| 1. |
- Selvavinayagam, Sivaprakasam T., et al.
(författare)
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Clinical characteristics and novel mutations of omicron subvariant XBB in Tamil Nadu, India - a cohort study
- 2023
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Ingår i: The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia. - : ELSEVIER. - 2772-3682. ; 19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Despite the continued vaccination efforts, there had been a surge in breakthrough infections, and the emergence of the B.1.1.529 omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in India. There is a paucity of information globally on the role of newer XBB variants in community transmission. Here, we investigated the mutational patterns among hospitalised patients infected with the XBB omicron sub-variant, and checked if there was any association between the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and the observed novel mutations in Tamil Nadu, India. Methods Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs, collected from symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients were subjected to real-time PCR followed by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to rule out the ambiguity of mutations in viruses isolated from the patients (n = 98). Using the phylogenetic association, the mutational patterns were used to corroborate clinico-demographic characteristics and disease severity among the patients. Findings Overall, we identified 43 mutations in the S gene across 98 sequences, of which two were novel mutations (A27S and T747I) that have not been reported previously with XBB sub-variants in the available literature. Additionally, the XBB sequences from our cohort had more mutations than omicron B.1.1.529. The phylogenetic analysis comprising six major branches clearly showed convergent evolution of XBB. Our data suggests that age, and underlying conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease) or secondary complications confers increased susceptibility to infection rather than vaccination status or prior exposure. Many vaccinated individuals showed evidence of a breakthrough infection, with XBB.3 being the predominant variant identified in the study population. Interpretation Our study indicates that the XBB variant is highly evasive from available vaccines and may be more transmissible, and potentially could emerge as the 'next' predominant variant, which likely could overwhelm the existing variants of SARS-CoV-2 omicron variants.Funding National Health Mission (India), SIDA SARC, VINNMER (Sweden), ORIP/NIH (USA).Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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| 2. |
- Selvavinayagam, Sivaprakasam T, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma CXCL8 and MCP-1 as surrogate plasma biomarkers of latent tuberculosis infection among household contacts-A cross-sectional study
- 2023
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Ingår i: PLOS Global Public Health. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 2767-3375. ; 3:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early detection of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is critical to TB elimination in the current WHO vision of End Tuberculosis Strategy. The study investigates whether detecting plasma cytokines could aid in diagnosing LTBI across household contacts (HHCs) positive for IGRA, HHCs negative for IGRA, and healthy controls. The plasma cytokines were measured using a commercial Bio-Plex Pro Human Cytokine 17-plex assay. Increased plasma CXCL8 and decreased MCP-1, TNF-a, and IFN-? were associated with LTBI. Regression analysis showed that a combination of CXCL8 and MCP-1 increased the risk of LTBI among HHCs to 14-fold. Our study suggests that CXCL-8 and MCP-1 could serve as the surrogate biomarkers of LTBI, particularly in resource-limited settings. Further laboratory investigations are warranted before extrapolating CXCL8 and MCP-1 for their usefulness as surrogate biomarkers of LTBI in resource-limited settings.
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| 3. |
- Vignesh, Ramachandran, et al.
(författare)
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Gut Microbiota Peculiarities in Aged HIV-Infected Individuals : Molecular Understanding and Therapeutic Perspectives
- 2023
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Ingår i: Gut Microbiota in Aging and Chronic Diseases. - Cham : Springer. - 9783031140228 - 9783031140235 ; , s. 415-439
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aging is a progressive physiological process that involves alterations in the population of normal gutGut microbiotaGut microbiota. HIV infectionHIV infection in conjunction with agingAgeing complicates the quality of immune responses paving way for increased epithelial permeability and translocation of commensals and pathogen-derived substances into the systemic circulation. Enteric dysbiosisDysbiosis is linked with other comorbidities of agingAging including cardiovascular diseases and dementia in the HIV-infected population. The diversity of gutGut microbiotaGut microbiota declines with ageAge, and HIV infectionHIV infection compromises the effective functioning of the immune system complicating the metabolic as well as regulatory programming of the host’s physiological machinery. Given the scenario of the global HIV/AIDS and the COVID-19 pandemics, it is also likely that alterations in gutGut microbiotaGut microbiota potentially could contribute to post-acute COVID-19 syndrome as well as accelerate the rate of HIV disease progression. The current chapter discusses the role of normal gutGut microbiotaGut microbiota in the aged HIV-infected population and their functional implications in normal cellular and molecular mechanisms in the host.
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| 4. |
- Vignesh, Ramachandran, et al.
(författare)
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Tuberculosis-Associated Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome-An Extempore Game of Misfiring with Defense Arsenals
- 2023
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Ingår i: Pathogens. - : MDPI. - 2076-0817. ; 12:2
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The lethal combination involving TB and HIV, known as "syndemic" diseases, synergistically act upon one another to magnify the disease burden. Individuals on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) are at risk of developing TB-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS). The underlying inflammatory complication includes the rapid restoration of immune responses following ART, eventually leading to exaggerated inflammatory responses to MTB antigens. TB-IRIS continues to be a cause of morbidity and mortality among HIV/TB coinfected patients initiating ART, and although a significant quantum of knowledge has been acquired on the pathogenesis of IRIS, the underlying pathomechanisms and identification of a sensitive and specific diagnostic marker still remain a grey area of investigation. Here, we reviewed the latest research developments into IRIS immunopathogenesis, and outlined the modalities to prevent and manage strategies for better clinical and diagnostic outcomes for IRIS.
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