Search results for "Host-Pathogen Interactions"
showing 10 items of 171 documents
Serological Tests Do Not Predict Residual Fibrosis in Hepatitis C Cirrhotics with a Sustained Virological Response to Interferon
2016
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Liver biopsy (LB) has lost popularity to stage liver fibrosis in the era of highly effective anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy, yet diagnosis of persistent cirrhosis may have important implications following HCV eradication. As performance of serological non-invasive tests (NITs) to predict residual fibrosis in non-viremic HCV patients is unknown, we investigated accuracy of NITs to predict residual fibrosis in cirrhotics after a sustained virological response (SVR) to interferon (IFN). METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with a pre-treatment histological diagnosis of cirrhosis and a 48–104 months post-SVR LB were tested with APRI, CDS, FIB-4, FibroQ, Forns Score, GUCI Ind…
Multi-infections of feminizing Wolbachia strains in natural populations of the terrestrial isopod Armadillidium vulgare.
2013
7 pages; International audience; Maternally inherited Wolbachia (α-Proteobacteria) are widespread parasitic reproductive manipulators. A growing number of studies have described the presence of different Wolbachia strains within a same host. To date, no naturally occurring multiple infections have been recorded in terrestrial isopods. This is true for Armadillidium vulgare which is known to harbor non simultaneously three Wolbachia strains. Traditionally, such Wolbachia are detected by PCR amplification of the wsp gene and strains are characterized by sequencing. The presence of nucleotide deletions or insertions within the wsp gene, among these three different strains, provides the opportu…
Influence of microbial symbionts on insect pheromones
2018
Covering: up to 2018 Pheromones serve as chemical signals between individuals of the same species and play important roles for mate localization and mate choice as well as other social interactions in insects. A growing body of literature indicates that microbial symbionts can modulate their hosts' chemical profiles, mate choice decisions and social behavior. This modulation can occur by the direct biosynthesis of pheromone components or the provisioning of precursors, or through general changes in the metabolite pool of the host and its resource allocation into pheromone production. Here we review and discuss the contexts in which microbial modulation of intraspecific communication in inse…
Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence varies by cat breed.
2017
Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread zoonotic parasite that is relevant for veterinary and public health. The domestic cat, the definitive host species with the largest worldwide population, has become evolutionarily and epidemiologically the most important host of T. gondii. The outcome of T. gondii infection is influenced by congenital and acquired host characteristics. We detected differences in T. gondii seroprevalence by cat breed in our previous studies. The aims of this study were to estimate T. gondii seroprevalence in selected domestic cat breeds, and to evaluate whether being of a certain breed is associated with T. gondii seropositivity, when the age and lifestyle of the cat are tak…
NS5A gene analysis by next generation sequencing in HCV nosocomial transmission clusters of HCV genotype 1b infected patients
2019
Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the intra-host variability through next-generation-sequencing (NGS) of the NS5A-gene in nosocomial transmission-clusters observed in two Italian hospitals among hepatitis C virus (HCV)-genotype-1b infected patients. Methods: HCV-sequencing was performed by Sanger-sequencing (NS3 + NS5A + NS5B) and by NGS (NS5A, MiSeq-Illumina) in 15 HCV-1b infected patients [five acute with onco-hematologic-disease and 10 (4/6 acute/chronic) with &beta
Microbial Succession in the Gut: Directional Trends of Taxonomic and Functional Change in a Birth Cohort of Spanish Infants
2014
In spite of its major impact on life-long health, the process of microbial succession in the gut of infants remains poorly understood. Here, we analyze the patterns of taxonomic and functional change in the gut microbiota during the first year of life for a birth cohort of 13 infants. We detect that individual instances of gut colonization vary in the temporal dynamics of microbiota richness, diversity, and composition at both functional and taxonomic levels. Nevertheless, trends discernible in a majority of infants indicate that gut colonization occurs in two distinct phases of succession, separated by the introduction of solid foods to the diet. This change in resource availability causes…
Single cell detection of latent cytomegalovirus reactivation in host tissue
2011
The molecular mechanisms leading to reactivation of latent cytomegalovirus are not well understood. To study reactivation, the few cells in an organ tissue that give rise to reactivated virus need to be identified, ideally at the earliest possible time point in the process. To this end, mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) reporter mutants were designed to simultaneously express the red fluorescent protein mCherry and the secreted Gaussia luciferase (Gluc). Whereas Gluc can serve to assess infection at the level of individual mice by measuring luminescence in blood samples or by in vivo imaging, mCherry fluorescence offers the advatage of detection of infection at the single cell level. To visualiz…
Bacterial load and inflammatory response in sputum of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency patients with COPD
2019
Bruno Balbi,1 Claudia Sangiorgi,1 Isabella Gnemmi,1 Ilaria Ferrarotti,2 Davide Vallese,1 Elena Paracchini,1 Lorena Delle Donne,1 Luciano Corda,3 Paolo Baderna,4 Angelo Corsico,2 Mauro Carone,1 Paola Brun,5 Francesco Cappello,6,7 Fabio LM Ricciardolo,8 Paolo Ruggeri,9 Sharon Mumby,10 Ian M Adcock,10 Gaetano Caramori,9 Antonino Di Stefano11Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, IRCCS, Division of Pneumology and Laboratory of Cytoimmunopathology of the Heart and Lung, Veruno, Italy; 2Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Therapy, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; 3Medicina Respiratoria, Seconda Medicina Interna, Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy; 4Division of Pneumology, Aosta Hospital, Aos…
Temporal patterns in immune responses to a range of microbial insults (Tenebrio molitor).
2008
8 pages; International audience; Much work has elucidated the pathways and mechanisms involved in the production of insect immune effector systems. However, the temporal nature of these responses with respect to different immune insults is less well understood. This study investigated the magnitude and temporal variation in phenoloxidase and antimicrobial activity in the mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor in response to a number of different synthetic and real immune elicitors. We found that antimicrobial activity in haemolymph increased rapidly during the first 48h after a challenge and was maintained at high levels for at least 14 days. There was no difference in the magnitude of responses …
Social evolution of innate immunity evasion in a virus
2019
Antiviral immunity has been studied extensively from the perspective of virus−cell interactions, yet the role of virus−virus interactions remains poorly addressed. Here, we demonstrate that viral escape from interferon (IFN)-based innate immunity is a social process in which IFN-stimulating viruses determine the fitness of neighbouring viruses. We propose a general and simple social evolution framework to analyse how natural selection acts on IFN shutdown and validate it in cell cultures and mice infected with vesicular stomatitis virus. Furthermore, we find that IFN shutdown is costly because it reduces short-term viral progeny production, thus fulfilling the definition of an altruistic tr…