Eperythrozoon coccoides I. Effect on the Interferon Response in Mice

Eperythrozoon coccoides is a common blood parasite of rodents and the etiological agent of a chronic infection present in many mouse colonies. After primary infection, mice develop a parasitemia and anemia followed by a chronic, latent infection. During the acute phase of infection, mice manifest a striking suppression of interferon production in response to induction with Newcastle disease virus, Chikungunya virus, and poly I:C. These data suggest that the reticuloendothelial system involvement with this agent is associated with impairment of the interferon response. The enhanced susceptibility of E. coccoides-infected animals to certain viral infections may be related to this suppression of interferon production.     

Nutrient Intake in Children 4–13 Years Old in Ibadan,Nigeria

The paucity of adequate data on dietary and nutrient intakes of school-age children is a barrier to addressing malnutrition and associated risks in Nigeria. This study included 955 children aged 4–13 years from Ibadan, Nigeria, using a stratified random sampling design. Information on family socio-demographic characteristics was reported, and child anthropometrics were measured. Dietary intake data were collected using a multi-pass 24 h dietary recall method; 20% of subjects completed a second 24 h recall to estimate usual nutrient intakes. Means and distributions of usual intakes of energy and nutrients as well as prevalence of inadequacy were estimated. Usual energy intake (kcal/day) was 1345 and 1590 for younger (4–8 years) and older (9–13 years) age groups, respectively. The macronutrient intakes of most children did not conform to Adequate Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDRs), which were characterized by a higher proportion of energy from carbohydrates and lower proportion from total fats. Protein intake was largely within the AMDR. Compared to recommendations, over 60% of 4–8-year-old children had inadequate intakes of calcium, copper, iron, folate, and vitamins A, D, and E. There were more micronutrient inadequacies in the older children. This study identifies nutrition gaps and suggests future research and education to improve child nutrition in Nigeria.     

Fear Assessment in Inflammatory Rheumatic diseases (FAIR) questionnaire: a cross-cultural adaptation and validation to the Turkish language

In chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRD), it is important to understand patients’ fears towards their disease in order to improve patient-physician dialog, to raise the quality of care offered, and to optimize treatment adherence. In this study, we aimed to translate the Fear Assessment in Inflammatory Rheumatic diseases (FAIR) questionnaire into Turkish and evaluate its psychometric properties in patients with CIRD. One hundred fifteen patients filled the provided socio-demographic information form, FAIR-Tr questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Beck’s Hopelessness Scale (BHS). For the analysis of short-term reliability, 50 patients re-filled the FAIR-Tr questionnaire 1 week later. Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach’s α coefficient and test-retest reliability was evaluated with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Construct validity analysis was investigated based on the correlation with HADS and BHS. All patients found FAIR-Tr easily understandable and acceptable. FAIR-Tr internal consistency (Cronbach’s α?=?0.93) and test-retest reliability (ICC?=?0.91) were excellent. Psychometric validation was proved upon observing high correlation with HADS (Anxiety, r?=?0.77; Depression, r?=?0.70) and moderate correlation with BHS (r?=?0.65). FAIR-Tr is a questionnaire that has excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The successful correlation with HADS and BHS supported its psychometric validity in terms of evaluating the fear in CIRD cases. We think that FAIR-Tr is a specific scale that can help to evaluate the disease- and treatment-related fears of the Turkish patients with CIRD and may be useful in both routine practice and clinical studies.     

The neutralization effect of montelukast on SARS-CoV-2 is shown by multiscale in silico simulations and combined in vitro studies

Small molecule inhibitors have previously been investigated in different studies as possible therapeutics in the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the current drug repurposing study, we identified the leukotriene (D4) receptor antagonist montelukast as a novel agent that simultaneously targets two important drug targets of SARS-CoV-2. We initially demonstrated the dual inhibition profile of montelukast through multiscale molecular modeling studies. Next, we characterized its effect on both targets by different in vitro experiments including the enzyme (main protease) inhibition-based assay, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy, pseudovirus neutralization on HEK293T/hACE2+TMPRSS2, and virus neutralization assay using xCELLigence MP real-time cell analyzer. Our integrated in silico and in vitro results confirmed the dual potential effect of montelukast both on the main protease enzyme inhibition and virus entry into the host cell (spike/ACE2). The virus neutralization assay results showed that SARS-CoV-2 virus activity was delayed with montelukast for 20 h on the infected cells. The rapid use of new small molecules in the pandemic is very important today. Montelukast, whose pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties are very well characterized and has been widely used in the treatment of asthma since 1998, should urgently be completed in clinical phase studies and, if its effect is proved in clinical phase studies, it should be used against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).     

Responses of vestibular neurons to arginine vasopressin microinjection

 The aim of the present research was to evaluate the effects induced by arginine vasopressin (VP) microinjection on the electrical activity of single vestibular neurons. Experiments were performed on anaesthetized guinea-pigs in which the spontaneous and the evoked electrical activity of vestibular neurons were recorded before and after intranuclear VP microinjection (0.25·10^–5 pg VP in 0.25 μl NaCl 0.9% solution). Results showed that VP microinjection affects the spontaneous as well as the evoked vestibular neuron activity. More precisely, 60% of 30 tested neurons were inhibited, 30% were excited and the remaining 10% were unaffected by VP microinjection. The changes in neuronal activity reported above were attributed to a direct action exerted by the polypeptide on vestibular complex neurons. The possible role played by VP in the mechanisms of postural control exerted by the vestibular system was considered as well. Received: 17 March 1998 / Received after revision: 29 April 1998 / Accepted: 30 June 1998     

Physostigmine and metoclopramide in oesophageal peristaltic spread in man

Simultaneous recordings of electrical and mechanical activities at different levels of the oesophagus were performed in normal men before and after physostigmine and metoclopramide injections. Various parameters of the basal oesophageal peristalsis were significantly modified following drug treatment. In particular, physostigmine injections induced a shortening of electromechanical coupling time and a reduction of the propagation velocities of the electrical and mechanical oesophageal events. Metoclopramide shortened the electromechanical coupling time but increased the electrical and mechanical propagation velocities along the oesophagus.     

Susceptibility profile of Enterococcus faecalis isolated at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital,Nigeria

Enterococcus faecalis is the most common of the Enterococcus genus causing infection, particularly urinary tract infections, worldwide. It is also a common cause of nosocomial infections and resistance to various antibiotics is on the increase worldwide. Thirty-five strains of E. Faecalis isolated from various clinical specimens (blood, wound swabs endocervical swabs but mostly urine) were screened for high-level aminoglycoside resistance. Their susceptibility nine antibiotics (ampicillin, gentamicin, streptomycin, vancomycin, tetracycline cotrimoxazole and chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin and erthromycin) was also determined. All isolates were susceptible to Ampicillin and Vancomycin with MIC90 of 4microg/ml but resistant to Nalidixic acid with an MIC90>256microg/ml. Four (11%) of the isolates showed high-level resistance to Gentamicin while 11(32%) exhibited high-level resistance streptomycin after 24 hours incubation. It will appear that Ampicillin in combination with gentamicin but not streptomycin, can still be used empirically for the treatment of Enterococcal infections.