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Topic Review
HIV–Host Cell Interactions
The development of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) was a great milestone in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. ARVs suppress viral activity in the host cell, thus minimizing injury to the cells and prolonging life. However, an effective treatment has remained elusive for four decades due to the successful immune evasion mechanisms of the virus.
  • 1.5K
  • 18 May 2023
Topic Review
Biofilm Lifestyle in Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) represent one of the most common infections that are frequently encountered in health care facilities. One of the main mechanisms used by bacteria that allows them to survive hostile environments is biofilm formation. Biofilms are closed bacterial communities that offer protection and safe hiding, allowing bacteria to evade host defenses and hide from the reach of antibiotics. Inside biofilm communities, bacteria show an increased rate of horizontal gene transfer and exchange of resistance and virulence genes.
  • 1.5K
  • 16 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Distribution and Diagnostics of Invasive Candidiasis
Invasive candidiasis (IC) is a systemic life-threatening infection of immunocompromised humans, but remains a relatively neglected disease among public health authorities. Ongoing assessments of disease epidemiology are needed to identify and map trends of importance that may necessitate improvements in disease management and patient care. Well-established incidence increases, largely due to expanding populations of patients with pre-disposing risk factors, has led to increased clinical use and pressures on antifungal drugs. This has been exacerbated by a lack of fast, accurate diagnostics that have led treatment guidelines to often recommend preventative strategies in the absence of proven infection, resulting in unnecessary antifungal use in many instances. The consequences of this are multifactorial, but a contribution to emerging drug resistance is of primary concern, with high levels of antifungal use heavily implicated in global shifts to more resistant Candida strains.
  • 1.5K
  • 24 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Clinical Presentations of Human Anthrax
Anthrax is one of the most important zoonotic diseases which primarily infects herbivores and occasionally humans. The etiological agent is Bacillus anthracis which is a Gram-positive, aerobic, spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped bacillus. The spores are resistant to environmental conditions and remain viable for a long time in contaminated soil, which is the main reservoir for wild and domestic mammals. Infections still occur in low-income countries where they cause suffering and economic hardship. Humans are infected by contact with ill or dead animals, contaminated animal products, directly exposed to the spores in the environment or spores released as a consequence of a bioterrorist event. Three classical clinical forms of the disease, cutaneous, gastrointestinal and inhalation, are seen, all of which can potentially lead to sepsis or meningitis.
  • 1.5K
  • 20 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Biofilm Prevention and Therapy: Alternatives to Standard Antibiotics
In order to combat the global health crisis of escalating antibacterial resistance, guidelines on responsible antimicrobial stewardship are urgently required. Yet, currently there is no international consensus. Tackling discrepancies that may arise when implementing novel antibiotics is critical to their longevity of use. A wide range of antibiotics previously heavily used is no longer effective due to elevated minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) doses for treatment. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop effective way to prevent biofilm from forming as well as to carefully apply alternative therapies to standard antibiotic treatments.
  • 1.5K
  • 11 May 2022
Topic Review
SOFA Score
In 2016, the SOFA score was proposed as the main evaluation system for diagnosis in the definition of sepsis 3.0, and the SOFA score has become a new research focus in sepsis. Some people are skeptical about diagnosing sepsis using the SOFA score. Experts and scholars from different regions have proposed different, modified versions of SOFA score to make up for the related problems with the use of the SOFA score in the diagnosis of sepsis. 
  • 1.5K
  • 30 May 2023
Topic Review
Spirochetes as Causative Agents of Alzheimer’s Disease
Spirochetes are bacteria that can also form biofilms, and there is increasing evidence regarding infections with specific species. Borrelia burgdorferi, and several species of treponemes are some of the most studied spirochetes regarding Alzheimer’s Disease. Spirochetes were visualized in the neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques in the brains of individuals with AD, and peptidoglycan was also located near Aβ deposits.
  • 1.5K
  • 06 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Adipocytokines Produced by Adipose Tissue
The alterations of adipocyte-derived signal mediators strongly influence the regulation of inflammation, resulting in chronic low-grade inflammation.
  • 1.5K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Intracellular Lifestyle of Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is part of the normal skin and nasal microbiota, with approximately 30% of the healthy adult population colonized mainly in the nasopharyngeal cavity. While colonization is usually asymptomatic, a symptomatic infection can occur if there is a breach in the mucosal barrier or skin. The severity of symptomatic infections ranges from superficial skin and soft tissue infections, to devastating complications, such as necrotizing pneumonia, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome, and sepsis. In the pre-antibiotic era, S. aureus bacteremia mortality rates were astonishingly high, ranging between 75% and 83%. Even though antibiotics have reduced this number significantly, S. aureus bloodstream infections still account for over 19,000 deaths annually in the United States. With every new antibiotic that is developed, S. aureus resistance has been quickly observed. MRSA strains that are resistant to all penicillin-like β-lactam antibiotics pose a particularly serious threat to the community. Two types of MRSA exist: hospital-acquired (HA-)MRSA and community-acquired (CA-)MRSA. CA-MRSA strains are typically regarded as more virulent and can cause infections in otherwise healthy individuals. This notion is further supported by experimental animal studies, whereas HA-MRSA strains are less virulent than CA-MRSA and cause fewer disseminating diseases. Although in animal models, mice are typically not treated with antibiotics, which is unlike a hospital setting.
  • 1.5K
  • 05 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Effects of Whole-Cell and Acellular Pertussis Vaccines
After the pertussis vaccine had been introduced in the 1940s and was shown to be very successful in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease, the possibility of improving both vaccine composition and vaccination schedules has become the subject of continuous interest.
  • 1.5K
  • 13 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Animal Models and Helicobacter pylori Infection
Helicobacter pylori colonize the gastric mucosa of at least half of the world’s population. Persistent infection is associated with the development of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and an increased risk of gastric cancer and gastric-mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. 
  • 1.5K
  • 14 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Type I IFNs in Long-Haul COVID Syndrome
Interferons (IFNs) are pleiotropic cytokines originally identified for their antiviral activity. IFN-α and IFN-β are both type I IFNs that have been used to treat neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Microglia, astrocytes, as well as neurons in the central and peripheral nervous systems, including spinal cord neurons and dorsal root ganglion neurons, express type I IFN receptors (IFNARs). Type I IFNs play an active role in regulating cognition, aging, depression, and neurodegenerative diseases. Notably, by suppressing neuronal activity and synaptic transmission, IFN-α and IFN-β produced potent analgesia.
  • 1.5K
  • 06 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Discovery, Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Gomesin
Gomesin is a cationic antimicrobial peptide which is isolated from the haemocytes of the Brazilian tarantula Acanthoscurria gomesiana and can be produced chemically by Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis. Gomesin exhibits a range of biological activities, as demonstrated by its toxicity against therapeutically relevant pathogens such as Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, cancer cells, and parasites.
  • 1.5K
  • 04 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Medicinal Plants for Treatment of Common Colds
The common cold is generally considered a usually harmless infectious disease of the upper respiratory pathway, with mostly mild symptoms. However, it should not be overlooked, as a severe cold can lead to serious complications, resulting in hospitalization or death in vulnerable patients. The treatment of the common cold remains purely symptomatic. Analgesics as well as oral antihistamines or decongestants may be advised to relieve fever, and local treatments can clear the airways and relieve nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, or sneezing. Certain medicinal plant specialties can be used as therapy or as complementary self-treatment.
  • 1.5K
  • 11 May 2023
Topic Review
Pharmacogenetics Approach for COVID-19 Treatment
Pharmacogenetics could explain the interindividual variability in the treatment used for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and improve patients’ outcomes with this complex disease. Relevant considerations should be taken into account in the design of the pharmacogenetic studies for drugs used in COVID-19. 
  • 1.5K
  • 10 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Three-Dimensional Cell Culture Methods
Cells, the basic structures of all living organisms, reside in an extracellular matrix consisting of a complex three-dimensional architecture and interact with neighboring cells both mechanically and biochemically. Cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix interactions form a three-dimensional network that maintains tissue specificity and homeostasis. Important biological processes in a cell cycle are regulated by principles organized by the microenvironment surrounding the cell. The conventional cell culture methods failed to mimic in vivo-like structural organization and are insufficient to examine features such as connectivity of cells, cellular morphology, viability, proliferation, differentiation, gene and protein expression, response to stimuli, and drug/vaccine metabolism. Three-dimensional cell culture studies are very important in terms of reducing the need for in vivo studies and creating an intermediate step.
  • 1.5K
  • 17 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Arboviruses as a Cause of Undifferentiated Febrile Illnesses
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are, by definition, transmitted between vertebrate hosts by biting arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks, sandflies, midges and gnats). Some arboviral infections — notably, dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever and West Nile viruses — pose a major public health threat worldwide. Many others are known or thought to lead to acute undifferentiated febrile illness (UFI), of which a significant proportion of cases are not diagnosed. In low-income countries, a diagnosis of UFI is extremely common due to the lack of pathology laboratory resources. Yet, even in high-income nations, which have adequate access to and quality of diagnostic tools, up to one third of pyrexias may be of unknown origin. It has been estimated that between 12-35% of hospitalized patients with UFI die from UFI-associated complications. In this context, identifying the contribution of hitherto less studied arboviruses as potential etiological agents of UFI and prioritizing the development and availability of diagnostic tests may greatly assist in reducing the global burden of UFI-related disease.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Intramedullary Spinal Cord Abscess among Children
Intramedullary spinal cord abscesses (ISCA) are rare. Typical symptoms include signs of infection and neurological deficits. Symptoms among (younger) children can be highly uncharacteristic. Therefore, prompt and proper diagnoses may be difficult. Typical therapeutic options include antibiotics and neurosurgical exploration and drainage.
  • 1.4K
  • 09 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Norovirus
Noroviruses (NoVs) are one of the emerging and rapidly spreading groups of pathogens threatening human health.  A reduction in sporadic NoV infections was noted following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the return of NoV gastroenteritis during the COVID-19 pandemic has been noted recently. Research in recent years has shown that different virus strains are associated with different clinical characteristics; moreover, there is a paucity of research into extraintestinal or unusual complications that may be associated with NoV. 
  • 1.4K
  • 14 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Central Nervous System in Trichinellosis
Trichinellosis is a parasitic disease caused by the consumption of raw meat infected with larvae of nematode in the genus Trichinella. 
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Feb 2022
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