PURPOSE: Convalescent plasma (CP) collected from people who recovered from COVID-19 became a rapidly available treatment modality in numerous countries, including the Czech Republic. The aims of our study were to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of CP in the treatment of COVID-19. METHODS: This retrospective observational study involved six Czech hospitals. This study enrolled patients with and without CP treatment who were hospitalized between April 2020 and April 2021. Propensity score matching and logistic regression analysis were performed to evaluate the influence of CP administration and its timing on the in-hospital survival of COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: A total of 1,498 patients were enrolled in the study; 406 (27%) were administered CP, and 1,092 (73%) were not treated with CP. The propensity score-matched control group consisted of 1,218 subjects. The survival of patients treated with CP was 79%, while that of patients in the matched control group was 62% (P<0.001). Moreover, the chance of survival was significantly greater when CP was administered within three days after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms than when CP was administered after four or more days (87% vs. 76%, P <0.001). In addition, adverse effects related to CP administration were recorded in only 2% of patients and were considered mild in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that the administration of CP was safe and possibly associated with positive effects that were more pronounced if CP was administered within the first three days after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.
- MeSH
- COVID-19 * terapie mortalita MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- pasivní imunizace * metody MeSH
- protilátky virové krev MeSH
- retrospektivní studie MeSH
- SARS-CoV-2 * imunologie MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- sérologická léčba covidu-19 * MeSH
- výsledek terapie MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- pozorovací studie MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Česká republika MeSH
BACKGROUND: Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) induce a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and anogenital cancers, particularly cervical cancer (CC). The major viral proteins that contribute to tumorigenesis are the E6 and E7 oncoproteins, whose expression is usually enhanced after the integration of viral DNA into the host genome. Recently, an alternative tumorigenesis pathway has been suggested in approximately half of HNSCC and CC cases associated with HPV infection. This pathway is characterized by extrachromosomal HPV persistence and increased expression of the viral E2, E4, and E5 genes. The E6, E7, E5, and E2 proteins have been shown to modify the expression of numerous cellular immune-related genes. The antitumor immune response is a critical factor in the prognosis of HPV-driven cancers, and its characterization may contribute to the prediction and personalization of the increasingly used cancer immunotherapy. METHODS: We analyzed the immune characteristics of HPV-dependent tumors and their association with carcinogenesis types. Transcriptomic HNSCC and CC datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas were used for this analysis. RESULTS: Clustering with immune-related genes resulted in two clusters of HPV16-positive squamous cell carcinomas in both tumor types: cluster 1 had higher activation of immune responses, including stimulation of the antigen processing and presentation pathway, which was associated with higher immune cell infiltration and better overall survival, and cluster 2 was characterized by keratinization. In CC, the distribution of tumor samples into clusters 1 and 2 did not depend on the level of E2/E5 expression, but in HNSCC, most E2/E5-high tumors were localized in cluster 1 and E2/E5-low tumors in cluster 2. Further analysis did not reveal any association between the E2/E5 levels and the expression of immune-related genes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that while the detection of immune responses associated with preserved expression of genes encoding components of antigen processing and presentation machinery in HPV-driven tumors may be markers of better prognosis and an important factor in therapy selection, the type of carcinogenesis does not seem to play a decisive role in the induction of antitumor immunity.
- MeSH
- dlaždicobuněčné karcinomy hlavy a krku komplikace MeSH
- infekce papilomavirem * komplikace MeSH
- karcinogeneze genetika MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lidské papilomaviry MeSH
- nádory děložního čípku * MeSH
- nádory hlavy a krku * genetika komplikace MeSH
- onkogenní proteiny virové * genetika metabolismus MeSH
- Papillomavirus E7 - proteiny genetika MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
BACKGROUND: Increased glucose uptake and utilization via aerobic glycolysis are among the most prominent hallmarks of tumor cell metabolism. Accumulating evidence suggests that similar metabolic changes are also triggered in many virus-infected cells. Viral propagation, like highly proliferative tumor cells, increases the demand for energy and macromolecular synthesis, leading to high bioenergetic and biosynthetic requirements. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the metabolic changes induced by viruses, the interaction between host cell metabolism and arenavirus infection remains unclear. Our study sheds light on these processes during lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection, a model representative of the Arenaviridae family. METHODS: The impact of LCMV on glucose metabolism in MRC-5 cells was studied using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and biochemical assays. A focus-forming assay and western blot analysis were used to determine the effects of glucose deficiency and glycolysis inhibition on the production of infectious LCMV particles. RESULTS: Despite changes in the expression of glucose transporters and glycolytic enzymes, LCMV infection did not result in increased glucose uptake or lactate excretion. Accordingly, depriving LCMV-infected cells of extracellular glucose or inhibiting lactate production had no impact on viral propagation. However, treatment with the commonly used glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) profoundly reduced the production of infectious LCMV particles. This effect of 2-DG was further shown to be the result of suppressed N-linked glycosylation of the viral glycoprotein. CONCLUSIONS: Although our results showed that the LCMV life cycle is not dependent on glucose supply or utilization, they did confirm the importance of N-glycosylation of LCMV GP-C. 2-DG potently reduces LCMV propagation not by disrupting glycolytic flux but by inhibiting N-linked protein glycosylation. These findings highlight the potential for developing new, targeted antiviral therapies that could be relevant to a wider range of arenaviruses.
The early identification of asymptomatic yet infectious cases is vital to curb the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and to control the disease in the post-pandemic era. In this paper, we propose a fast, inexpensive and high-throughput approach using painless nasal-swab self-collection followed by direct RT-qPCR for the sensitive PCR detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This approach was validated in a large prospective cohort study of 1038 subjects, analysed simultaneously using (1) nasopharyngeal swabs obtained with the assistance of healthcare personnel and analysed by classic two-step RT-qPCR on RNA isolates and (2) nasal swabs obtained by self-collection and analysed with direct RT-qPCR. Of these subjects, 28.6% tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 using nasopharyngeal swab sampling. Our direct RT-qPCR approach for self-collected nasal swabs performed well with results similar to those of the two-step RT-qPCR on RNA isolates, achieving 0.99 positive and 0.98 negative predictive values (cycle threshold [Ct] < 37). Our research also reports on grey-zone viraemia, including samples with near-cut-off Ct values (Ct ≥ 37). In all investigated subjects (n = 20) with grey-zone viraemia, the ultra-small viral load disappeared within hours or days with no symptoms. Overall, this study underscores the importance of painless nasal-swab self-collection and direct RT-qPCR for mass testing during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and in the post-pandemic era.
- MeSH
- COVID-19 diagnóza prevence a kontrola MeSH
- diagnostické testy rutinní metody MeSH
- klinické laboratorní techniky metody MeSH
- kvantitativní polymerázová řetězová reakce MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- odběr biologického vzorku metody MeSH
- plošný screening metody MeSH
- průzkumy a dotazníky MeSH
- samovyšetření metody MeSH
- SARS-CoV-2 genetika MeSH
- senzitivita a specificita MeSH
- testování na COVID-19 metody MeSH
- virová nálož metody MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- validační studie MeSH
BACKGROUND: Data about the genotype-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence in the Czech Republic is limited. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and concordance of genotype-specific HPV infection detected in semen samples, penile swabs and cervical swabs from non-vaccinated heterosexual couples without HPV-associated disease. METHODS: Semen samples and penile swabs were collected from male partners and cervical swabs were collected from female partners of heterosexual couples treated for infertility (n = 195). Presence of HPV DNA in semen samples and cervical swabs was analyzed using the cobas® HPV Test and PapilloCheck®. Only the PapilloCheck® test was used to detect HPV in penile swabs. The genotype-specific prevalence and concordance of HPV infection not targeted by vaccine were evaluated using Fisher exact test. RESULTS: Both partners were infected with any HPV type in 13.8% (27/195) of couples and, of these couples, 55.6% (15/27) harbored at least one mutual genotype. High-risk HPV (hrHPV) genotypes were detected in 12.3% (24/195) of semen samples, 31.3% (61/195) of penile swabs, and 19.5% (38/195) of cervical swabs (P < 0.001). The most prevalent hrHPV genotype were HPV53 (2.56%; 5/195) in semen samples, HPV16 (6.67%, 13/195) in penile swabs and HPV39 (3.59%, 7/195) in cervical swabs. Low-risk (lrHPV) genotypes were detected in 5.13% (10/195) of semen samples, 15.9% (31/195) of penile swabs, and 4.10% (8/195) of cervical swabs (P < 0.001). Male sexual partners of HPV-positive women were more likely to be infected with at least one of the same HPV types than female sexual partners of HPV-positive men (34.9% vs. 17.9%, P = 0.055). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the detection of HPV infection differ by anatomic site and gender. Regardless the anatomic site, high prevalence of HPV genital infection was found in both Czech men and women.
- MeSH
- Alphapapillomavirus * genetika MeSH
- genotyp MeSH
- heterosexualita MeSH
- infekce papilomavirem * epidemiologie MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- prevalence MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Česká republika MeSH
We stratified post-COVID patients into four newly established clinical groups based on the presence or absence of at least one subjective respiratory symptom and at least one objective sign of pulmonary involvement. Nearly half of outpatients and one third of hospitalized post-COVID patients had objective signs of pulmonary involvement without accompanying subjective respiratory symptoms three months after diagnosis.
- MeSH
- COVID-19 * komplikace epidemiologie patologie MeSH
- hospitalizace MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- plíce patofyziologie MeSH
- prospektivní studie MeSH
- SARS-CoV-2 MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Česká republika MeSH
Tetraparvovirus, formerly known as Partetravirus, is a newly discovered genus in the family Parvoviridae that is considered phylogenetically distinct from other parvoviruses. However, nothing is known about the prevalence of Tetraparvovirus in special livestock living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China, such as Tibetan pigs and Tibetan sheep. A pair of special primers was designed based on the conserved regions in the genome of ungulate tetraparvovirus 2 (P-PARV4) and ungulate tetraparvovirus 4 (O-PARV4) and was used to detect P-PARV4 in domestic pigs and Tibetan pigs and O-PARV4 in ovines and Tibetan sheep. The results showed a 15.59 and 9.38% prevalence of P-PARV4 in domestic pigs (18.96% in Gansu Province and 11.76% in Qinghai Province) and Tibetan pigs (14.28% in Gansu Province and 4.44% in Qinghai Province), respectively, and a 7.31 and 5.20% prevalence of O-PARV4 in ovines (6.61% in Gansu Province and 8.00% in Qinghai Province) and Tibetan sheep (4.55% in Gansu Province and 5.50% in Qinghai Province), respectively. The prevalence of P-PARV4 was 14.76% (31/210) for ≤1-month-old pigs and 10.58% (20/189) for > 1-month-old pigs, and the positive rates of O-PARV4 were 7.65% (18/235) for ≤1-month-old sheep and 5.05% (11/218) for > 1-month-old sheep. The phylogenetic analysis of NS1, VP1, VP2 and the whole PARV4-related provirus genome demonstrated that both P-PARV4 and O-PARV4 sequences in this study were more closely related to the sequences of other strains discovered in the same genus of animals. The identity analyses for the full-length VP2 genomes of O-PARV4 revealed 98.84-100.00% sequence identity among the 7 strains and the previously reported strain, which was 98.60-99.28% for P-PARV4. In the present study, for the first time, we have provided comprehensive information regarding the widespread infection of P-PARV4 and O-PARV4 in special livestock on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. Our present findings highlight the importance of epidemiologic surveillance to limit the spread of Tetraparvovirus in livestock at high altitudes in China.
- MeSH
- dobytek virologie MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- genom virový * MeSH
- infekce viry z čeledi Parvoviridae epidemiologie veterinární MeSH
- ovce virologie MeSH
- Parvovirinae genetika izolace a purifikace MeSH
- polymerázová řetězová reakce MeSH
- prasata virologie MeSH
- prevalence MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- virové proteiny genetika MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Čína MeSH
- Tibet MeSH
PURPOSE: To present a possible coincidence of cytomegalovirus retinitis and intraocular lymphoma in a patient with systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 47-year-old woman presented with decreased visual acuity associated with white retinal lesions in both eyes. A history of pneumonia of unknown aetiology closely preceded the deterioration of vision. Five years previously the patient was diagnosed with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She was treated with a chemotherapy regimen comprised of cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristin, and prednisone with later addition of the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab. She experienced a relapse 19 months later with involvement of the retroperitoneal lymph nodes, and commenced treatment with rituximab and 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan. A second relapse occurred 22 months after radioimmunotherapy and was treated with a combination of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and mitoxantrone followed by rituximab. The patient experienced no further relapses until the current presentation (April, 2010).Pars plana vitrectomy with vitreous fluid analysis was performed in the right eye. PCR testing confirmed the presence of cytomegalovirus in the vitreous. Atypical lymphoid elements, highly suspicious of malignancy were also found on cytologic examination. Intravenous foscarnet was administered continually for three weeks, followed by oral valganciclovir given in a dose of 900 mg twice per day. In addition, the rituximab therapy continued at three monthly intervals. Nevertheless, cessation of foscarnet therapy was followed by a recurrence of retinitis on three separate occasions during a 3-month period instigating its reinduction to the treatment regime after each recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Cytomegalovirus retinitis is an opportunistic infection found in AIDS patients as well as in bone marrow and solid organ transplant recipients being treated with systemic immunosuppressive drugs. This case presents a less common incidence of cytomegalovirus retinitis occurring in a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We demonstrated a possible coexistence of cytomegalovirus retinitis and intraocular lymphoma in this particular patient. The final diagnosis was based on clinical manifestations together with the course of uveitis and its response to treatment alongside the results of vitreous fluid analysis. This report highlights the importance of intraocular fluid examination in cases with nonspecific clinical manifestations. Such an examination allows for the detection of simultaneously ongoing ocular diseases of differing aetiologies and enables the prompt initiation of effective treatment.
- MeSH
- antitumorózní látky aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- antivirové látky aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- cytomegalovirová retinitida komplikace terapie MeSH
- Cytomegalovirus izolace a purifikace MeSH
- foskarnet aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- ganciklovir aplikace a dávkování analogy a deriváty MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- myší monoklonální protilátky aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- nádory oka komplikace terapie MeSH
- nehodgkinský lymfom komplikace terapie MeSH
- polymerázová řetězová reakce MeSH
- vitrektomie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- kazuistiky MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
BACKGROUND: Vaccinia virus, one of the best known members of poxvirus family, has a wide host range both in vivo and in vitro. The expression of Flt3 ligand (FL) by recombinant vaccinia virus (rVACV) highly influenced properties of the virus in dependence on the level of expression. RESULTS: High production of FL driven by the strong synthetic promoter decreased the growth of rVACV in macrophage cell line J774.G8 in vitro as well as its multiplication in vivo when inoculated in mice. The inhibition of replication in vivo was mirrored in low levels of antibodies against vaccinia virus (anti-VACV) which nearly approached to the negative serum level in non-infected mice. Strong FL expression changed not only the host range of the recombinant but also the basic protein contents of virions. The major proteins - H3L and D8L - which are responsible for the virus binding to the cells, and 28 K protein that serves as a virulence factor, were changed in the membrane portion of P13-E/L-FL viral particles. The core virion fraction contained multiple larger, uncleaved proteins and a higher amount of cellular proteins compared to the control virus. The overexpression of FL also resulted in its incorporation into the viral core of P13-E/L-FL IMV particles. In contrary to the equimolar ratio of glycosylated and nonglycosylated FL forms found in cells transfected with the expression plasmid, the recombinant virus incorporated mainly the smaller, nonglycosylated FL. CONCLUSIONS: It has been shown that the overexpression of the Flt3L gene in VACV results in the attenuation of the virus in vivo.
- MeSH
- buněčné linie MeSH
- exprese genu MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- membránové proteiny genetika metabolismus MeSH
- myši MeSH
- replikace viru MeSH
- vakcínie genetika metabolismus virologie MeSH
- virus vakcinie genetika fyziologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- myši MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
BACKGROUND: Acute retinal necrosis is a sight-threatening disease caused by the group of herpesviruses. The aim of this paper is to report a case of acute retinal necrosis following ocular trauma in a patient initially treated with vaso-active drugs and corticosteroids for presumed ocular ischemic syndrome. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-years-old otherwise healthy man, who suffered from sudden visual loss in the left eye following contusion, was commenced on vaso-active drugs and systemic corticosteroids for suspected ocular ischemic syndrome with extensive swelling of the optic disc and macular edema. Subsequently, vision in the initially uninvolved right eye decreased. Polymerase chain reaction of vitreous samples and retinal biopsy confirmed varicella zoster virus. Despite intensive treatment with intravenous antiviral medication, the patient became completely blind in both eyes. CONCLUSION: Initial treatment of acute, unexplained visual decrease with systemic corticosteroids may lead to visual loss in patients with developing acute retinal necrosis. Ocular trauma could have induced and corticosteroid treatment promoted reactivation of a latent viral infection in our patient.
- MeSH
- akutní retinální nekróza virologie MeSH
- antivirové látky terapeutické užití MeSH
- herpes zoster diagnóza virologie MeSH
- hormony kůry nadledvin terapeutické užití MeSH
- latence viru MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- poranění oka komplikace MeSH
- vazokonstriktory terapeutické užití MeSH
- virus varicella zoster izolace a purifikace MeSH
- zhmoždění komplikace MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- kazuistiky MeSH
