X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination mimicked stroke-like episodes: A case report

Emerging Trends of Gold Nanostructures for Point-of-Care Biosensor-Based Detection of COVID-19

In 2019, a worldwide pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged. SARS-CoV-2 is the deadly microorganism responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has caused millions of deaths and irreversible health problems worldwide. To restrict the spread of SARS-CoV-2, accurate detection of COVID-19 is essential for the identification and control of infected cases. Although recent detection technologies such as the real-time polymerase chain reaction delivers an accurate diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, they require a long processing duration, expensive equipment, and highly skilled personnel. Therefore, a rapid diagnosis with accurate results is indispensable to offer effective disease suppression. Nanotechnology is the backbone of current science and technology developments including nanoparticles (NPs) that can biomimic the corona and develop deep interaction with its proteins because of their identical structures on the nanoscale. Various NPs have been extensively applied in numerous medical applications, including implants, biosensors, drug delivery, and bioimaging. Among them, point-of-care biosensors mediated with gold nanoparticles (GNPSs) have received great attention due to their accurate sensing characteristics, which are widely used in the detection of amino acids, enzymes, DNA, and RNA in samples. GNPS have reconstructed the biomedical application of biosensors because of its outstanding physicochemical characteristics. This review provides an overview of emerging trends in GNP-mediated point-of-care biosensor strategies for diagnosing various mutated forms of human coronaviruses that incorporate different transducers and biomarkers. The review also specifically highlights trends in gold nanobiosensors for coronavirus detection, ranging from the initial COVID-19 outbreak to its subsequent evolution into a pandemic.

Engineering and design of promising T-cell-based multi-epitope vaccine candidates against leishmaniasis

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a very common parasitic infection in subtropical areas worldwide. Throughout decades, there have been challenges in vaccine design and vaccination against CL. The present study introduced novel T-cell-based vaccine candidates containing IFN-γ Inducing epitopic fragments from Leishmania major (L. major) glycoprotein 46 (gp46), cathepsin L-like and B-like proteases, histone H2A, glucose-regulated protein 78 (grp78) and stress-inducible protein 1 (STI-1). For this aim, top-ranked human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-specific, IFN-γ Inducing, antigenic, CD4+ and CD8+ binders were highlighted. Four vaccine candidates were generated using different spacers (AAY, GPGPG, GDGDG) and adjuvants (RS-09 peptide, human IFN-γ, a combination of both, Mycobacterium tuberculosis Resuscitation promoting factor E (RpfE)). Based on the immune simulation profile, those with RS-09 peptide (Leish-App) and RpfE (Leish-Rpf) elicited robust immune responses and their tertiary structure were further refined. Also, molecular docking of the selected vaccine models with the human toll-like receptor 4 showed proper interactions, particularly for Leish-App, for which molecular dynamics simulations showed a stable connection with TLR-4. Upon codon optimization, both models were finally ligated into the pET28a( +) vector. In conclusion, two potent multi-epitope vaccine candidates were designed against CL and evaluated using comprehensive in silico methods, while further wet experiments are, also, recommended.

Post-COVID-19 Vaccination CNS Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings: A Systematic Review

Objective

This systematic review aims to synthesize and analyze the available literature on central nervous system (CNS) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in individuals who have received COVID-19 vaccinations. Our objective is to enhance understanding of potential neurological side effects, inform clinical practice, and guide future research on the neurological implications of COVID-19 vaccination.

Methods

In this systematic review, we conducted a comprehensive search in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from January 2020 to April 2023, using terms related to COVID-19 vaccination and CNS MRI findings. We evaluated the quality of the study, extracted relevant data, and included 89 eligible studies that covered various vaccines, demographics of patients, symptoms, and MRI findings to provide a thorough understanding of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination-related CNS problems.

Results

We investigated CNS MRI findings following COVID-19 vaccination across various vaccine types. Common diseases associated with post-vaccination CNS MRI findings included cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), acute myelitis, autoimmune encephalitis (AE), and others. Patients presented with diverse onset symptoms and neurological manifestations. Abnormalities identified in CNS MRI findings included white matter (WM) hyperintensity. Our analysis offers a comprehensive overview of the current literature on post-vaccination CNS MRI findings. Discussion. We highlight a range of post-COVID-19 vaccination CNS MRI findings, including CVST, with a higher incidence in individuals receiving the ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) vaccine. Other notable observations include cases of ADEM, myelitis or transverse myelitis (TM), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), and acute encephalopathy following COVID-19 vaccination. The incidence of these neurological complications is extremely rare, and the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks. The reviewed studies were primarily case reports or case series, and thus large-scale epidemiological studies and controlled clinical trials are needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms and risk factors associated with these neurological complications following COVID-19 vaccination.

Symmetric DWI hyperintensities in CMT1X patients after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination should not be classified as stroke-like lesions

The interesting case report by Zhang et al on a 39 years-old male with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1X has several limitations. The causal relation between the two episodes of asyndesis, dysphagia, and dyspnea 37 d after the second dose of the inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine (Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd., Beijing, China) remains unproven. SARS-CoV-2 vaccination cannot trigger a genetic disorder. It also remains unsupported that the patient had a stroke-like episode (SLE). SLEs occur in mitochondrial disorders but not in hereditary neuropathies. Because of the episodic nature of the neurological symptoms, it is critical to rule out seizures. Overall, the causal relation between vaccination and the neurological complications remains unsupported and the interpretation of symmetric diffusion-weighted imaging lesions on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging should be carefully revised.