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Topic Review
Syndecan-4
Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants pose threats to vaccination campaigns against COVID-19. Being more transmissible than the original virus, the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617 lineage, named the Delta variant, swept through the world in 2021. The mutations in the Delta’s spike protein shift the protein towards a net positive electrostatic potential. Compared to the wild-type spike, the Delta one shows a higher affinity towards heparan sulfate proteoglycans than ACE2. Cellular studies showed that syndecan-4, the syndecan isoform abundant in the lung, enhances the transmission of the Delta variant by attaching its mutated spike glycoprotein and facilitating its cellular entry. In addition to the attachment to the polyanionic heparan sulfate chains, the Delta spike’s molecular interactions with syndecan-4 also involve syndecan-4’s cell-binding domain that mediates cell-to-cell adhesion. Exogenously added heparin or syndecan-4 knockdown efficiently blocks the Delta variant’s cellular entry. A profound understanding of syndecan-4-mediated endocytosis enables the development of molecularly targeted yet simple strategies to reduce the Delta variant’s spread.
  • 1.0K
  • 20 Jan 2022
Topic Review
COVID-19 in the Brain and Nervous System
COVID-19 can spread throughout the central nervous system, impacting the brain and spinal cord, and neurological symptoms could explain this in people infected with long-term infection.
  • 1.0K
  • 29 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Host Defense Peptides
Host defense peptides (HDPs), also known as antimicrobial peptides, are an important component of the innate immune system. HDPs possess both antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. HDPs and their derivatives are being actively explored for antimicrobial therapies. A host-directed approach to stimulate the synthesis of endogenous HDPs is also being developed to treat infections with a minimum risk for developing antimicrobial resistance.
  • 1.0K
  • 18 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Probiotics Supplementation on Infections in Athletes
It is well established that physical activity (PA) can have beneficial effects on the whole human body and strength its immune defenses. In fact, scientific evidence has established that regular PA is effective in the prevention of various chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression, osteoporosis, and premature death. However, the effects of PA can be different depending on its intensity and duration. In fact, during heavy training and competitions, a higher incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, such as diarrhea and heartburn, and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) can occur. This is due to acute post-exercise immune breakdowns and chronic suppression of immune factors, dependent on frequent strenuous exercise. Therefore, reducing these symptoms in athletes becomes a top priority. Evidence shows that probiotics could be useful in reducing the risk of development or the severity of GI or URT infections, but firther research in this field is still needed.
  • 1.0K
  • 20 Sep 2022
Topic Review
mRNA, Live-Attenuated/Chimeric and VLP-Based Vaccines
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an enveloped, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus causing seasonal infections in a biphasic age distribution, affecting more frequently children until the age of 2 years with a higher frequency across the age spectrum from 6 weeks to 6 months, as well as older adults due to the reduction of immunity. 
  • 1.0K
  • 03 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Robert Koch
Robert Heinrich Hermann Koch was a pioneering German physician and microbiologist whose groundbreaking work laid the foundations for modern bacteriology. He is most renowned for discovering the causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax, and for formulating the postulates that define pathogenic organisms in infectious diseases.
  • 1.0K
  • 14 Jul 2025
Topic Review
Ampicillin Plus Ceftriaxone Regimen against Enterococcus faecalis Endocarditis
Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis (EFIE) continues to represent a potentially fatal infectious disease characterized by elevated morbidity and mortality. Despite advances in antimicrobial therapy, changing demographics and the reduced availability of useful antibiotics combined with the dissemination of multi-drug resistant strains, the mortality rate remained unchanged in the last decades. Nowadays, optimizing the antibiotic regimen is still of paramount importance.
  • 1.0K
  • 15 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Histoplasmosis in Solid Organ Transplantation
Histoplasma capsulatum, the etiological agent for histoplasmosis, is a dimorphic fungus that grows as a mold in the environment and as a yeast in human tissues. It has a broad global distribution with shifting epidemiology. While in immunocompetent individuals infection is usually self-resolving, solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of symptomatic disease with dissemination to extrapulmonary tissue. Diagnosis of histoplasmosis relies on direct observation of the pathogen (histopathology, cytopathology, and culture) or detection of antigens, antibodies, or nucleic acids. All transplant recipients with histoplasmosis warrant therapy, though the agent of choice and duration of therapy depends on the severity of disease.
  • 998
  • 05 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP4) on COVID-19 Physiopathology
DPP4/CD26 is a single-pass transmembrane protein with multiple functions on glycemic control, cell migration and proliferation, and the immune system, among others. It has acquired an especial relevance due to the possibility to act as a receptor or co-receptor for SARS-CoV-2, as it has been already demonstrated for other coronaviruses. The broad spectrum of functions regulated by DPP4 is performed both as a protease enzyme, as well as an interacting partner of other molecules on the cell surface. 
  • 996
  • 07 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Combination Antibody Therapy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections
Despite advances in antimicrobial therapy and even the advent of some effective vaccines, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) remains a significant cause of infectious disease, primarily due to antibiotic resistance. Although P. aeruginosa is commonly treatable with readily available therapeutics, these therapies are not always efficacious, particularly for certain classes of patients (e.g., cystic fibrosis (CF)) and for drug-resistant strains. Combinations of monoclonal antibodies against different targets and epitopes have demonstrated synergistic efficacy with each other as well as in combination with antimicrobial agents typically used to treat these infections. Such a strategy has reduced the ability of infectious agents to develop resistance. This entry highlights potential targets secreted by P. aeruginosa that future polyclonal antibodies may directed against in order to develop more efficacious treatments against these infections. 
  • 992
  • 06 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Vaccines for Bovine Mycoplasmoses
Two of the most important diseases of cattle are caused by mycoplasmas. Mycoplasma bovis is a world-wide bovine pathogen that can cause pneumonia, mastitis and arthritis. Due to its increasing resistance to antimicrobial therapy, vaccination is the principal focus of the control of infection, but effective vaccines are currently lacking. Despite being eradicated from most parts of the world, Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides, the cause of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), continues to plague sub-Saharan Africa. Numerous new experimental vaccines have been developed over the last 20 years to improve on protection afforded by the T1/44, a live vaccine in continuous use in Africa for over 60 years, but none so far have succeeded; indeed, many have exacerbated the disease.
  • 989
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Malaria Treatment
Malaria is a severe disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which is transmitted to humans by a bite of an infected female mosquito of the species Anopheles. Malaria remains the leading cause of mortality around the world, and early diagnosis and fast-acting treatment prevent unwanted outcomes. It is the most common disease in Africa and some countries of Asia, while in the developed world malaria occurs as imported from endemic areas. 
  • 989
  • 10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Diagnosing Staph Infections with VOC Biomarkers
Staphylococci are broadly adaptable and their ability to grow in unique environments has been widely established, but the most common and clinically relevant staphylococcal niche is the skin and mucous membranes of mammals and birds. S. aureus causes severe infections in mammalian tissues and organs, with high morbidities, mortalities, and treatment costs. S. epidermidis is an important human commensal but is also capable of deadly infections. The development of volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles for the detection and identification of pathogens is an area of intensive research, with significant efforts toward establishing breath tests for infections.
  • 988
  • 13 Mar 2023
Topic Review
SER-109
SER-109, a potential first-in-class oral investigational microbiome therapeutic, was granted Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug designations by the FDA for the treatment of recurrent CDI following standard-of-care antibiotics. SER-109 comprises live purified Firmicutes spores on the basis of their modulatory role in the life cycle of C. difficile and disease pathogenesis. Preclinical data demonstrated the efficacy of Firmicutes spores in reducing CDI recurrence, which led to the hypothesis that spore-forming bacteria may compete metabolically with C. difficile for essential nutrients and/or modulate bile acid profiles to re-establish colonization resistance.
  • 987
  • 04 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Importance and Reality of TDM for Antibiotics
Under the Japanese health insurance system, medicines undergoing therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) can be billed for medical fees if they meet the specified requirements. In Japan, TDM of vancomycin, teicoplanin, aminoglycosides, and voriconazole, which are used for the treatment of infectious diseases, is common practice. This means the levels of antibiotics are measured in-house using chromatography or other methods. In some facilities, the blood and/or tissue concentrations of other non-TDM drugs are measured by HPLC and are applied to treatment, which is necessary for personalized medicine.
  • 986
  • 07 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Parasitic Connection between COVID-19 and Diarylamidines
As emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants (Omicron) continue to outpace and negate combinatorial vaccines and monoclonal antibody therapies targeting the spike protein (S) receptor binding domain (RBD), the appetite for developing similar COVID-19 treatments has significantly diminished, with the attention of the scientific community switching to long COVID treatments.
  • 986
  • 21 Apr 2023
Topic Review
FREM1
FREM1 (Fras-related extracellular matrix 1) and its splice variant TILRR (Toll-like interleukin-1 receptor regulator) have been identified as integral components of innate immune systems. The potential involvement of FREM1 in HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus 1) acquisition was suggested by a genome-wide SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) analysis of HIV-1 resistant and susceptible sex workers enrolled in the Pumwani sex worker cohort (PSWC) in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • 985
  • 24 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Bartonellosis
Bartonellosis is an infectious disease produced by bacteria of the genus Bartonella. Bartonella species cause diseases such as Carrión's disease, trench fever, cat-scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, peliosis hepatis, chronic bacteremia, endocarditis, chronic lymphadenopathy, and neurological disorders.
  • 984
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Virion Structure of SARS-CoV-2 and Viral Inflammation
COVID-19 is an epidemic infection created by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2). SARS-CoV-2 has a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome with 29,891 nucleotides and 38% G + C content, encoding 9860 amino acids. Human coronaviral inflammation induces the clinical symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
  • 984
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Nanotechnology Platform for Advancing Vaccine Development Against COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on societies, public health, healthcare systems, and the world economy. Vaccination emerged as the most effective strategy to combat this infectious disease. For vaccination strategies, any conventional vaccine approach using attenuated live or inactivated/engineered virus, as well as other approaches, typically requires years of research and assessment. However, the urgency of the situation promoted a faster and more effective approach to vaccine development against COVID-19. The role of nanotechnology in designing, manufacturing, boosting, and delivering vaccines to the host to counter this virus was unquestionably valued and assessed.
  • 984
  • 26 Dec 2023
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