Search results for "INFECTIONS"

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in people living with HIV in France.

2018

Abstract Objectives Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), mainly due to smoking, is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths. However, an increasing number of tumors – especially oropharyngeal cancer – are reported in non-smokers in association with the human papillomavirus (HPV). As HIV-infected individuals are particularly at risk of HPV-related disease, we aimed to describe the burden of HNSCC in this population. Methods Retrospective chart review of patients from HIV clinics diagnosed with HNSCC between 2004 and 2014. Case patients were defined using the International Classification of Disease for Oncology (3rd edition). Age at HIV diagnosis and time from HIV diagnosis to HNS…

Serum leptin and interleukin-6 levels in pediatric patients with HIV.

2003

Recent therapeutic approaches have improved the prognosis of children with HIV. Many new efforts could be involved in their quality of life and therefore could need additional diagnostic strategies. Leptin regulates pubertal development; furthermore a continuous immune stimulus, as in chronic infectious diseases, can enhance leptin's secretion by the action of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6. To clarify this role in patients infected with HIV, we assayed leptin and IL-6 and evaluated the influence of HIV severity on its secretion. IL-6 (380.5 +/- 257.6 pg/ml; range: 22-900 pg/ml) showed a significant correlation with leptinemia, HIV-1 RNA, and viremia related to the stage of HIV diseas…

Systemic isotretinoin therapy in the era of COVID‐19

2020

Thermodynamics of the Interaction between the Spike Protein of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 and the Receptor of Human Angiotensin-…

2020

Since the end of 2019, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has caused more than 1000000 deaths all over the world and still lacks a medical treatment despite the attention of the whole scientific community. Human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) was recently recognized as the transmembrane protein that serves as the point of entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells, thus constituting the first biomolecular event leading to COVID-19 disease. Here, by means of a state-of-the-art computational approach, we propose a rational evaluation of the molecular mechanisms behind the formation of the protein complex. Moreover, the free energy of binding between ACE2 and the active receptor binding domain of the SARS…

Is the Rigidity of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor-Binding Motif the Hallmark for Its Enhanced Infectivity? Insights from All-Atom Simulations

2020

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is setting the global health crisis of our time, causing a devastating societal and economic burden. An idiosyncratic trait of coronaviruses is the presence of spike glycoproteins on the viral envelope, which mediate the virus binding to specific host receptor, enabling its entry into the human cells. In spite of the high sequence identity of SARS-CoV-2 with its closely related SARS-CoV emerged in 2002, the atomic-level determinants underlining the molecular recognition of SARS-CoV-2 to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and, thus, the rapid virus spread into human body, remain unresolved. Here, multi-m…

Chapter 14: HPV vaccine introduction in industrialized countries.

2006

Introduction of a vaccine requires the achievement of three initial milestones. These are licensure by a national control authority that determines the vaccine is safe and effective, development of recommendations for use by expert advisory bodies on immunization, and obtaining funding for vaccination. Once these milestones have been achieved, a successful vaccination program requires that a number of interlinked programmatic components be brought together in a coordinated fashion. These include vaccine purchase and supply, vaccination service delivery, high coverage rates, surveillance of the vaccination program, immunization finance policies and practices, and political will. Human papill…

Asexual multiplication of larval parasitic worms: a predictor of adult life-history traits in Taeniidae?

2001

The hypothesis that asexual multiplication inside the intermediate host and adult life-history traits within the final host are independent is tested among Cestoda. Using phylogenetic relationships among the Cestoda species, we can show that asexual multiplication appears to have been lost and recovered several times throughout Taeniidae evolution; this allows a comparison of the adult life-history traits of species with and without asexual multiplication at the larval stage. The adult trait considered is the size of the parasite, since numerous life-history traits, such as fecundity and longevity, are correlated with size. If adult traits are independent of whether the larval stage reprodu…

Insight into the role of cetaceans in the life cycle of the tetraphyllideans (Platyhelminthes: Cestoda)

2007

Abstract Four types of tetraphyllidean larvae infect cetaceans worldwide: two plerocercoids differing in size, ‘small’ (SP) and ‘large’ (LP), and two merocercoids referred to as Phyllobothrium delphini and Monorygma grimaldii . The latter merocercoid larvae parasitize marine mammals exclusively and exhibit a specialised cystic structure. Adult stages are unknown for any of the larvae and thus the role of cetaceans in the life cycle of these species has been a long-standing problem. The SP and LP forms are thought to be earlier stages of P. delphini and M. grimaldii that are presumed to infect large pelagic sharks that feed on cetaceans. A molecular analysis of the D2 variable region of the …

Mediterranean Diplodus annularis (Teleostei: Sparidae) and its brain parasite: Unforeseen outcome

2005

Patterns of parasite load and aggregation of the bird trematode Cardiocephaloides longicollis in its main intermediate host in the Mediterranean, the annular sea bream, Diplodus annularis, were studied in a large sample collected off Valencia (Spain) and are discussed within the context of the parasite induced host mortality hypothesis. The metacercariae were located within large composite cysts of host origin in the ventricles of the optic lobes of the cerebrum. A weak immunological response was detected in older fish, which was significantly associated with the total parasite load. Although the mean abundance of C. longicollis showed a tendency to increase with host size, the infection le…

A bug's life: Delving into the challenges of helminth microbiome studies.

2020

The body of vertebrates is inhabited by trillions of microorganisms, i.e. viruses, archaea, bacteria and unicellular eukaryotes, together referred to as the ‘microbiota’. Similarly, vertebrates also host a plethora of parasitic worms (the ‘macrobiota’), some of which share their environment with the microbiota inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract [1]. Complex interactions between the helminths and the gut microbiota have been associated with establishment of parasite infection, disease manifestations, and host immune-modulation [2, 3]. Remarkably, not only enteric helminths alter the 26 gut microbiome composition [4], but also the infection with blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma has be…