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Abstract
In nature, viral coinfection is as widespread as viral infection alone. Viral coinfections often cause altered viral pathogenicity, disrupted host defense, and mixed-up clinical symptoms, all of which result in more difficult diagnosis and treatment of a disease. There are three major virus-virus interactions in coinfection cases: viral interference, viral synergy, and viral noninterference. We analyzed virus-virus interactions in both aspects of viruses and hosts and elucidated their possible mechanisms. Finally, we summarized the protocol of viral coinfection studies and key points in the process of virus separation and purification.
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Xavier MB, Pires CAA, Gomes CMDC, Rodrigues GF, Xavier DP, de Brito JAGDSM, Corbett CEP. The expression of FOXP3 in lesions of several forms of leprosy in patients co-infected with HIV. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0009887. [PMID: 34748560 PMCID: PMC8601607 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brazil remains endemic for infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and leprosy, having a major impact on public health and the life quality of affected patients. Although the relevance of this co-infection is recognized, several aspects, such as the immune response, are not yet fully understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of FOXP3+ Treg cells in leprosy skin lesions and to correlate their clinical forms, laboratory characteristics (CD4, CD8, and CV), and the immune reconstitution syndrome in HIV-leprosy co-infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS An observational, cross-sectional, and analytical study was carried out comparing four groups of patients: those with concomitant diagnosis of leprosy and HIV infection without a leprosy reaction, those with leprosy and HIV co-infection patients with a reverse reaction (RR), those with leprosy without HIV and without reaction, and those with leprosywithout HIV and with RR. The patients were diagnosed at a dermatology outpatient clinic located in Belém, Pará, Brazil, from 2003 to 2017. In the sample studied, there was a positive correlation between FOXP3+ cell density and viral load, negative correlation with blood CD4+ (not statistically significant), significant positive correlation in CD8 count in patients with leprosy reaction, and positive relationship in patients with IRIS. The density of cells expressing FOXP3 was higher in the BL/LL forms in patients without HIV, although the difference was not statistically significant. However, the cell mean was higher in the TT/BT forms in patients co-infected with leprosy and HIV, showing contradictory results. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE These findings support that higher activity of the HIV may stimulate or result in a higher expression of FOXP3-Tregs and that they may be involved in active immunosuppression observed at the infection site at the tissue level. This supports the need to expand studies on FOXP3+ Treg cells in co-infected patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marília Brasil Xavier
- Research Laboratory in Tropical Dermatology and Endemic Diseases of the Nucleus of Tropical Medicine/Federal University of Pará (NMT/UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
- Research Laboratory on Skin diseases of Sanitary Interest, Biological and Health Sciences Center, State University of Pará (UEPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Carla Andréa Avelar Pires
- Research Laboratory in Tropical Dermatology and Endemic Diseases of the Nucleus of Tropical Medicine/Federal University of Pará (NMT/UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
- Research Laboratory on Skin diseases of Sanitary Interest, Biological and Health Sciences Center, State University of Pará (UEPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Cláudia Maria de Castro Gomes
- Laboratory of Pathology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, Medical School, São Paulo University, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Gabriela Fernandes Rodrigues
- Laboratory of Pathology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, Medical School, São Paulo University, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Débora Pinheiro Xavier
- Research Laboratory in Tropical Dermatology and Endemic Diseases of the Nucleus of Tropical Medicine/Federal University of Pará (NMT/UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | | | - Carlos Eduardo Pereira Corbett
- Laboratory of Pathology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, Medical School, São Paulo University, São Paulo, Brazil
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Pinto P, da Silva MB, Moreira FC, Bouth RC, Gobbo AR, Sandoval TV, Ribeiro-Dos-Santos AM, Vidal AF, Barreto JG, Santos S, Spencer JS, Salgado CG, Ribeiro-Dos-Santos Â. Leprosy piRnome: exploring new possibilities for an old disease. Sci Rep 2020; 10:12648. [PMID: 32724108 PMCID: PMC7387468 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-69355-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Leprosy, which is caused by the human pathogen Mycobacterium leprae, causes nerve damage, deformity and disability in over 200,000 people every year. Because of the long doubling time of M. leprae (13 days) and the delayed onset of detectable symptoms, which is estimated to be approximately 3-7 years after infection, there is always a large percentage of subclinically infected individuals in the population who will eventually develop the disease, mainly in endemic countries. piRNAs comprise the largest group of small noncoding RNAs found in humans, and they are distinct from microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). piRNAs function in transposon silencing, epigenetic regulation, and germline development. The functional role of piRNAs and their associated PIWI proteins have started to emerge in the development of human cancers and viral infections, but their relevance to bacterial diseases has not been investigated. The present study reports the piRNome of human skin, revealing that all but one of the piRNAs examined are downregulated in leprosy skin lesions. Considering that one of the best characterized functions of piRNAs in humans is posttranscriptional mRNA silencing, their functions are similar to what we have described for miRNAs, including acting on apoptosis, M. leprae recognition and engulfment, Schwann cell (SC) demyelination, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), loss of sensation and neuropathic pain. In addition to new findings on leprosy physiopathology, the discovery of relevant piRNAs involved in disease processes in human skin may provide new clues for therapeutic targets, specifically to control nerve damage, a prominent feature of leprosy that has no currently available pharmaceutical treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Pinto
- Human and Medical Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil
- Oncology Research Center (NPO), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil
| | - Moisés Batista da Silva
- Dermato-Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Marituba, 67200000, Brazil
| | | | - Raquel Carvalho Bouth
- Dermato-Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Marituba, 67200000, Brazil
| | - Angélica Rita Gobbo
- Dermato-Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Marituba, 67200000, Brazil
| | - Tatiana Vinasco Sandoval
- Human and Medical Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil
| | | | - Amanda Ferreira Vidal
- Human and Medical Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil
| | | | - Sidney Santos
- Human and Medical Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil
- Oncology Research Center (NPO), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil
| | - John Stewart Spencer
- Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 80523-1601, USA
| | - Claudio Guedes Salgado
- Dermato-Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Marituba, 67200000, Brazil.
| | - Ândrea Ribeiro-Dos-Santos
- Human and Medical Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil.
- Oncology Research Center (NPO), UFPA, Belém, 66075110, Brazil.
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Rastogi R, Kaur G, Maan P, Bhatnagar A, Narang T, Dogra S, Kaur J. Molecular characterization and immunogenic function of ML1899 (LipG) of Mycobacterium leprae. J Med Microbiol 2019; 68:1629-1640. [PMID: 31553301 DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.001080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction. ML1899 is conserved in all mycobacterium sp. and is a middle member of mle-ML1898 operon involved in mycolic acid modification.Aim. In the present study attempts were made to characterize ML1899 in detail.Methodology. Bioinformatics tools were used for prediction of active-site residues, antigenic epitopes and a three-dimensional model of protein. The gene was cloned, expressed and purified as His-tagged protein in Escherichia coli for biophysical/biochemical characterization. Recombinant protein was used to treat THP-1 cells to study change in production of nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), cytokines and chemokines using flowcytometry/ELISA.Results. In silico analysis predicted ML1899 as a member of α/β hydrolase family with GXSXG-motif and Ser126, His282, Asp254 as active-site residues that were confirmed by site-directed mutagensis. ML1899 exhibited esterase activity. It hydrolysed pNP-butyrate as optimum substrate at pH 8.0 and 50 °C with 5.56 µM-1 min-1 catalytic efficiency. The enzyme exhibited stability up to 60 °C temperature and between pH 6.0 to 9.0. K m, V max and specific activity of ML1899 were calculated to be 400 µM, 40 µmoles min-1 ml-1 and 27 U mg- 1, respectively. ML1899 also exhibited phospholipase activity. The protein affected the survival of macrophages when treated at higher concentration. ML1899 enhanced ROS/NO production and up-regulated pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokine including TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-8 in macrophages. ML1899 was also observed to elicit humoral response in 69 % of leprosy patients.Conclusion. These results suggested that ML1899, an esterase could up-regulate the immune responses in favour of macrophages at a low concentration but kills the THP-1 macrophages cells at a higher concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruchi Rastogi
- Department of Biochemistry, BMS Block 2, South Campus, Panjab University, Sector 25, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Gurkamaljit Kaur
- Department of Biotechnology, BMS Block 1, South Campus, Panjab University, Sector 25, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Pratibha Maan
- Present address: Department of Experimental Medicine and Biotechnology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, 160012, India.,Department of Biotechnology, BMS Block 1, South Campus, Panjab University, Sector 25, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Archana Bhatnagar
- Department of Biochemistry, BMS Block 2, South Campus, Panjab University, Sector 25, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Tarun Narang
- Department of Dermatology, Veberology and Leprology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, 160012, India
| | - Sunil Dogra
- Department of Dermatology, Veberology and Leprology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, 160012, India
| | - Jagdeep Kaur
- Department of Biotechnology, BMS Block 1, South Campus, Panjab University, Sector 25, Chandigarh 160014, India
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Xavier MB, do Nascimento MGB, Batista KDNM, Somensi DN, Juca Neto FOM, Carneiro TX, Gomes CMC, Corbett CEP. Peripheral nerve abnormality in HIV leprosy patients. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2018; 12:e0006633. [PMID: 30020931 PMCID: PMC6066254 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2018] [Revised: 07/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The geographical overlap of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and leprosy infection has become increasingly frequent and worrying, bringing many clinical issues. Peripheral neuropathy is very frequent in leprosy because of the predilection of its etiologic agent by Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system, and it also affects individuals with HIV as one of the most common neurological manifestations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The present study compared a cohort of 63 patients diagnosed with leprosy and coinfected with HIV with a cohort of 64 patients with leprosy alone, who were followed at the outpatient clinic of the Nucleus of Tropical Medicine of the Federal University of Pará, Brazil. We observed that HIV-coinfected leprosy patients presented greater odds of overall peripheral nerve damage (nerve function impairment-NFI) than patients with leprosy alone. More sensitive damage was observed, especially in patients coinfected with multibacillary forms. Leprosy patients coinfected with HIV presented higher chances of motor damage with improvement over time using multidrug therapy (MDT) and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), along with a greater extent of damage and occurrence of neuritis. The data suggest that in addition to patients presenting possible damage caused by leprosy, they also had a greater damage gradient attributable to HIV disease, but not related to HAART because most of these patients had been on the treatment for less than a year. Neuritis was treated with prednisone at doses recommended by the WHO, and coinfected patients had the highest rate of clinical improvement in the first 60 days. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE The clinical characteristics of the two diseases should be considered in leprosy patients coinfected with HIV for better diagnosis and treatment of peripheral neuropathy. We suggest that new simplified assessment tools that allow the evaluation of the NFI of these patients be developed for use in the service.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marilia Brasil Xavier
- Nucleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Para, Belem, Para, Brazil
- Centro de Ciencias Biologicas e da Saude, Universidade do Estado do Para, Belem, Para, Brazil
- Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | - Danusa Neves Somensi
- Centro de Ciencias Biologicas e da Saude, Universidade do Estado do Para, Belem, Para, Brazil
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