Volume 230, Issue 3, 15 September 2024

Neutrophil-associated proteins (CXCL1, CXCL8, G-CSF, LCN2, MMP8, and MMP9) are significantly elevated in neurosyphilis. These elevated proteins could be associated with central nervous system damage of neurosyphilis. CSF CXCL8, MMP9, and LCN2 are promising biomarkers for diagnosing neurosyphilis.

We investigated IFN-γ responses to Chlamydia trachomatis vaccine candidate proteins MOMP and Pmps E, F, G, and H using PBMCs from women with different chlamydia outcomes and found responses were heterogenous and primarily directed against MOMP and PmpE.

We evaluated pascolizumab (anti–IL-4 monoclonal antibody) as adjunctive tuberculosis treatment. There were no pascolizumab-related serious or grade 4 adverse events. The rate of increase in time to positivity on serial sputum samples was consistent with faster clearance with pascolizumab.

Implementation of a statewide genomic surveillance system for invasive group A Streptococcus led to the early identification and investigation of a rapidly growing and prolonged outbreak of emm49 linked to several health care settings across Arizona.

We developed a random forest risk score based on an 11-year territory-wide electronic health record to stratify the risk of infective endocarditis in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia at the time of blood culture positivity.

Formulations of antimicrobials in a new drug delivery system, were optimized in infected rodent models and evaluated in a porcine osteomyelitis model. Here, Staphylococcus aureus was eliminated from bones and implants in 9/12 and was fully eradicated in 5/12 pigs.

In a randomized trial that compared remdesivir vs placebo in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, plasma viral RNA and serum nucleocapsid antigen levels were associated with worse outcomes. Decreases in these blood biomarkers correlated with clinical benefit from antiviral therapy.

T-cells responses in nursing home residents (NHR) and health care workers (HCW) after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination show that both groups have vaccine-induced responses, but prior infection and female sex contribute to higher responses in NHR but not HCW.

Significant reduction in spike-specific binding and neutralizing antibodies was observed against SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in late 2023 in young healthy adults, particularly those with a remote COVID-19 exposure, suggesting potential selective benefits of the updated XBB.1.5-based booster in this population.

Aerosol-inoculated rhesus macaques showed widespread SARS-CoV-2 replication in the respiratory tract, contrasting with limited replication in the upper tract via intranasal inoculation.

Higher anti-RBD IgG antibody titers were associated with a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The risk decreased as a participant's antibody titer increased and the slope became flat around antibody titers of 10 000 AU/mL using natural cubic spline curves.

People with HIV and cancer are 4 times more likely to have clonal hematopoiesis than similar people with cancer and without HIV. Decreased overall survival for patients with cancer and clonal hematopoiesis is more pronounced in people with HIV.

In a phase 1 study, a fast-dissolving insert containing tenofovir alafenamide and elvitegravir administered rectally was shown to be safe in healthy volunteers. High rectal tissue concentrations of tenofovir diphosphate and elvitegravir, and ex vivo tissue anti-HIV activity were demonstrated.

Using gene expression and association studies, our research uncovered the major histocompatibility complex locus as a major risk factor for the development of herpes zoster. Additionally, a clear type I interferon and adaptive immune signature were identified in individuals with herpes zoster.

Following AS03-adjuvanted influenza A/H5N1 vaccine, enrichment of tryptophan, tyrosine, and nicotinate metabolism pathways was associated with serologic response. More specifically, increased urine abundance of benzoate-metabolism–related 4-vinylphenol sulfate on day 1 postvaccination was highly associated with serologic response.

Oral microbiome α-diversity (within-sample richness and phylogenetic diversity) and β-diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity and unweighted UniFrac distance) are associated with high-risk oral HPV infection, and the associations are driven by males.

One-seventh (14%) of participants excreted poliovirus after bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine challenge. Most had prior humoral immunity to poliovirus (PV), but some lacked mucosal immunity. This poses PV transmission risk to communities if replication-competent PV, whether wild-type or vaccine-derived, were to be introduced.

We used the Olink Proteomics assay to investigate the plasma prognostic predictors of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome and identified 110 differentially expressed proteins in nonsurvivors, mainly enriched in cell chemoattraction–related pathways. C-C motif chemokine 20 emerged as a notable predictor of death in patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

In this US-based birth cohort, maternal IgG was negatively associated with rotavirus vaccine immune response. Immune response was least common among infants with a single-nucleotide polymorphism inactivating FUT2 antigen secretion (“nonsecretors”) whose mothers were also nonsecretors, versus all other combinations.

The drug-resistant pathogen Candida auris causes invasive disease with limited treatment options. While echinocandins can unmask immunostimulatory β-glucan and augment immunity for Candida albicans, we found only minimal unmasking for C. auris isolates, revealing altered regulation of this pathway.

This study investigates the role of mannosylation of Candida albicans cell wall in innate immune responses. Recognition of N-linked mannans, particularly the α1,6-mannose backbone, by dectin 2 is shown to be crucial for cytokine production and induction of trained immunity.

The treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) is complicated by the antibiotics’ inability to penetrate BV biofilms. This review informs clinicians about a variety of investigated BV biofilm removal treatments and their efficacy, as well as particularly promising recent treatment approaches with enzymes and probiotics.

Most studies on T-cell responses to mucosal pathogens focus on the blood. Here we demonstrate tissue-resident memory T cells persist in the tonsil and nasal tissue of humans for decades after immunization with whole-cell pertussis vaccines.

We utilized single-cell RNA sequencing technology to provide a detailed analysis of immune cells in the lungs of patients with tuberculosis (TB) or with HIV–TB coinfection. Our findings revealed notable variations in immune response between these 2 disease types.

We found that clonal strains of Pseudomonas persist after elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor treatment with the same “chronic” phenotypes that are just as clinically challenging in people with cystic fibrosis. We further identified commonly mutated bacterial genes that may drive future adaptation to the CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) modulated lung.

This study uncovers a critical role of PldA through reducing intracellular PI3P levels to inhibit preautophagosomal structure maturation and autophagic flux, favoring UPEC escape from host lysosome exocytosis, thereby contributing to acute UTI.

The burden of pneumococcal pneumonia (PP) requiring hospitalization among older adults in Europe remains considerable. Estimates of invasive and noninvasive PP incidence among European countries vary between 2 and 6 times. Country-specific clinical practice hampers comparability of pneumonia in Europe.

This study examined MRSA ST45 isolates collected from cellulitis (superficial infection) and osteomyelitis (invasive infection) in a Taiwan hospital, and highlighted the phenotypic and genomic differences between isolates causing cellulitis versus osteomyelitis.

Measuring the high-avidity anti-nucleocapsid (N) IgG detected SARS-CoV-2 reinfections after de novo infection with improved specificity compared to anti-N IgG levels. This method allows retroactive study of the epidemiology and health consequences of asymptomatic or unreported reinfections.

In a cohort study of 4496 community-dwelling adults during the initial year of Omicron, prior infection and vaccination both offered protection against new SARS-CoV-2 infection. Importantly, remote prior infection was less protective than remote vaccination for individuals aged ≥60 years.

Messenger RNA–1273 (100 μg) administered as a 3-dose primary series and an additional dose was well tolerated among solid organ transplant recipients. Antibody responses were improved after dose 3 and the additional dose, supporting the recommended doses for this immunocompromised population.

Cellular and serological responses was evaluated in a cohort of 639 SARS-CoV-2–vaccinated participants. There was a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 spike–specific T-cell responses following each booster dose. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 infection boosts both the cellular and humoral immune response.

Among people with HIV in Uganda who transitioned to TLD, we observed high rates of viral suppression, high tolerability, and no emergent drug resistance, all of which support use of TLD as the preferred first-line regimen in the region.

Knowing the time since infection with HIV is important for clinical care and research, yet it is often unknown. We show here that this time can be estimated from the diversity observed in proviral DNA.

Respiratory syncytial virus presents a global health concern. We assessed the safety and immunogenicity of an mRNA-based vaccine, mRNA-1345, in healthy adults aged 18 to 49 years. mRNA-1345 vaccine was well tolerated and immunogenic in younger adults.

Older adults and those with comorbidities are at increased risk of severe RSV. We assessed the safety and immunogenicity of mRNA-1345, an RSV vaccine, in adults aged 65 to 79 years. mRNA-1345 was well tolerated and immunogenic following a single injection and 12-month booster.

Emerging evidence indicates that pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) not only reduce pneumococcal disease burden but also might indirectly reduce viral respiratory tract infections by affecting pneumococcal–viral interactions. We summarized available evidence on PCV protection against virus-related respiratory tract infections in children and adults.

The mRNA-based cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine, mRNA-1647, was evaluated at the 30-, 90-, 180-, and 300-μg dose levels in a phase 1 trial in CMV-seronegative and CMV-seropositive adults. mRNA-1647 had an acceptable safety profile and elicited humoral and cellular immune responses.

This 22-year study at University of Utah UHealth reveals only 22.2% of HBV patients were tested for HDV, with an 8.3% HDV positivity rate. Findings underscore the need for enhanced HDV testing to increase the early detection of HDV.

Explant tissue deep RNA sequencing showed that HBV DNA integrates extensively, but great variation in S-RNA levels suggests that a small part of the integrations determines serum levels of HBsAg and HDV RNA in HBV/HDV coinfected patients with liver cirrhosis.

This Georgian population-based registry study indicates that hepatitis C virus (HCV)–positive individuals treated with direct-acting antivirals may have reduced odds of COVID-19–related hospitalization compared with those who remained untreated for HCV or tested HCV negative.

We estimate that Norway, a setting with a concentrated epidemic, high coverage of harm reduction services, and no treatment restrictions, has achieved the global incidence target for the elimination of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs.

DOCK2 deficiency was explored in a model of herpes simplex virus infection and immunity, finding a critical role for this protein in antiviral CD8⁺ T-cell priming and initial expansion.

The risk of atherothrombotic events more than doubled during the 14 days following milder influenza cases in individuals with fewer risk factors. After severe cases in more vulnerable patients, it more than quadrupled, remaining elevated by 2-fold for 2 months.

Brain tissue of patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) harbors rearranged variants of the causative agent JC polyomavirus. Strong regulation of genes associated with neuroinflammation, blood-brain barrier permeability, and neurodegenerative diseases provides new prospects for understanding PML pathogenesis.

Here, we identify 2 clusters of epitopes mediating the functional interaction between the Plasmodium vivax invasion ligand PvRBP2a and its host receptor CD98. Our data reveal important epitopes for development of a P vivax blood-stage vaccine.

We identified an ARL14 cis-regulatory region containing functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with severe malaria and provided evidence of allele-specific promoter activity. Hence, these SNPs could be involved in the development of severe malaria by regulating ARL14 expression and consequently T-lymphocyte activation.

Maintaining high-affinity antibodies after vaccination may be important for long-lasting immunity to malaria, but knowledge is lacking. In a phase 1 malaria vaccine trial, affinity of vaccine antibodies declined substantially over 12 months, suggesting poor maintenance of high-affinity antibodies.