Abstract Our study investigates the molecular link between COVID-19 and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aim to elucidate the mechanisms by which COVID-19 may influence the onset or progression of AD. Using bioinformatic tools, we analyzed gene expression datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, including GSE147507, GSE12685, and GSE26927. Intersection analysis was utilized to identify common differentially expressed genes (CDEGs) and their shared biological pathways. Consensus clustering was conducted to group AD patients based on gene expression, followed by an analysi ..read more

Abstract This study aims to assess the safety, virological, and clinical outcomes of convalescent plasma transfusion (CPT) in immunocompromised patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study that included all immunosuppressed patients with COVID-19 and RNAemia from May 2020 to March 2023 treated with CPT. We included 81 patients with hematological malignancies (HM), transplants, or autoimmune diseases (69% treated with anti-CD20). Sixty patients (74%) were vaccinated, and 14 had pre-CPT serology >264 BAU/mL. The median de ..read more

Abstract Previous research has shown that women's use of a carrageenan gel reduces the risk of acquiring genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infections but does not help to clear existing ones. Although gel use may not result in complete clearance, it may decrease the viral load of HPV infections. We tested this hypothesis in the Carrageenan-gel Against Transmission of Cervical Human papillomavirus (CATCH) randomized controlled trial. Participants of the CATCH study were selected for viral load testing if they had completed the first four study visits and tested positive for HPV42 or HPV51 in a ..read more

Abstract Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated mucormycosis (CAM) was reported predominantly from India during the second wave of COVID-19  and has a high mortality rate. The present study aims to understand the fungal community composition of the nasopharyngeal region of CAM-infected individuals and compare it with severe COVID-19 patients and healthy controls. The fungal community composition was decoded by analyzing the sequence homology of the internal transcribed spacer-2–(ITS-2) region of metagenomic DNA extracted from the upper respiratory samples. The alpha-dive ..read more

Abstract China experienced severe epidemics of multiple respiratory pathogens in 2023 after lifting “Zero-COVID” policy. The present study aims to investigate the changing circulation and infection patterns of respiratory pathogens in 2023. The 160 436 laboratory results of influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) from February 2020 to December 2023, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from June 2020 to December 2023, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, adenovirus, and human rhinovirus from January 2023 to December 2023 were analyzed. We observed the alternating epidem ..read more

Abstract To understand the prevalence of rhinovirus (RV) among acute respiratory infection (ARI) patients, 10-year ARI surveillance in multiple provinces of China were conducted during 2012−2021. Of 15 645 ARI patients, 1180 (7.54%) were confirmed to have RV infection and 820 (69.49%) were children under 5 years of age. RV typing was performed on the 527 VP1 gene sequences, and species A, B, and C accounted for 73.24%, 4.93%, and 21.82%, respectively. Although no significant difference in the proportions of age groups or disease severity was found between RV species, RV-C was more frequently d ..read more

Abstract Exosomes play a crucial role in intercellular communication and have emerged as significant vehicles for transporting disease-specific biomarkers. This feature provides profound insights into the progression of diseases and the responses of patients to treatments. For example, in leukemia, exosomes convey critical information through the carriage of specific proteins and nucleic acids. In the case of human papillomavirus (HPV)-mediated cervical cancer, exosomes are particularly useful for noninvasive detection as they transport high-risk HPV DNA and specific biomolecules, which can be ..read more

Abstract The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the loss of millions of lives, although a majority of those infected have managed to survive. Consequently, a set of outcomes, identified as long COVID, is now emerging. While the primary target of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the respiratory system, the impact of COVID-19 extends to various body parts, including the bone. This study aims to investigate the effects of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection on osteoclastogenesis, utilizing both ancestral and Omicron viral strains. Monocyte-deri ..read more

Abstract Systemic autoimmune diseases (SADs) are a growing spectrum of autoimmune disorders that commonly affect multiple organs. The role of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection or reactivation as a trigger for the initiation and progression of SADs has been established, while the relationship between EBV envelope glycoproteins and SADs remains unclear. Here, we assessed the levels of IgG, IgA, and IgM against EBV glycoproteins (including gp350, gp42, gHgL, and gB) in serum samples obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and found that RA an ..read more

Abstract Obesity has been identified as an independent risk factor for severe outcomes in humans with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases. Here, we established a mouse model of COVID-19 using the murine betacoronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus 1 (MHV-1). C57BL/6 and C3H/HeJ mice exposed to MHV-1 developed mild and severe disease, respectively. Obese C57BL/6 mice developed clinical manifestations similar to those of lean controls. In contrast, all obese C3H/HeJ mice succumbed by 8 days postinfection, compared to a 50% mortality rate in lean controls. Notably, both le ..read more