Tools and methodology to in silico phage discovery in freshwater environments.

Freshwater availability is essential, and its maintenance has become an enormous challenge. Due to population growth and climate changes, freshwater sources are becoming scarce, imposing the need for strategies for its reuse. Currently, the constant discharge of waste into water bodies from human activities leads to the dissemination of pathogenic bacteria, negatively impacting water quality from the source to the infrastructure required for treatment, such as the accumulation of biofilms. Current water treatment methods cannot keep pace with bacterial evolution, which increasingly exhibits a profile of multidrug resistance to antibiotics. Furthermore, using more powerful disinfectants may affect the balance of aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, there is a need to explore sustainable ways to control the spreading of pathogenic bacteria. Bacteriophages can infect bacteria and archaea, hijacking their host machinery to favor their replication. They are widely abundant globally and provide a biological alternative to bacterial treatment with antibiotics. In contrast to common disinfectants and antibiotics, bacteriophages are highly specific, minimizing adverse effects on aquatic microbial communities and offering a lower cost-benefit ratio in production compared to antibiotics. However, due to the difficulty involving cultivating and identifying environmental bacteriophages, alternative approaches using NGS metagenomics in combination with some bioinformatic tools can help identify new bacteriophages that can be useful as an alternative treatment against resistant bacteria. In this review, we discuss advances in exploring the virome of freshwater, as well as current applications of bacteriophages in freshwater treatment, along with current challenges and future perspectives.

Perfil de resistencia antifúngica en el tratamiento de candidiasis vaginal: Un diagnóstico de agentes etiológicos / Antifungal resistance profile in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis: A diagnosis of etiologic agents

Introducción: En las micosis, la resistencia a los antifúngicos aumenta debido a los diagnósticos y tratamientos incorrectos. Por tanto, se ha sugerido la vigilancia y el seguimiento de las cepas resistentes para garantizar una terapia adecuada. Objetivo: Determinar las especies de Candida y el perfil de resistencia a fluconazol y voriconazol, que presentan los aislados obtenidos de muestras almacenadas durante los meses diciembre 2017 y marzo 2018 de pacientes provenientes del Laboratorio del Hospital Regional "Miguel Ángel Mariscal Llerena" del departamento de Ayacucho, Perú. Material y Métodos: Estudio descriptivo transversal, en el cual se aislaron 110 cepas de Candida sp almacenadas por un período de cuatro meses, y procesadas por métodos estandarizados y aprobados por el Ministerio de Salud (MINSA) y el Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) del Perú relacionados con el diagnóstico de agentes etiológicos de micosis humanas y la sensibilidad antifúngica con los métodos estandarizados de Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI). Resultados: Se observó C. albicans en 86,4 % de los aislados seguida por C. glabrata con 9,1 %, C. parapsilosis 2,7 % y 0,9 % de C. tropicalis y C. krusei. El 10,5 % de C. albicans fue resistente al fluconazol y voriconazol con CMI ≥ 128 μg/mL y ≥ 16 μg/mL respectivamente, mientras que 20 % de C. glabrata mostró sensibilidad dosis dependiente y 10 % de resistencia al fluconazol. Conclusiones: Existe una gran variedad de especies de Candida, siendo la C. albicans la más común, seguida por C. glabrata, con un mayor porcentaje de aislamiento en comparación con otras especies. Se puede observar que estas especies poseen grados de vulnerabilidad considerables a la aplicación de fármacos como el fluconazol y voriconazo(AU)

Introduction: In mycoses, resistance to antifungals increases due to incorrect diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, surveillance and monitoring of resistant strains has been suggested to ensure adequate therapy. Objective: To determine the Candida species and the resistance profile to fluconazole and voriconazole presented by the isolates obtained from samples stored during the months of December 2017 and March 2018 from patients coming from the Laboratory of the Regional Hospital "Miguel Ángel Mariscal Llerena" in the department of Ayacucho, Peru. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study in which 110 strains of Candida sp were isolated and stored for a period of four (04) months, and processed by standardized methods approved by the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and the National Institute of Health (INS) of Peru related to the diagnosis of etiological agents of human mycosis and antifungal sensitivity with the standardized methods of the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI). Results: C. albicans was observed in 86,4 % of isolates, followed by C. glabrata (9,1 %), C. parapsilosis (2,7 %), and 0,9 % of C. tropicalis and C. krusei; 10,5 % of C. albicans was resistant to fluconazole and voriconazole with MIC ≥ 128 μg/mL and ≥ 16 μg/mL respectively, while 20 % of C. glabrata showed dose dependent sensitivity and 10 % resistance to fluconazole. Conclusions: There is a wide variety of Candida species, with C. albicans being the most common, followed by C. glabrata, with a higher percentage of isolation compared to other species. It can be seen that these species have considerable degrees of vulnerability to the application of drugs such as fluconazole and voriconazole(AU)

Temporal Variations in Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infections by Race and Ethnicity in Arkansas.

ObjectiveOur objective is to estimate CoV-2 infection rates in a rural state using seroprevalence of antibodies to CoV-2 as an indicator of infection. Study Design and SettingThis is a single-site study within an academic center and regional programs within the state of Arkansas. We obtained residual serum samples from a convenience sample of adults who were outpatients and came to the hospital or regional clinic for non-COVID-related reasons. We collected remnant in three time periods (August 15 to September 5, September 12 to October 24, and November 7 to December 19). ResultsIn 2020, the overall age, gender, and race standardized prevalence of CoV-2 antibodies was 2.6% (August to September), 4.1% (September to October), and 7.4% (November to December). There was no difference in seroprevalence between urban compared to rural areas. Positive tests were not uniformly distributed across racial and ethnic minorities. Higher seroprevalence rates were found in Hispanics and Blacks or African Americans compared to whites across all time periods. ConclusionsIn a state with a large rural population, 2.6-7.4% of people experienced CoV-2 infection by December 2020. Blacks and Hispanics had disproportionately higher rates of CoV-2 infections than whites. What is new?O_ST_ABSKey findingsC_ST_ABSIn this prospective convenience sampling of remnant sera, we found increasing seroprevalence from 2.6% to 7.4% (August 2020 to December 2020). Higher seroprevalence rates were found in Hispanics and Blacks or African Americans compared to whites across all time periods, and no difference was determined between those individuals from rural or urban areas. What this adds to what is knownIn a largely rural population, Blacks and Hispanics had disproportionately higher rates of CoV-2 infections than whites, and these populations need to be studied further regarding outcomes. What is the implication?There are health disparities that exist regarding CoV-2 infections, and we should target vaccination information and education to these groups. Highlights- SARS-CoV-2 infections increased from 2.6% to 7.4% from August to December 2020. - Higher seroprevalence was found in Hispanics and Blacks as compared to whites. - There was no difference in the seroprevalence in rural compared to urban areas.

A unique galectin signature in human prostate cancer progression suggests galectin-1 as a key target for treatment of advanced disease.

Galectins, a family of glycan-binding proteins, influence tumor progression by modulating interactions between tumor, endothelial, stromal, and immune cells. Despite considerable progress in identifying the roles of individual galectins in tumor biology, an integrated portrait of the galectin network in different tumor microenvironments is still missing. We undertook this study to analyze the "galectin signature" of the human prostate cancer microenvironment with the overarching goal of selecting novel-molecular targets for prognostic and therapeutic purposes. In examining androgen-responsive and castration-resistant prostate cancer cells and primary tumors representing different stages of the disease, we found that galectin-1 (Gal-1) was the most abundantly expressed galectin in prostate cancer tissue and was markedly upregulated during disease progression. In contrast, all other galectins were expressed at lower levels: Gal-3, -4, -9, and -12 were downregulated during disease evolution, whereas expression of Gal-8 was unchanged. Given the prominent regulation of Gal-1 during prostate cancer progression and its predominant localization at the tumor-vascular interface, we analyzed the potential role of this endogenous lectin in prostate cancer angiogenesis. In human prostate cancer tissue arrays, Gal-1 expression correlated with the presence of blood vessels, particularly in advanced stages of the disease. Silencing Gal-1 in prostate cancer cells reduced tumor vascularization without altering expression of other angiogenesis-related genes. Collectively, our findings identify a dynamically regulated "galectin-specific signature" that accompanies disease evolution in prostate cancer, and they highlight a major role for Gal-1 as a tractable target for antiangiogenic therapy in advanced stages of the disease.