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Topic Review
Humanized Mice for Studies of HIV-1 Persistence
A major roadblock to achieving a cure for human immunodeficiency virus type one (HIV-1) is the persistence of latent viral infections in the cells and tissue compartments of an infected human host. Latent HIV-1 proviral DNA persists in resting memory CD4+ T cells and mononuclear phagocytes (MPs; macrophages, microglia, and dendritic cells). Tissue viral reservoirs of both cell types reside in the gut, lymph nodes, bone marrow, spleen, liver, kidney, skin, adipose tissue, reproductive organs, and brain.
  • 538
  • 14 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Precision Vaccinology Approaches for Adjuvanted Vaccines
Infection persists as one of the leading global causes of morbidity and mortality, with particular burden at the extremes of age and in populations who are immunocompromised or suffer chronic co-morbid diseases. By focusing discovery and innovation efforts to better understand the phenotypic and mechanistic differences in the immune systems of diverse vulnerable populations, emerging research in precision vaccine discovery and development has explored how to optimize immunizations across the lifespan. 
  • 537
  • 07 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Management of Biofilm Producing Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections
Since its initial description in the 1960s, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has developed multiple mechanisms for antimicrobial resistance and evading the immune system, including biofilm production. MRSA is now a widespread pathogen, causing a spectrum of infections ranging from superficial skin issues to severe conditions like osteoarticular infections and endocarditis, leading to high morbidity and mortality. Biofilm production is a key aspect of MRSA’s ability to invade, spread, and resist antimicrobial treatments. Environmental factors, such as suboptimal antibiotics, pH, temperature, and tissue oxygen levels, enhance biofilm formation. Biofilms are intricate bacterial structures with dense organisms embedded in polysaccharides, promoting their resilience. The process involves stages of attachment, expansion, maturation, and eventually disassembly or dispersion. MRSA’s biofilm formation has a complex molecular foundation, involving genes like icaADBC, fnbA, fnbB, clfA, clfB, atl, agr, sarA, sarZ, sigB, sarX, psm, icaR, and srtA. Recognizing pivotal genes for biofilm formation has led to potential therapeutic strategies targeting elemental and enzymatic properties to combat MRSA biofilms. 
  • 534
  • 07 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Sodium Toxicity and Immune Response in COVID-19
High dietary sodium intake leading to sodium toxicity is associated with comorbid conditions of COVID-19 such as hypertension, kidney disease, stroke, pneumonia, obesity, diabetes, hepatic disease, cardiac arrhythmias, thrombosis, migraine, tinnitus, Bell’s palsy, multiple sclerosis, systemic sclerosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome.
  • 533
  • 13 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Toxic Shock Syndrome
Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a rare, life-threatening, toxin-mediated infectious process linked, in the vast majority of cases, to toxin-producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes.
  • 532
  • 01 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Links between Oral Pathogens and Systemic Diseases
The oral cavity is the gateway for microorganisms into your body where they disseminate not only to the directly connected respiratory and digestive tracts but also to the many remote organs. Oral microbiota, travelling to the end of the intestine and circulating in our bodies through blood vessels, not only affect a gut microbiome profile but also lead to many systemic diseases. 
  • 528
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Invasive Mucormycosis in Patients with Hematological Malignancies
The incidence rate of invasive mucormycosis (IM) in patients with hematological malignancies (HMs) is increasing year by year, ranging from 0.07% to 4.29%, and the mortality rate is mostly higher than 50%. With the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM) also became a global health threat.
  • 527
  • 30 May 2023
Topic Review
ApiAP2 Transcription Factors as Malaria Control Drug Targets
The complex life cycle of the malaria parasite Plasmodium requires the parasite to adequately adapt to different conditions. For this reason, Plasmodium strictly controls its gene expression, and given its evolutionary distance from the human host, the involved factors may figure as attractive potential drug targets. In recent years, several unique transcription factors and chromatin modifiers have been identified and partially characterized in Plasmodium falciparum and in the murine species P. yoelii and P. berghei. Due to their structural differences compared with human factors, they may be attractive drug targets. 
  • 527
  • 24 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Strains
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common pathogen involved in community- and hospital-acquired infections. Its biofilm formation ability predisposes it to device-related infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains are associated with more serious infections and higher mortality rates and are more complex in terms of antibiotic resistance.
  • 525
  • 07 Nov 2023
Topic Review
COVID-19, HLH and Pregnant/Postpartum Women
The term ‘cytokine storm’ (CS) applies to a pathological autoimmune reaction when the interactions that lead to cytokine production are destabilised and may even lead to death. CS may be induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. It is noteworthy that many of the criteria used to diagnose haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) are described as COVID-19 mortality predictors. Cytokine storms are considered to be an important cause of death in patients with the severe course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Due to the fact that pregnant women are in an immunosuppressive state, viral pulmonary infections are more perilous for them—possible risks include miscarriage, intrauterine growth restriction or birth before the term; sometimes ventilation support is needed. HLH should be considered in pregnant and puerperal women suffering from moderately severe to severe COVID-19 and presenting with: fever unresponsive to antibiotic therapy, cytopenia, hepatitis and hyperferritinaemia.
  • 521
  • 26 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Ambulatory Antibiotic Management of Acute Pyelonephritis
Acute pyelonephritis (APN) is a relatively common community-acquired infection, particularly in women. The early appropriate antibiotic treatment of this potentially life-threatening infection is associated with improved outcomes. The utilization of clinical tools for the prediction of resistance to first-line antibiotics may mitigate the burden of increasing antibiotic resistance in the community by ensuring that the initial antibiotic prescribed has the highest likelihood of treating APN appropriately. 
  • 520
  • 02 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Vitamin D Serum Concentrations and COVID-19
Active vitamin D [1,25(OH)2D3—calcitriol] is a secosteroid hormone whose receptor is expressed on all cells of the immune system. Vitamin D has a global anti-inflammatory effect and its role in the management of a SARS-CoV-2 infection has been investigated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 519
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Neisseria gonorrhoeae Antimicrobial Resistance
The growing threat of antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhea, presents a current public health challenge. Over the years, the pathogen has developed resistance to different antibiotics, leaving few effective treatment options. High-level resistance to key drugs, including ceftriaxone, has become a concerning reality.
  • 516
  • 05 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Interrelationship between COVID-19 and Coagulopathy
Since the first description of COVID-19 infection, among clinical manifestations of the disease, including fever, dyspnea, cough, and fatigue, it was observed a high incidence of thromboembolic events potentially evolving towards acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and COVID-19-associated-coagulopathy (CAC). The hypercoagulation state is based on an interaction between thrombosis and inflammation. The so-called CAC represents a key aspect in the genesis of organ damage from SARS-CoV-2. The prothrombotic status of COVID-19 can be explained by the increase in coagulation levels of D-dimer, lymphocytes, fibrinogen, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and prothrombin time. Several mechanisms have been hypothesized to explain this hypercoagulable process such as inflammatory cytokine storm, platelet activation, endothelial dysfunction, and stasis for a long time. 
  • 511
  • 24 May 2023
Topic Review
Framework for Diagnosis of Sepsis
Although the diagnosis of sepsis requires the identification of the three components of infection, a systemic inflammation response, and organ dysfunction, there is currently no consensus on gold-standard criteria. There are however suggested tools and tests, which have been proposed in international guidelines, including those produced by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. Biomarkers play an important role in these tools and tests, and numerous heterogeneous studies have been performed to evaluate their respective clinical utility.
  • 508
  • 19 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Pharmacokinetics-Pharmacodynamics of Surgical Antimicrobial Prophylaxis
Appropriate surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) is an important measure in preventing surgical site infections (SSIs). Although antimicrobial pharmacokinetics–pharmacodynamics (PKPD) is integral to optimizing antibiotic dosing for the treatment of infections, there is less research on preventing infections postsurgery. Whereas clinical studies of SAP dose, preincision timing, and redosing are informative, it is difficult to isolate their effect on SSI outcomes. Antimicrobial PKPD aims to explain the complex relationship between antibiotic exposure during surgery and the subsequent development of SSI. It accounts for the many factors that influence the PKs and antibiotic concentrations in patients and considers the susceptibilities of bacteria most likely to contaminate the surgical site. 
  • 507
  • 08 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Opportunities and Challenges in Anti-Acanthamoeba Drug Discovery
The unicellular eukaryotic Acanthamoeba spp. are ubiquitous free-living protists and can survive in various environments, such as water, soil and air. Although major strides have been made in developing and testing various anti-acanthamoebic drugs, recurrent infections, inadequate treatment outcomes, health complications, and side effects associated with the use of currently available drugs necessitate the development of more effective and safe therapeutic regimens. For any new anti-acanthamoebic drugs to be more effective, they must have either superior potency and safety or at least comparable potency and an improved safety profile compared to the existing drugs. 
  • 503
  • 20 Feb 2024
Topic Review
T-Cell Leukemia Vvirus-1-Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis
Slowly progressive spastic paraparesis with bladder dysfunction, the main clinical feature of human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), is induced by chronic inflammation in the spinal cord, mainly the lower thoracic cord. A long-standing bystander mechanism, such as the destruction of surrounding tissues by inflammatory cytokines, etc., induced under the interaction between infiltrated HTLV-1-infected CD4+ T cells and HTLV-1-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, has been considered implicated for the induction of chronic inflammation. As this bystander mechanism is triggered conceivably by the transmigration of HTLV-1-infected CD4+ T cells to the spinal cord, heightened transmigrating activity of HTLV-1-infected CD4+ T cells to the spinal cord might play a crucial role as the first responder in the development of HAM/TSP.
  • 502
  • 26 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Updates in Culture-Negative Endocarditis
Blood culture-negative infective endocarditis (BCNE) is a challenging condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality.
  • 502
  • 24 Aug 2023
Topic Review
7-Methyljuglone in Tuberculosis Treatment
7-Methyljuglone (7-MJ) is a pure compound isolated from the roots of Euclea natalensis A. DC., a shrub indigenous to South Africa. It exhibits significant promise as a potential treatment for the highly communicable disease tuberculosis (TB), owing to its effective antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 
  • 502
  • 01 Mar 2024
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