Nevin Manimala

Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1111/brv.12840. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Mercury contamination is a major threat to the global environment, and is still increasing in some regions despite international regulations. The methylated form of mercury is hazardous to biota, yet its sublethal effects are difficult to detect in wildlife. Body condition can vary in response to stressors, but previous studies have shown mixed effects of mercury on body condition in wildlife. Using birds as study organisms, we provide the first quantitative synthesis of the effect of mercury on body condition in animals. In addition, we explored the influence of intrinsic, extrinsic and methodological factors potentially explaining cross-study heterogeneity in results. We considered experimental and correlative studies carried out in adult birds and chicks, and mercury exposure inferred from blood and feathers. Most experimental investigations (90%) showed a significant relationship between mercury concentrations and body condition. Experimental exposure to mercury disrupted nutrient (fat) metabolism, metabolic rates, and food intake, resulting in either positive or negative associations with body condition. Correlative studies also showed either positive or negative associations, of which only 14% were statistically significant. Therefore, the overall effect of mercury concentrations on body condition was null in both experimental (estimate ± SE = 0.262 ± 0.309, 20 effect sizes, five species) and correlative studies (-0.011 ± 0.020, 315 effect sizes, 145 species). The single and interactive effects of age class and tissue type were accounted for in meta-analytic models of the correlative data set, since chicks and adults, as well as blood and feathers, are known to behave differently in terms of mercury accumulation and health effects. Of the 15 moderators tested, only wintering status explained cross-study heterogeneity in the correlative data set: free-ranging wintering birds were more likely to show a negative association between mercury and body condition. However, wintering effect sizes were limited to passerines, further studies should thus confirm this trend in other taxa. Collectively, our results suggest that (i) effects of mercury on body condition are weak and mostly detectable under controlled conditions, and (ii) body condition indices are unreliable indicators of mercury sublethal effects in the wild. Food availability, feeding rates and other sources of variation that are challenging to quantify likely confound the association between mercury and body condition in natura. Future studies could explore the metabolic effects of mercury further using designs that allow for the estimation and/or manipulation of food intake in both wild and captive birds, especially in under-represented life-history stages such as migration and overwintering.

PMID:35174617 | DOI:10.1111/brv.12840

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14854. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Pemphigus is a series of autoimmune skin disorders caused by IgG. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a subset of CD4+ T cells that mostly block pathogenic immune responses mediated by self-reactive cells, therefore a lack of Tregs or a malfunction in their activity could lead to a loss of tolerance and the development of autoimmunity. .

AIMS: to evaluate the expression of lesional and perilesional Treg markers (CD4+ CD25+ bright FOXP3+) in pemphigus patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty three pemphigus patients and 20 healthy controls were included in this study. The expression of CD4, CD25 and Foxp3 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS: There was statistically significant increase in CD4+ T lymphocytes in lesional skin of pemphigus compared to perilesional skin and control group (P-value: 0.001). There was statistically significant decrease in CD25+ and Foxp3+ cells in lesional skin compared to perilesional and control group (P-value: <0.001, 0.025 respectively ).

CONCLUSION: The reduction of lesional skin Tregs may play an important role in the pemphigus pathogenesis.

PMID:35174611 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14854

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14852. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is a multifactorial disease that mostly heals by scarring. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) is a proinflammatory cytokine, suggested to play a key role in acne pathogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of IL1β in acne vulgaris and acne scars to evaluate its possible role in their pathogenesis and to study the relation between expression of IL1β and the clinicopathological parameters.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on sixty subjects (twenty patients with acne vulgaris and twenty patients with acne scars), and twenty healthy volunteers as controls. Skin biopsies were taken from patients and controls for routine histopathological examination with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stain and IHC staining of IL-1β.

RESULTS: There was a statistically significant increase in expression of IL-1β in acne vulgaris compared to post-acne scars and controls, (p<0.001) for both. IL-1β expression was significantly positively correlated with both clinical severity of acne vulgaris (p=0.022) and severity of histopathological inflammation (p=0.011).

CONCLUSION: IL-1β expression was associated with acne vulgaris and post acne scars with significant positive correlation to clinical and histopathological severity of acne vulgaris. Thus IL-1β could be a key player cytokine in acne pathogenesis, its severity and development of post acne scars.

PMID:35174608 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14852

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14853. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study tested whether subcutaneous fat loss is enhanced via application of a popular topical fat loss lotion. Twenty resistance-trained men (mean ±SD age of 26.3±6.3 years and weight of 86.8±11.1 kg) had a topical fat-loss lotion containing Coleus forskholii, Silybin, Eucommia ulmoides leaf, Paullinia cupana seed, caffeine and black pepper essential oil applied twice daily for 8 weeks to the front and lateral thigh of one of the participant’s leg, and a placebo control lotion was applied to the same sites on the other leg. After 8 weeks, there were no significant differences between the placebo and treatment legs for the change in subcutaneous fat thickness of the front thigh (P=0.73) or for leg fat percentage (P=0.52). However, there was a slight, yet significant difference in the change in subcutaneous fat thickness of the lateral thigh favouring the treatment leg (-0.42 vs +0.75 mm, P=0.029), but with this difference disappearing depending on the statistical tests being used. Only 2/19 participants perceived a difference in fat loss in response to each condition. Although the topical lotion tested here resulted in statistically significantly greater subcutaneous fat loss at the lateral but not front thigh, this effect was very small, contingent upon the statistical test being used, and unperceivable by the participants themselves.

PMID:35174607 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14853

J Appl Microbiol. 2022 Feb 17. doi: 10.1111/jam.15494. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: There are knowledge gaps regarding STEC and EPEC strains in livestock in Jiangsu, China. This study aimed to evaluate the potential public health significance of STEC and EPEC strains isolated from livestock by determining the serotypes, virulence profiles, and genetic relationship with international STEC strains.

METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 68 STEC and 37 EPEC strains were obtained from 231 fecal sheep samples and 70 fecal cattle samples. By using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis, all STEC belonged to 15 O:H serotypes and the most prevalent serotypes were O6:H10 (19.1%), O155:H21 (14.7%), and O21:H25 (10.3%). The main Shiga toxin gene subtypes detected were stx1c (41.2%), stx1a (26.5%), stx2b (14.7%) and stx2k (14.7%). Only the STEC from cattle carried eae gene. Other adherence-associated or toxin-related genes, including lpfA (70.6%), iha (48.5%), subA (54.4%), and ehxA (33.8%), were found in STEC. All EPEC strains were bfpA-negative, and the predominant eae variants were eae-β1 (62.2%), eae-ζ (21.6%), and eae-θ (8.1%). The core-genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) analysis revealed nine scattered clusters in STEC and one dominant cluster in EPEC. The strains with the same serotypes, including O22:H8 and O43:H2 in the two towns, possessed a closely genomic distance. The core genome single nucleotide polymorphism (cgSNP) showed that part of STEC strains in this study were clustered with isolates possessing the same serotypes from the Netherlands, Sweden, and Xinjiang of China. Five serotypes of STEC isolates were associated with the clinical STEC strains from databases.

CONCLUSION: This study provided the diverse serotypes and the virulence genes profiles in STEC and EPEC strains. Local strains possessed widely diverse and scattered clusters by cgMLST. Closely genomic correlation with clinical isolates displayed that part of the STEC strains may threaten to public health.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Non-O157 STEC strains act as important pathogens for human infections. This study supports the increased surveillance work of non-O157 STEC rather than just O157 STEC in this region.

PMID:35174586 | DOI:10.1111/jam.15494

J Vet Intern Med. 2022 Feb 17. doi: 10.1111/jvim.16360. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Use of diets with increased concentrations of dietary fiber is thought to be beneficial in the management of dogs with large bowel diarrhea.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether feeding a diet with high concentrations of soluble and insoluble fiber to dogs with acute colitis would be superior to feeding a diet with typical fiber levels.

ANIMALS: A total of 52 dogs with acute signs of large bowel diarrhea housed in an animal shelter were entered into the study; 11 dogs per diet completed the protocol.

METHODS: In this randomized, prospective study, dogs with a fecal score of 4, 5, 6, or 7 and signs of acute colitis were fed a high fiber diet (4.54% soluble; 15.16% insoluble fiber) or a standard diet (0.6% soluble; 5.33% insoluble fiber) and fecal scores compared over the course of the study with significance defined as P < .05.

RESULTS: All dogs fed the high fiber diet (11/11; 100%) had a fecal score <5 on the day of adoption or day 9, which was statistically different (P < .04) than dogs fed the standard diet (6/11 dogs; 55%; 95% CI: 23-83). The proportions of stools with a fecal score >4 were greater (P = .0001) in the dogs fed the standard diet (29/48 samples; 60%; 95% CI: 45-74) compared to the high fiber diet (8/50 samples; 16%; 95% CI: 7-29).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The results support feeding the high fiber diet described herein to dogs with acute large bowel diarrhea.

PMID:35174561 | DOI:10.1111/jvim.16360

J Clin Lab Anal. 2022 Feb 17:e24285. doi: 10.1002/jcla.24285. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic in March 2020. Initially, supply chain disruptions and increased demand for testing led to shortages of critical laboratory reagents and inadequate testing capacity. Thus, alternative means of biosample collection and testing were essential to overcome these obstacles and reduce viral transmission. This study aimed to 1) compare the sensitivity and specificity of Cepheid GeneXpert^® IV and BioFire^® FilmArray^® 2.0 next generation detection systems to detect SARS-CoV-2, 2) evaluate the performance of both platforms using different biospecimen types, and 3) assess saline as an alternative to viral transport media (VTM) for sample collection.

METHODS: A total of 1,080 specimens consisting of nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs in VTM, NP swabs in saline, nasal swabs, oropharyngeal (OP) swabs, and saliva were collected from 216 enrollees. Limit of detection (LoD) assays, NP VTM and NP saline concordance, and saliva testing were performed on the BioFire^® FilmArray^® 2.0 Respiratory Panel 2.1 and Cepheid GeneXpert^® Xpress SARS-CoV-2/Flu/RSV assays.

RESULTS: LoD and comparative testing demonstrated increased sensitivity with the Cepheid compared with the BioFire^® in detecting SARS-CoV-2 in NP VTM and saline, nasal, and OP swabs. Conversely, saliva testing on the Cepheid showed statistically significant lower sensitivity compared to the BioFire^® . Finally, NP swabs in saline showed no significant difference compared with NP swabs in VTM on both platforms.

CONCLUSION: The Cepheid and BioFire^® NGDS are viable options to address a variety of public health needs providing rapid and reliable, point-of-care testing using a variety of clinical matrices.

PMID:35174538 | DOI:10.1002/jcla.24285

Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1111/bcp.15280. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Several cases of herpes zoster (HZ) following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273) have been reported, and first epidemiological evidences suggest an increased risk. We used the worldwide pharmacovigilance database VigiBase to describe HZ cases following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. We performed disproportionality analyses (case/non-case statistical approach) to assess the relative risk of HZ reporting in mRNA COVID-19 vaccine recipients compared to influenza vaccine recipients and according to patient age. Until 30^th June 2021, of 716,928 reports with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, we found 7,728 HZ cases. When compared to influenza vaccines, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were associated with a significantly higher reporting of HZ (reporting odds-ratio 1.9, 95%CI [1.8-2.1]). Furthermore, we found a reduced risk of reporting HZ among under 40 year-old persons compared to older persons (reporting odds-ratio 0.39, 95%CI [0.36-0.41]). Mild and infrequent HZ reactions may occur shortly after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, at higher frequency than reported with influenza vaccination, especially in patients over 40 year-old. Further analyses are needed to confirm this risk.

PMID:35174524 | DOI:10.1111/bcp.15280

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1111/cen.14698. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Thyrotropin (TSH) suppression therapy is standard treatment after surgery for differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). It may be associated with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. However, there are no guidelines for bone mineral density (BMD) testing intervals to screen for osteoporosis in these patients. Therefore, we evaluated the timing of repeated BMD testing in DTC patients with TSH suppression according to baseline T-scores.

DESIGN, PATIENTS, AND MEASUREMENT: We retrospectively evaluated 658 DTC patients who underwent BMD testing more than twice between January 2007 and January 2020. A 1:3 propensity score matching was conducted to compare the timing of repeated BMD tests between the DTC and non-DTC groups. We stratified the participants into four groups based on their baseline T-scores: normal (-1.00 or higher), mild osteopenia (-1.01 to -1.49), moderate osteopenia (-1.50 to -1.99), and severe osteopenia (-2.00 to -2.49). Additionally, the 10% of patients in each group that transitioned to osteoporosis were analyzed.

RESULTS: The estimated BMD testing interval for 10% of patients who developed osteoporosis was 85 months for patients with initially mild osteopenia, 65 months for those with moderate osteopenia, and 15 months for those with severe osteopenia in the DTC group. In the non-DTC group, the testing intervals for mild, moderate, and severe osteopenia were 98, 57, and 13 months, respectively. On multivariate analysis, baseline T-score (mild osteopenia: hazard ratio [HR] 5.91, p = 0.105; moderate osteopenia: HR 25.27, p = 0.02; and severe osteopenia: HR 134.82, p < 0.001) and duration of TSH suppression (tertile 2: HR 2.25, p = 0.005; tertile 3: 1.78, p = 0.033) were independent risk factors for osteoporosis in the DTC group.

CONCLUSION: This study provides guidance for the timing of repeated BMD tests in women over 50 years of age with TSH suppression. The rescreening interval for BMD testing can be modified based on the baseline T-score. The appropriate BMD testing intervals in female DTC patients were similar to those in non-DTC females. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35174522 | DOI:10.1111/cen.14698

J Med Virol. 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27663. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a threatening impact on a global scale, largely due to the emergence of newly SARS-CoV-2 variants. The Mu (PANGO lineage B.1.621), was first identified in Colombia in January 2021 and was classified as a variant of interest (VOI) in August 2021, due to a constellation of mutations that likely-mediate an unexpectedly enhanced immune resistance to inactivated vaccine-elicited antibodies. Despite if recently studies suggested that the Mu variant appear to have a less infectivity than the Delta variant, here we examined the structural effect of the Mu spike protein mutations and predicted the potential impact on infectivity of the Mu variant compared with the Delta and Delta plus spike protein. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35174519 | DOI:10.1002/jmv.27663