Chipset Nanosensor Based on N‐Doped Carbon Nanobuds for Selective Screening of Epinephrine in Human Samples

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people worldwide and are characterized by the chronic and progressive deterioration of neural function. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington’s disease (HD), represent a huge social and economic burden due to increasing prevalence in our aging society, severity of symptoms, and lack of effective disease-modifying therapies. This lack of effective treatments is partly due to a lack of reliable models. Modeling neurodegenerative diseases is difficult because of poor access to human samples (restricted in general to postmortem tissue) and limited knowledge of disease mechanisms in a human context. Animal models play an instrumental role in understanding these diseases but fail to comprehensively represent the full extent of disease due to critical differences between humans and other mammals. The advent of human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology presents an advantageous system that complements animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. Coupled with advances in gene-editing technologies, hiPSC-derived neural cells from patients and healthy donors now allow disease modeling using human samples that can be used for drug discovery.

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Prevalence and Characterization of Coagulase Positive Staphylococci from Food Products and Human Specimens in Egypt

Antibiotics ◽

10.3390/antibiotics10010075 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 75

Author(s):

Eman E. Abdeen ◽

Walid S. Mousa ◽

Sarah Y. Abdelsalam ◽

Hanim S. Heikal ◽

Reyad R. Shawish ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Chain ◽

Meca Gene ◽

Food Poisoning ◽

Food Products ◽

Public Health Importance ◽

Human Samples ◽

Wide Range ◽

Mrsa Strains ◽

Minced Meat ◽

Coagulase Positive Staphylococci

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have veterinary and public health importance as they are responsible for a wide range of difficult to treat infections and food poisoning. Two hundred samples (50 samples each of minced meat, beef luncheon, Karish cheese, and human samples (pus swab from open wounds)) were cultured, and MRSA strains were identified using disk diffusion tests and mecA gene-based PCR. A total of 35% (70/200) of the examined samples were confirmed as coagulase-positive S. aureus in minced meat (46%), beef luncheon (44%), Karish cheese (44%), and human samples (22%). The MRSA strains showed resistance to amoxicillin (91.4%), penicillin (97.1%), cefoxitin (85.7%), cephradine (82.9%), tetracycline (57.2%), and erythromycin (52.8%). More than half of the tested S. aureus isolates harbored the mecA gene. The sequence analysis of the mecA gene from the minced meat, Karish cheese, and human samples revealed high genetic similarities between the S. aureus isolates from these sources. In conclusion, our findings indicate a risk for the transmission of the mecA gene of S. aureus across the food chain between humans and animal food products. Further studies should focus on finding additional epidemiological aspects of the MRSA strains in food chain.

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Epidemiology of Hepatitis E in 2017 in Bavaria, Germany

Food and Environmental Virology ◽

10.1007/s12560-021-09474-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

K. Hriskova ◽

D. Marosevic ◽

A. Belting ◽

J. J. Wenzel ◽

A. Carl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Hepatitis E ◽

Food Samples ◽

Healthy Population ◽

Genotype 3 ◽

Human Samples ◽

Multivariable Analyses ◽

Upper Abdominal ◽

Undercooked Meat

AbstractIn the last decade, the number of reported hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in Germany, including Bavaria, has continued to rise. In order to identify risk factors associated with HEV infection, we investigated notified hepatitis E cases from Bavaria during 2017. The project “Intensified Hepatitis E Surveillance in Bavaria” included interviews with questionnaires, collection and genotyping of stool, serum and food samples. In addition, certain risk factors were examined in a sample comparison with healthy population using univariable analysis and logistic regression. In total, 135 hepatitis E cases from Bavaria were included in the analysis. Mean age for women was 46 (range 20–74) years and 47.5 (range 20–85) for men. 56 of the cases (41.5%) were asymptomatic. Among the symptomatic cases, both men and women were equally affected with symptoms like fever (16.3%), jaundice (18.8%) and upper abdominal pain (28.2%). 145 human samples (serum, stool) and 6 food samples were collected. 15.9% of the human samples (n = 23) were positive for HEV RNA by reverse-transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Identified risk factors significantly associated with hepatitis E were sausage consumption with odds ratio 9.6 (CI 1.3–70.1), fish with OR 2.2 (CI 1.1–4.4) and cat ownership with OR 1.9 (CI 1.3–3.0) in multivariable analyses. Further investigation is needed to confirm the role of fish in HEV transmission. Autochthonous HEV genotype 3 is prevalent in Bavaria and there could be more transmission routes contributing to the spread of HEV than previously known. Undercooked meat, offal, sausages, fish, shellfish and contact with animals and pets are possible sources for infection.

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Community-based geographical distribution of Mycobacterium ulcerans VNTR-genotypes from the environment and humans in the Nyong valley, Cameroon

Tropical Medicine and Health ◽

10.1186/s41182-021-00330-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Francis Zeukeng ◽

Anthony Ablordey ◽

Solange E. Kakou-Ngazoa ◽

Stephen Mbigha Ghogomu ◽

David N’golo Coulibaly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Samples ◽

Tandem Repeats ◽

Buruli Ulcer ◽

Variable Number ◽

Mycobacterium Ulcerans ◽

Community Based ◽

Human Samples ◽

Route Of Transmission ◽

Mode Of Transmission ◽

Animal Reservoirs

Abstract Background Genotyping is a powerful tool for investigating outbreaks of infectious diseases and it can provide useful information such as identifying the source and route of transmission, and circulating strains involved in the outbreak. Genotyping techniques based on variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) are instrumental in detecting heterogeneity in Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU) and also for discriminating MU from other mycobacteria species. Here, we describe and map the distribution of MU genotypes in Buruli ulcer (BU) endemic communities of the Nyong valley in Cameroon. We also tested the hypothesis of whether the suspected animal reservoirs of BU that share the human microhabitat are shedding contaminated fecal matters and saliva into their surrounding environments. Methods Environmental samples from suspected MU-risk factors and lesion swabs from human patients were sampled in BU-endemic communities and tested for the presence of MU by qPCR targeting three independent sequences (IS2404, IS2606, KR-B). Positive samples to MU were further genotyped by VNTR with confirmation by sequencing of four loci (MIRU1, Locus 6, ST1, Locus 19). Results MU was detected in environmental samples including water bodies (23%), biofilms (14%), detritus (10%), and in human patients (73%). MU genotypes D, W, and C were found both in environmental and human samples. The micro geo-distribution of MU genotypes from communities showed that genotype D is found both in environmental and human samples, while genotypes W and C are specific to environmental samples and human lesions, respectively. No obvious focal grouping of MU genotypes was observed at the community scale. An additional survey in the human microhabitat suggests that domestic and wild animals do not shed MU in their saliva and feces in sampled communities. Conclusions VNTR typing uncovered different MU genotypes circulating in the endemic communities of the Akonolinga district. A MU environmental genotype was found in patients, yet the mechanism of contamination remains to be investigated; and recovering MU in culture from the environment remains key priority to enable a better understanding of the mode of transmission of BU. We also conclude that excretions from suspected animals are unlikely to be major sources of MU in the Nyong Valley in Cameroon.

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