Search results for "Virus"

Association of Non-Invasive Markers of Liver Fibrosis with HCV Coinfection and Antiretroviral Therapy in Patients with HIV

2019

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the main effects and interaction between viral hepatitis C (HCV) coinfection and antiretroviral therapy (ART) by using a nonparametric ANOVA on direct and indirect markers of liver fibrosis in HIV-infected patients. The sample included 178 HIV patients aged from 23 to 65 (36% females). The following parameters were determined in blood of patients: hyaluronic acid, pro-matrix metalloproteinase-1, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and platelet count. The FIB-4 index was also calculated. The nonparametric ANOVA revealed no significant interaction between HCV coinfection and ART. This provides evidence for an independent contribut…

Frequent NS5A and multiclass resistance in almost all HCV genotypes at DAA failures: What are the chances for second-line regimens?

2017

Impact of Communicative and Informative Strategies on Influenza Vaccination Adherence and Absenteeism from Work of Health Care Professionals Working …

2019

Every year, about 20% of health care workers (HCWs) acquire influenza, continuing to work and encouraging virus spreading. Influenza vaccination coverage rates and absenteeism from work among HCWs of the University Hospital (UH) of Palermo were analyzed before and after the implementation of several initiatives in order to increase HCWs&rsquo

Symptomatic COVID-19 in advanced-cancer patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors. Prospective analysis from a multicentre observational tri…

2020

Background:This prospective, multicentre, observational INVIDIa-2 study is investigating the clinical efficacy of influenza vaccination in advanced-cancer patients receiving immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), enrolled in 82 Italian centres, from October 2019 to January 2020. The primary endpoint was the incidence of influenza-like illness (ILI) until 30 April 2020. All the ILI episodes, laboratory tests, complications, hospitalizations and pneumonitis were recorded. Therefore, the study prospectively recorded all the COVID-19 ILI events.Patients and methods:Patients were included in this non-prespecified COVID-19 analysis, if alive on 31 January 2020, when the Italian government declared …

The Antiviral Properties of Cyclosporine. Focus on Coronavirus, Hepatitis C Virus, Influenza Virus, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infections

2020

This review updates current knowledge regarding the risk of viral infections, including COVID-19, in patients treated with cyclosporine. We also shortly refer to bacterial infections and parasitic infestations in patients treated with cyclosporin. Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressive drug, which is widely used in medicine, including in the treatment of autoimmune skin diseases in dermatology, rheumatology, ophthalmology and nephrology, and in organ transplantation. A usual concern associated with immunosuppressive treatment is the potential risk of infections. Interestingly, several data indicate a relatively low risk of infections, especially viral infections, in patients receiving cyclosp…

Virotherapy in Germany—Recent Activities in Virus Engineering, Preclinical Development, and Clinical Studies

2021

Virotherapy research involves the development, exploration, and application of oncolytic viruses that combine direct killing of cancer cells by viral infection, replication, and spread (oncolysis) with indirect killing by induction of anti-tumor immune responses. Oncolytic viruses can also be engineered to genetically deliver therapeutic proteins for direct or indirect cancer cell killing. In this review—as part of the special edition on “State-of-the-Art Viral Vector Gene Therapy in Germany”—the German community of virotherapists provides an overview of their recent research activities that cover endeavors from screening and engineering viruses as oncolytic cancer therapeutics to their cli…

Evolutionary conserved pathway of the innate immune response after a viral insult in Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin

2019

Despite the apparent simplicity of the body organization of echinoderms, their immune system is competent to perform a complex innate immune response, which is far from being well understood. The echinoderms represent the most advanced invertebrates that form a bridge with the primitive chordates. In fact, they possess numerous receptors and effectors that are used to obtain a fast immune response. After an infection, the humoral and cellular immune response determines a network in which the main protagonists are membrane and endosomal receptors. The recognition of nonself molecules by specific membrane receptors triggers the immune response, stimulating consecutive intracellular events. We…

Famotidine inhibits toll-like receptor 3-mediated inflammatory signaling in SARS-CoV-2 infection

2021

Apart from prevention using vaccinations, the management options for COVID-19 remain limited. In retrospective cohort studies, use of famotidine, a specific oral H2 receptor antagonist (antihistamine), has been associated with reduced risk of intubation and death in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. In a case series, nonhospitalized patients with COVID-19 experienced rapid symptom resolution after taking famotidine, but the molecular basis of these observations remains elusive. Here we show using biochemical, cellular, and functional assays that famotidine has no effect on viral replication or viral protease activity. However, famotidine can affect histamine-induced signaling processes i…

Immunoistochemical expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in bone marrow biopsies of patients with acute myeloid leukemia

2020

Background. Haematological and non-haematological malignancies are able to escape the host immune by the capacity to hijack the immune check-points. Several immune check-point molecules are known, such as T cell immunoglobulin mucin-3 (TIM-3), cytotoxic T-cell antigen-4 (CTLA-4), programmed death-1 (PD-1) with its ligand PD-L1 and others.1 The function of these immune check-points is to prevent the damage resulting from an excessive activation of the immune response in the setting of chronic antigenic stimulation, thus leading to autoimmune phenomena, as proved in knock-out mice models. PD-1 is normally present on activated T lymphocytes membrane, acting as a negative costimulatory receptor…

Are There Any Parameters Missing in the Mathematical Models Applied in the Process of Spreading COVID-19?

2021

Simple Summary Nowadays, enhancing development of mathematical models is very important to help in the prediction of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID1-19). However, the vast majority of published model-based predictions do not cover people who left the epidemic COVID-19 positive (alive) and they must be included in studies to guarantee a more accurate model for application in public health. The epidemic development phenomenon can be obtained with a modelling framework. Abstract On 11 March 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). As of 12.44 GMT on 15 January 2021, it has produced 93,640,296 cases and 2,004,984 deaths. The use …