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Topic Review
Daily Persistent Headache and COVID-19
Dubbed Long COVID or Long-Haul COVID, those recovering from the initial COVID-19 infection may maintain clinical signs for longer than two or more weeks following the initial onset of the infection. The virus can gain entry into the CNS through axonal transport mediated through the olfactory nerve or hematogenous spread and can also cross the blood–brain barrier to access the temporal lobe and the brainstem. The neurologic and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with COVID-19 patients are becoming a highly studied area due to the increased frequency of reported cases. Multiple hospital case series and observational studies have found a headache to be a common symptom among patients who are symptomatic with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The headache described by many of these patients is similar to new daily persistent headache (NDPH). NDPH potentially develops in response to pro-inflammatory cytokines during a persistent systemic or CNS inflammation, mostly due to the initial infection. The treatments investigated were high-dose steroids, tetracycline derivatives, onabotulinum toxin type A, and long-term multidrug regimens. Among the identified symptoms of post-COVID-19 viral illness, fatigue appears to be the most ubiquitous. 
  • 1.4K
  • 11 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Local Antibiotic Carriers in Prosthetic Joint Infection
Prosthetic Joint Infection (PJI) causes significant morbidity and mortality for patients globally. Delivery of antibiotics to the site of infection has potential to improve the treatment outcomes and enhance biofilm eradication. These antibiotics can be delivered using an intra-articular catheter or combined with a carrier substance to enhance pharmacokinetic properties. Use of an antibiotic carrier is an alternative method of maintaining high local concentrations of antibiotic without systemic exposure. These substances incorporate an antimicrobial to prolong its half-life and provide predictable elution characteristics. They may also serve additional roles, such as filling dead space and providing mechanical support for limb alignment. The ideal antibiotic carrier would provide prolonged antibiotic concentrations at an effective level and achieve complete antibiotic release to minimise subtherapeutic elution time. It would also be versatile and have compatibility with the desired antibiotics, and fully resorbable with minimal risk of allergies, and systemic or local adverse effects.
  • 1.3K
  • 25 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Immunological Methods of Common Intestinal Protozoa
Intestinal protozoan infection is a persistent public health problem affecting the populations of developing countries in tropical and subtropical regions. The diagnosis of intestinal protozoa remains a challenge especially in developing countries due to a shortage of laboratory facilities, limited health funding, and the remoteness of communities. Despite still being widely used, conventional diagnoses using microscopy and staining methods pose important limitations, particularly due to their low sensitivities and specificities. The selection of diagnostic methods needs to be carefully considered based on the objective of examination, availability of resources, and the expected parasite to be found. Immunodiagnostic tests are generally inexpensive, user-friendly, and enable fast-obtained results. Antibody and antigen detection tests, such as indirect hemagglutination (IHA), indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), direct fluorescent antibody (DFA), rapid enzyme immune assay (EIA), immunochromatographic test (ICT), or latex agglutination, are commercially available via several different platforms. The combination of antibody and fecal antigen detection assays is more sensitive and specific than microscopy for the diagnosis of several intestinal protozoan infections.
  • 1.3K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Post-COVID Syndrome
Post-COVID syndrome is increasingly recognized as a new clinical entity in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Biofilm Formation Based on Studies with Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Studies with the bacterium P. aeruginosa provide important information about the attachment process. One important consideration is how bacteria sense a surface. In P. aeruginosa, there are two distinct surface sensing mechanisms. The first one involves a WSP chemosensory system. In response to the surface contact, the WSP system stimulates the production of cyclic diguanylate. The initial event is uncertain; it probably involves distortion of the cell membrane, which then activates membrane proteins. A second surface sensing mechanism involves type 4 pili. Upon contact with the surface, the methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein Pil J transduces a signal to the protein CyaB, stimulating its activity. 
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Wickerhamomyces Yeast Killer Toxins
Bacteriocins are ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides produced from a wide variety of bacteria that inhibit the growth of similar or closely related bacterial strains. A similar phenomenon of competition is present in yeasts, based on the production of killer toxins (KTs, or mycocins) that are secreted proteins or glycoproteins capable of killing susceptible microorganisms with various mechanisms of action, through interaction with specific superficial receptors. Possible implications and applications of the yeast killer phenomenon in the fight against infectious diseases are reviewed in this work, with particular reference to some wide-spectrum killer toxins (KTs) produced by Wickerhamomyces anomalus and other related species. 
  • 1.3K
  • 15 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Regulation of cGAS Activity and Downstream Signaling
Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is a predominant and ubiquitously expressed cytosolic dsDNA sensor that activates innate immune responses by producing a second messenger, cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP), and activating the stimulator of interferon genes (STING). cGAS contains a highly disordered N-terminus, which can sense genomic/chromatin DNA, while the C terminal of cGAS binds dsDNA liberated from various sources, including mitochondria, pathogens, and dead cells. Furthermore, cGAS cellular localization dictates its response to foreign versus self-DNA.
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Anti-Tubercular
Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are small cationic and amphipathic molecules that play a vital role in the host immune system by acting as a first barrier against invading pathogens. The broad spectrum of properties that peptides possess make them one of the best possible alternatives for a new “post-antibiotic” era.
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Photobiomodulation Therapy and COVID-19
COVID-19 is a viral disease characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Since then, researchers from all over the world have been looking for ways to fight this disease. Many cases of complications arise from insufficient immune responses due to low immunity, with intense release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that can damage the structure of organs such as the lung. Thus, the hypothesis arises that photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) with the use of a low-level laser (LLLT) may be an ally approach to patients with COVID-19 since it is effective for increasing immunity, helping tissue repair, and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines. This systematic entry was performed with the use of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar databases with the following keywords: “low-level laser therapy OR photobiomodulation therapy AND COVID-19”. 
  • 1.3K
  • 04 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Covalent Reversible Inhibitors of Cysteine Proteases
Serine and cysteine proteases are a class of drug targets that could greatly benefit from the features of the nitrile group as a warhead for the design and discovery of innovative and effective drugs.
  • 1.3K
  • 05 May 2022
Topic Review
Organoid Models of SARS-CoV-2
Organoids are defined as three-dimensional structures grown from stem cells and consist of organ-specific cell types that self-organize to recapitulate key features and functional characteristics of tissues in a dish. Organoids can be initiated from two main types of stem cells: (1) pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cells or synthetically induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and (2) organ-restricted stem cells. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was classified as a pandemic in March 2020. Organoids from diverse human organs have been adopted to understand COVID-19 and the effects the virus has on organs.
  • 1.3K
  • 17 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Decoding Sepsis-Induced Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation
Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a pathological disease that often manifests as a complication in patients with sepsis. Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response caused by infection and is a major public health concern worldwide.
  • 1.3K
  • 25 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Potential Association of Cutibacterium acnes with Sarcoidosis
The immunohistochemical detection of Cutibacterium acnes in sarcoid granulomas suggests its potential role in granuloma formation. C. acnes is the sole microorganism ever isolated from sarcoid lesions. Histopathologic analysis of some sarcoid lymph nodes reveals latent infection and intracellular proliferation of cell-wall-deficient C. acnes followed by insoluble immune-complex formation. Activation of T helper type 1 (Th1) immune responses by C. acnes is generally higher in sarcoidosis patients than in healthy individuals. Pulmonary granulomatosis caused by an experimental adjuvant-induced allergic immune response to C. acnes is preventable by antimicrobials, suggesting that the allergic reaction targets C. acnes commensal in the lungs. C. acnes is the most common bacterium detected intracellularly in human peripheral lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes. In predisposed individuals with hypersensitive Th1 immune responses to C. acnes, granulomas may form to confine the intracellular proliferation of latent C. acnes triggered by certain host-related or drug-induced conditions. 
  • 1.3K
  • 31 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Anisakiasis
Anisakiasis is a zoonosis caused by the ingestion of raw or undercooked seafood infected with third-stage larvae (L3) of the marine nematode Anisakis. Based on L3 localization in human accidental hosts, gastric, intestinal or ectopic (extra-gastrointestinal) anisakiasis can occur, in association with mild to severe symptoms of gastrointestinal and/or allergic nature.
  • 1.3K
  • 20 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Crises in Antimicrobial Stewardship
Helicobacter pylori is a class I carcinogen that infects more than 100 million individuals in the United States. Antimicrobial therapy for H. pylori has typically been prescribed empirically rather than based on susceptibility testing.
  • 1.3K
  • 06 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Macrolide Resistance in Bordetella pertussis
Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis bacterium. The mainstay of treatment is macrolide antibiotics that reduce transmissibility, shorten the duration of symptoms and decrease mortality in infants. 
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Adult Abdominal Tuberculosis Diagnosis
Tuberculosis is a common systemic infection with the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is primarily found in the lungs and causes caseous inflammation in lung tissue and other organs. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that spreads via the air. Tuberculosis is an endemic disease in developing countries, due to the wide spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), it might represent a problem in developed countries, as well. Only around one-fifth of patients diagnosed with abdominal TB have pulmonary disease. 
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Peptide Libraries with Antimicrobial Activity
Authors describe how by coupling emerging in silico and experimental tools it is possible to create novel peptide libraries with potential antimicrobial activity. This is in response to the growing public health concern pose by multiresistant microbial strains that take millions of lives annually on a global scale. The in silico tools include emerging artificial intelligence algorithms that allow searching for novel sequences in extremely large databases. Once identified, the required membrane activity can be estimated by looking at the interactions with model lipid bilayers via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Experimentally, the sequences can be expressed on the surface of yeasts by the surface display technology and subsequently screened in a high-throughput manner aided by microfluidic systems capable of separating out the most active peptides by precisely monitoring changes in optical properties in-line and real-time. 
  • 1.3K
  • 24 May 2021
Topic Review
Tuberculosis Treatment and Impact of Drug Delivery Systems
With an incidence of ten million cases and between one and two million deaths each year, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the deadliest infectious agent currently. In this entry, the general physiopathology of tuberculosis is described, as well as the drugs constituting the first- and second-line treatments. The potential of nanosized drug delivery systems for the treatment of tuberculosis is also highlighted.
  • 1.3K
  • 31 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Mechanism of Action of Curcumin
Curcumin, one of the major ingredients of turmeric (Curcuma longa), has been widely reported for its diverse bioactivities, including against malaria and inflammatory-related diseases. Curcumin’s low bioavailability limits its potential as an antimalarial and anti-inflammatory agent. Therefore, research on the design and synthesis of novel curcumin derivatives is being actively pursued to improve the pharmacokinetic profile and efficacy of curcumin.
  • 1.3K
  • 05 May 2023
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