections and could be promising for TB treatment.

Methods: This review included studies on the activity of anti-malarial drugs, specifically quinolones and artemisinins, against Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC), summarizing results from in vitro, in vivo (animal models) studies, and clinical trials.

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The increase in human-mediated introduction of plant species to new regions has resulted in a rise of invasive exotic plant species (IEPS) that has had significant effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes. One commonly accepted mechanism of invasions is that proposed by the enemy release hypothesis (ERH), which states that IEPS free from their native herbivores and natural enemies in new environments can outcompete indigenous species and become invasive. We here propose the virome release hypothesis (VRH) as a virus-centered variant of the conventional ERH that is only focused on enemies.

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Genetic Factors Contributing to the Pathogenesis of Essential Hypertension in Two African Populations.

J Pers Med

March 2024

UCT MRC Genomic and Precision Medicine Research Unit, Division of Human Genetics, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7704, South Africa.

The African continent has the highest prevalence of hypertension globally, with South Africa reporting the highest prevalence in Southern Africa. While the influence of genetic variability in the pathogenesis of hypertension is well described internationally, limited reports are available for African populations. This study aimed to assess the association of genetic variants and essential hypertension in a cohort of two ethnic South African population groups.

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The epidemiology, transmission, diagnosis, and management of drug-resistant tuberculosis-lessons from the South African experience.

Lancet Infect Dis

September 2024

TB Control and Management, Republic of South Africa National Department of Health, Pretoria, South Africa.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) threatens to derail tuberculosis control efforts, particularly in Africa where the disease remains out of control. The dogma that DR-TB epidemics are fueled by unchecked rates of acquired resistance in inadequately treated or non-adherent individuals is no longer valid in most high DR-TB burden settings, where community transmission is now widespread. A large burden of DR-TB in Africa remains undiagnosed due to inadequate access to diagnostic tools that simultaneously detect tuberculosis and screen for resistance.

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Integrated plasma proteomics identifies tuberculosis-specific diagnostic biomarkers.

JCI Insight

March 2024

NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, School of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.

BACKGROUNDNovel biomarkers to identify infectious patients transmitting Mycobacterium tuberculosis are urgently needed to control the global tuberculosis (TB) pandemic. We hypothesized that proteins released into the plasma in active pulmonary TB are clinically useful biomarkers to distinguish TB cases from healthy individuals and patients with other respiratory infections.METHODSWe applied a highly sensitive non-depletion tandem mass spectrometry discovery approach to investigate plasma protein expression in pulmonary TB cases compared to healthy controls in South African and Peruvian cohorts.

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Pharmacogenetics of tamoxifen in breast cancer patients of African descent: Lack of data.

Clin Transl Sci

March 2024

Platform for Pharmacogenomics Research and Translation (PREMED), South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.

Article Synopsis
  • * The drug's effectiveness is influenced by various genetic factors and its metabolism by specific enzymes, which differ among populations worldwide.
  • * There is a notable lack of pharmacogenetic research on tamoxifen in African populations, emphasizing the need for targeted studies to enhance treatment outcomes and reduce side effects for African breast cancer patients.
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The timing of HIV-1 infection of cells that persist on therapy is not strongly influenced by replication competency or cellular tropism of the provirus.

PLoS Pathog

February 2024

Division of Medical Virology, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

People with HIV-1 (PWH) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) can maintain undetectable virus levels, but a small pool of infected cells persists. This pool is largely comprised of defective proviruses that may produce HIV-1 proteins but are incapable of making infectious virus, with only a fraction (~10%) of these cells harboring intact viral genomes, some of which produce infectious virus following ex vivo stimulation (i.e.

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The amygdala and cerebellum are both evolutionary preserved brain structures containing cortical as well as subcortical properties. For decades, the amygdala has been considered the fear-center of the brain, but recent advances have shown that the amygdala acts as a critical hub between cortical and subcortical systems and shapes social and affective behaviors beyond fear. Likewise, the cerebellum is a dedicated control unit that fine-tunes motor behavior to fit contextual requirements.

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A Myeloid-Specific Lack of IL-4Rα Prevents the Development of Alternatively Activated Macrophages and Enhances Immunity to Experimental Cysticercosis.

Pathogens

February 2024

Laboratorio Nacional en Salud: Diagnóstico Molecular y Efecto Ambiental en Enfermedades Crónico-Degenerativas, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Tlalnepantla 54090, Estado de México, Mexico.

To determine the role that the IL-4/IL13 receptor plays in the development of alternatively activated macrophages (AAM or M2) and their role in the regulation of immunity to the extraintestinal phase of the helminth parasite , we followed the infection in a mouse strain lacking the IL-4Rα gene (IL-4Rα) and in the macrophage/neutrophil-specific IL-4Rα-deficient mouse strain (LysMcreIL-4Rα or cre/LoxP). While 100% of -infected IL-4Rα (WT) mice harbored large parasite loads, more than 50% of th eIL-4Rα mice resolved the infection. Approximately 88% of the LysMcreIL-4Rα mice displayed a sterilizing immunity to the infection.

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Objectives: We searched for the most-suitable thermometry method in the low-resource, tropical setting of Sierra Leone, both in terms of accuracy and also patient and user acceptance.

Methods: We conducted a prospective comparative study of different methods of body temperature measurement. Each participant had their temperature taken by four different methods: non-contact infrared temperature (NCIT), axillary, tympanic membrane and rectal measurements.

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Trend of measles-rubella vaccination coverage and impact on measles epidemiology in the Savannah Region, Ghana; 2018-2022: A secondary data analysis.

Vaccine

March 2024

Center of Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Iocation AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Institute of Tropical Medicine, and German Center of Infectious Diseases (DZIF), University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany; Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Centre de Recherches Médicales En Lambaréné (CERMEL), Lambaréné, Gabon; Masanga Medical Research Unit, Masanga, Sierra Leone.

Introduction: Ghana witnessed an outbreak of measles in 2022 following the COVID-19 pandemic, and Savannah Region was among the regions severely impacted. The objective of this study was to conduct trend analysis of measles case incidence and measles-rubella (MR) vaccination coverage in the Savannah Region to identify gaps and propose remedial actions to mitigate future outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs).

Methods: Analysis of measles surveillance and measles-rubella vaccination data for 2018-2022 was conducted to assess relationship between immunization coverage and measles case incidence.

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is a major fungal pathogen of humans that causes life-threatening lung infections in immunocompromised individuals. Despite its huge global impact upon human health, our understanding of the pathobiology of this deadly fungus remains extremely limited, largely because it is not yet possible to cultivate independently of the host. However, a recent paper by Munyonho et al.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the buildup of fats, cholesterol, and immune cells in arteries, leading to the formation of plaques and is influenced by various vascular and immune cells.
  • - The regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) is crucial for vascular health, as their overproduction can trigger inflammatory pathways that contribute to atherosclerosis progression.
  • - In contrast, reactive sulfur species (RSS) may protect against atherosclerosis by counteracting the harmful effects of ROS and RNS, and their role in modifying molecules involved in inflammatory signaling is also reviewed.
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Two-step evolution of HIV-1 budding system leading to pandemic in the human population.

Cell Rep

February 2024

Division of Systems Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1088639, Japan; Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1130033, Japan; International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1088639, Japan; International Vaccine Design Center, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1088639, Japan; Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 2778561, Japan; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi 3320012, Japan. Electronic address:

The pandemic HIV-1, HIV-1 group M, emerged from a single spillover event of its ancestral lentivirus from a chimpanzee. During human-to-human spread worldwide, HIV-1 diversified into multiple subtypes. Here, our interdisciplinary investigation mainly sheds light on the evolutionary scenario of the viral budding system of HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C), a most successfully spread subtype.

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Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a significant public health concern, particularly in Africa, where there is a substantial burden. HBV is an enveloped virus, with isolates being classified into ten phylogenetically distinct genotypes (A - J) determined based on full-genome sequence data or reverse hybridization-based diagnostic tests. In practice, limitations are noted in that diagnostic sequencing, generally using Sanger sequencing, tends to focus only on the S-gene, yielding little or no information on intra-patient HBV genetic diversity with very low-frequency variants and reverse hybridization detects only known genotype-specific mutations.

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Classification of Obesity among South African Female Adolescents: Comparative Analysis of Logistic Regression and Random Forest Algorithms.

Int J Environ Res Public Health

December 2023

Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Merchant House, 2 Dock Rail Road, Cape Town 8001, South Africa.

Background: This study evaluates the performance of logistic regression (LR) and random forest (RF) algorithms to model obesity among female adolescents in South Africa.

Methods: Data was analysed on 375 females aged 15-17 from the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011/2012. The primary outcome was obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m.

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Long-term immunity following yellow fever vaccination: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Lancet Glob Health

March 2024

Center for Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Masanga Medical Research Unit, Masanga, Sierra Leone; Institute of Tropical Medicine, German Centre for Infection Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Centre de Recherches Médicales en Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon; Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address:

Background: Long-term immunity following yellow fever vaccination remains controversial. We aimed to summarise the literature regarding the long-term protection (≥10 years) conveyed by a single dose of yellow fever vaccination.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched 11 databases from database inception to Aug 24, 2023.

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The pathogenesis of experimental Emergomycosis in mice.

PLoS Negl Trop Dis

January 2024

CMM AFRICA Medical Mycology Research Unit, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Emergomyces africanus is a recently identified thermally-dimorphic fungal pathogen that causes disseminated infection in people living with advanced HIV disease. Known as emergomycosis, this disseminated disease is associated with very high case fatality rates. Over the last decade, improved diagnostics and fungal identification in South Africa resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of reported cases.

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Emergomyces africanus poses an emerging threat.

Nat Microbiol

January 2024

CMM AFRICA Medical Mycology Research Unit, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is managed with combined lifestyle modifications and antidiabetic drugs, but people on treatment often fail to reach glycaemic control. Adherence is important for achieving optimal glycaemic control, and management of diabetes with drugs is a lifelong process, so understanding adherence through analysis of longitudinal medications data is important. Using retrospective routine health data and metformin dispensing records as a proxy for medication use, we describe longitudinal persistence and adherence to oral diabetes medication in a virtual cohort of 10541 people with diabetes (PLWD) in Khayelitsha subdistrict, Cape Town.

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