Lactoferrin as a Human Genome "Guardian"-An Overall Point of View.

Structural abnormalities causing DNA modifications of the ethene and propanoadducts can lead to mutations and permanent damage to human genetic material. Such changes may cause premature aging and cell degeneration and death as well as severe impairment of tissue and organ function. This may lead to the development of various diseases, including cancer. In response to a damage, cells have developed defense mechanisms aimed at preventing disease and repairing damaged genetic material or diverting it into apoptosis. All of the mechanisms described above are part of the repertoire of action of Lactoferrin-an endogenous protein that contains iron in its structure, which gives it numerous antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and anticancer properties. The aim of the article is to synthetically present the new and innovative role of lactoferrin in the protection of human genetic material against internal and external damage, described by the modulation mechanisms of the cell cycle at all its levels and the mechanisms of its repair.

The Immunological Role of the Placenta in SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Viral Transmission, Immune Regulation, and Lactoferrin Activity.

A pandemic of acute respiratory infections, due to a new type of coronavirus, can cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has created the need for a better understanding of the clinical, epidemiological, and pathological features of COVID-19, especially in high-risk groups, such as pregnant women. Viral infections in pregnant women may have a much more severe course, and result in an increase in the rate of complications, including spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, and premature birth-which may cause long-term consequences in the offspring. In this review, we focus on the mother-fetal-placenta interface and its role in the potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2, including expression of viral receptors and proteases, placental pathology, and the presence of the virus in neonatal tissues and fluids. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the anti-viral activity of lactoferrin during viral infection in pregnant women, analyzes its role in the pathogenicity of pandemic virus particles, and describes the potential evidence for placental blocking/limiting of the transmission of the virus.

Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress-A Causative Factor and Therapeutic Target in Many Diseases.

The excessive formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and impairment of defensive antioxidant systems leads to a condition known as oxidative stress. The main source of free radicals responsible for oxidative stress is mitochondrial respiration. The deleterious effects of ROS on cellular biomolecules, including DNA, is a well-known phenomenon that can disrupt mitochondrial function and contribute to cellular damage and death, and the subsequent development of various disease processes. In this review, we summarize the most important findings that implicated mitochondrial oxidative stress in a wide variety of pathologies from Alzheimer disease (AD) to autoimmune type 1 diabetes. This review also discusses attempts to affect oxidative stress as a therapeutic avenue.

Human Pegivirus in Patients with Encephalitis of Unclear Etiology, Poland.

Human pegivirus (HPgV), previously called hepatitis G virus or GB virus C, is a lymphotropic virus with undefined pathology. Because many viruses from the family Flaviviridae, to which HPgV belongs, are neurotropic, we studied whether HPgV could infect the central nervous system. We tested serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples from 96 patients with a diagnosis of encephalitis for a variety of pathogens by molecular methods and serology; we also tested for autoantibodies against neuronal antigens. We found HPgV in serum and cerebrospinal fluid from 3 patients who had encephalitis of unclear origin; that is, all the markers that had been tested were negative. Single-strand confirmation polymorphism and next-generation sequencing analysis revealed differences between the serum and cerebrospinal fluid-derived viral sequences, which is compatible with the presence of a separate HPgV compartment in the central nervous system. It is unclear whether HPgV was directly responsible for encephalitis in these patients.

A Cluster of Fatal Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus Infection in Organ Transplant Setting.

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infection has become a major health problem in Europe and is currently a common cause of viral brain infection in many countries. Encephalitis in transplant recipients, althrough rare, is becoming a recognized complication. Our study provides the first description of transmission of TBEV through transplantation of solid organs. Methods: Three patients who received solid organ transplants from a single donor (2 received kidney, and 1 received liver) developed encephalitis 17-49 days after transplantation and subsequently died. Blood and autopsy tissue samples were tested by next-generation sequencing (NGS) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: All 3 recipients were first analyzed in autopsy brain tissue samples and/or cerebrospinal fluid by NGS, which yielded 24-52 million sequences per sample and 9-988 matched TBEV sequences in each patient. The presence of TBEV was confirmed by RT-PCR in all recipients and in the donor, and direct sequencing of amplification products corroborated the presence of the same viral strain. Conclusions: We demonstrated transmission of TBEV by transplantation of solid organs. In such a setting, TBEV infection may be fatal, probably due to pharmacological immunosuppression. Organ donors should be screened for TBEV when coming from or visiting endemic areas.

Sensitivity of Next-Generation Sequencing Metagenomic Analysis for Detection of RNA and DNA Viruses in Cerebrospinal Fluid: The Confounding Effect of Background Contamination.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) followed by metagenomic enables the detection and identification of known as well as novel pathogens. It could be potentially useful in the diagnosis of encephalitis, caused by a variety of microorganisms. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity of isothermal RNA amplification (Ribo-SPIA) followed by NGS metagenomic analysis in the detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Moreover, we analyzed the contamination background. We detected 102 HIV copies and 103 HSV copies. The analysis of control samples (two water samples and one CSF sample from an uninfected patient) revealed the presence of human DNA in the CSF sample (91 % of all reads), while the dominating sequences in water were qualified as 'other', related to plants, plant viruses, and synthetic constructs, and constituted 31 % and 60 % of all reads. Bacterial sequences represented 5.9 % and 21.4 % of all reads in water samples and 2.3 % in the control CSF sample. The bacterial sequences corresponded mainly to Psychrobacter, Acinetobacter, and Corynebacterium genera. In conclusion, Ribo-SPIA amplification followed by NGS metagenomic analysis is sensitive for detection of RNA and DNA viruses. Contamination seems common and thus the results should be confirmed by other independent methods such as RT-PCR and PCR. Despite these reservations, NGS seems to be a promising method for the diagnosis of viral infections.

No evidence of West Nile virus infection among Polish patients with encephalitis.

West Nile virus (WNV) infection usually causes mild febrile illness, but in a small proportion of patients it can lead to encephalitis. Epidemiological studies of WNV indicate fast spread of infection worldwide and in Europe, but there have been no comprehensive studies of WNV infection among encephalitis patients in Poland. Here we present the results of WNV RNA and anti-WNV testing in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples in 80 patients with the clinical diagnosis of viral encephalitis. WNV RNA was not detected in any of the analyzed samples. Anti-WNV IgG and IgM were not present in CSF in any of the investigated patients, but anti-WNV IgM were unexpectedly detected in serum of 14 subjects. The latter represented false positive results are probably related to cross reactivity of antibodies. Although there was no evidence of WNV infection in any of our patients, epidemiological situation in the neighbouring countries warrants vigilance and appropriate measures, including introduction of specific diagnostic tools into clinical practice, seem necessary.

Common origin, common fate: regular porphyrin and N-confused porphyrin yield an identical tetrapyrrolic degradation product.

The formation of an identical linear tetrapyrrole observed in the course of photooxidation of meso-tetraarylporphyrin and its N-confused isomer can be explained as a result of 1,2- and 1,3-dioxygen addition, respectively, as substantiated by DFT calculations.

Viral etiologies in adult patients with encephalitis in Poland: A prospective single center study.

Encephalitis is a severe neurological syndrome associated with high morbidity and mortality as well as long-term neurological sequelae. Despite being an important public health problem, very few extensive population-based studies were conducted so far in the world and none in Central Europe. Altogether 114 consecutive patients meeting the initial criteria for encephalitis were enrolled at the Warsaw Hospital for Infectious Diseases between June 2012 and July 2015. Eighteen patients were secondarily excluded from the analysis due to incomplete data or noinfectious cause. Potential pathogen sequences were searched for by molecular methods in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and specific antibodies were detected in CSF and sera. An infectious agent was identified in 41 patients (42.7%). The most frequently diagnosed infections were Human herpesvirus 1 (HHV-1) (22 cases, 24%) followed by Enterovirus (6 cases, 6.3%), Varicella zoster virus (VZV) (5 cases, 5.2%), Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) (6 cases, 6.3%) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (2 cases, 2.1%). There were no cases of human adenovirus, Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) or West Nile virus (WNV) infection identified. In 55 cases (57.3%) the cause of encephalitis remained unknown. Compared to patients in whom the diagnosis was determined the latter group contained more women, was less likely to manifest fever and had lower CSF pleocytosis (p < 0.05) In summary, we identified HHV-1 followed by Enterovirus, VZV and TBEV as the most common causes of encephalitis among adult patients in Poland. In a large proportion of patients the cause of encephalitis remained unknown.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the identification of encephalitis-causing viruses: Unexpected detection of human herpesvirus 1 while searching for RNA pathogens.

BACKGROUND: Encephalitis is a severe neurological syndrome usually caused by viruses. Despite significant progress in diagnostic techniques, the causative agent remains unidentified in the majority of cases. The aim of the present study was to test an alternative approach for the detection of putative pathogens in encephalitis using next-generation sequencing (NGS). METHODS: RNA was extracted from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from a 60-year-old male patient with encephalitis and subjected to isothermal linear nucleic acid amplification (Ribo-SPIA, NuGen) followed by next-generation sequencing using MiSeq (Illumina) system and metagenomics data analysis. RESULTS: The sequencing run yielded 1,578,856 reads overall and 2579 reads matched human herpesvirus I (HHV-1) genome; the presence of this pathogen in CSF was confirmed by specific PCR. In subsequent experiments we found that the DNAse I treatment, while lowering the background of host-derived sequences, lowered the number of detectable HHV-1 sequences by a factor of 4. Furthermore, we found that the routine extraction of total RNA by the Chomczynski method could be used for identification of both DNA and RNA pathogens in typical clinical settings, as it results in retention of a significant amount of DNA. CONCLUSION: In summary, it seems that NGS preceded by nucleic acid amplification could supplement currently used diagnostic methods in encephalitis.

Genetic Variability of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) 5' Untranslated Region in HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients Treated with Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin.

Association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) quasispecies and treatment outcome among patients with chronic hepatitis C has been the subject of many studies. However, these studies focused mainly on viral variable regions (E1 and E2) and usually did not include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients. The aim of the present study was to analyze heterogeneity of the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) in HCV/HIV coinfected patients treated with interferon and ribavirin. The HCV 5'UTR was amplified from serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) samples in 37 HCV/HIV coinfected patients treated for chronic hepatitis C. Samples were collected right before treatment, and at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 20, 24, 36, 44, 48, 60, and 72 weeks. Heterogeneity of the 5'UTR was analyzed by single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP), cloning and sequencing. Sustained virological response (SVR) was achieved in 46% of analyzed HCV/HIV co-infected patients. Stable SSCP band pattern was observed in 22 patients (62.9%) and SVR rate among these patients was 23%. Decline in the number of bands and/or shift in band positions were found in 6 patients (17.1%), 5 (83%) of whom achieved SVR (p=0.009). A novel viral genotype was identified in all but one of these patients. In 5 of these 6 patients a new genotype was dominant. 5'UTR heterogeneity may correlate with interferon and ribavirin treatment outcome. In the analyzed group of HCV/HIV coinfected patients, viral quasispecies stability during treatment favored viral persistence, whereas decrease in the number of variants and/or emergence of new variants was associated with SVR. Among injection drug users (IDU) patients, a new genotype may become dominant during treatment, probably due to the presence of mixed infections with various strains, which have different susceptibility to treatment.