Two chemoattenuated PfSPZ malaria vaccines induce sterile hepatic immunity.

The global decline in malaria has stalled1, emphasizing the need for vaccines that induce durable sterilizing immunity. Here we optimized regimens for chemoprophylaxis vaccination (CVac), for which aseptic, purified, cryopreserved, infectious Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ) were inoculated under prophylactic cover with pyrimethamine (PYR) (Sanaria PfSPZ-CVac(PYR)) or chloroquine (CQ) (PfSPZ-CVac(CQ))-which kill liver-stage and blood-stage parasites, respectively-and we assessed vaccine efficacy against homologous (that is, the same strain as the vaccine) and heterologous (a different strain) controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) three months after immunization ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ , NCT02511054 and NCT03083847). We report that a fourfold increase in the dose of PfSPZ-CVac(PYR) from 5.12 × 104 to 2 × 105 PfSPZs transformed a minimal vaccine efficacy (low dose, two out of nine (22.2%) participants protected against homologous CHMI), to a high-level vaccine efficacy with seven out of eight (87.5%) individuals protected against homologous and seven out of nine (77.8%) protected against heterologous CHMI. Increased protection was associated with Vδ2 γδ T cell and antibody responses. At the higher dose, PfSPZ-CVac(CQ) protected six out of six (100%) participants against heterologous CHMI three months after immunization. All homologous (four out of four) and heterologous (eight out of eight) infectivity control participants showed parasitaemia. PfSPZ-CVac(CQ) and PfSPZ-CVac(PYR) induced a durable, sterile vaccine efficacy against a heterologous South American strain of P. falciparum, which has a genome and predicted CD8 T cell immunome that differs more strongly from the African vaccine strain than other analysed African P. falciparum strains.

Comparison of qPCR with ddPCR for the Quantification of JC Polyomavirus in CSF from Patients with Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy.

Background: Lytic infection of oligodendrocytes by the human JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) results in the demyelinating disease called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The detection of viral DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by PCR is an important diagnostic tool and, in conjunction with defined radiological and clinical features, can provide diagnosis of definite PML, avoiding the need for brain biopsy. The main aim of this study is to compare the droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay with the gold standard quantitative PCR (qPCR) for the quantification of JC viral loads in clinical samples. Methods: A total of 62 CSF samples from 31 patients with PML were analyzed to compare the qPCR gold standard technique with ddPCR to detect conserved viral DNA sequences in the JCPyV genome. As part of the validation process, ddPCR results were compared to qPCR data obtained in 42 different laboratories around the world. In addition, the characterization of a novel triplex ddPCR to detect viral DNA sequence from both prototype and archetype variants and a cellular housekeeping reference gene is described. Triplex ddPCR was used to analyze the serum from six PML patients and from three additional cohorts, including 20 healthy controls (HC), 20 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who had never been treated with natalizumab (no-NTZ-treated), and 14 patients with MS who were being treated with natalizumab (NTZ-treated); three from this last group seroconverted during the course of treatment with natalizumab. Results: JCPyV DNA was detected only by ddPCR for 5 of the 62 CSF samples (8%), while remaining undetected by qPCR. For nine CSF samples (15%), JCPyV DNA was at the lower limit of quantification for qPCR, set at <250 copies/mL, and therefore no relative quantitation could be determined. By contrast, exact copies of JCPyV for each of these samples were quantified by ddPCR. No differences were observed between qPCR and ddPCR when five standardized plasma samples were analyzed for JCPyV in 42 laboratories in the United States and Europe. JCPyV-DNA was undetected in all the sera from HC and MS cohorts tested by triplex ddPCR, while serum samples from six patients with PML tested positive for JCPyV. Conclusion: This study shows strong correlation between ddPCR and qPCR with increased sensitivity of the ddPCR assay. Further work will be needed to determine whether multiplex ddPCR can be useful to determine PML risk in natalizumab-treated MS patients.

Targeted therapy guided by single-cell transcriptomic analysis in drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome: a case report.

Drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome/drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DiHS/DRESS) is a potentially fatal multiorgan inflammatory disease associated with herpesvirus reactivation and subsequent onset of autoimmune diseases1-4. Pathophysiology remains elusive and therapeutic options are limited. Cases refractory to corticosteroid therapy pose a clinical challenge1,5 and approximately 30% of patients with DiHS/DRESS develop complications, including infections and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases1,2,5. Progress in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) provides an opportunity to dissect human disease pathophysiology at unprecedented resolutions6, particularly in diseases lacking animal models, such as DiHS/DRESS. We performed scRNA-seq on skin and blood from a patient with refractory DiHS/DRESS, identifying the JAK-STAT signaling pathway as a potential target. We further showed that central memory CD4+ T cells were enriched with DNA from human herpesvirus 6b. Intervention via tofacitinib enabled disease control and tapering of other immunosuppressive agents. Tofacitinib, as well as antiviral agents, suppressed culprit-induced T cell proliferation in vitro, further supporting the roles of the JAK-STAT pathway and herpesviruses in mediating the adverse drug reaction. Thus, scRNA-seq analyses guided successful therapeutic intervention in the patient with refractory DiHS/DRESS. scRNA-seq may improve our understanding of complicated human disease pathophysiology and provide an alternative approach in personalized medicine.

Evaluation of a new commercial TaqMan PCR assay for direct detection of the clostridium difficile toxin B gene in clinical stool specimens.

The ProGastro Cd assay (Prodesse, Inc., Waukesha, WI) is a new commercial TaqMan PCR assay that detects tcdB. The ProGastro Cd assay was compared to the Wampole Clostridium difficile toxin B test (TOX-B test; TechLab, Blacksburg, VA), a cell culture cytotoxicity neutralization assay (CCCNA), and to anaerobic toxigenic bacterial culture, as the "gold standard," for 285 clinical stool specimens. Assays were independently performed according to manufacturers' directions. A 1.0-ml sample was removed from the stool specimen, of which 20 microl was used for extraction on the NucliSENS easyMAG platform (bioMérieux, Inc., Durham, NC) for the Prodesse ProGastro Cd assay and 200 microl of the stool filtrate was used for the TOX-B CCCNA. Anaerobic toxigenic culture was done by heating an additional 1.0 ml of the stool sample to 80 degrees C for 10 min before inoculation onto modified cycloserine, cefoxitin, and fructose agar with horse blood (Remel, Lenexa, KS) and into a prereduced chopped meat glucose broth (BBL, BD Diagnostics, Sparks, MD). The prevalence of toxin-producing strains of C. difficile was 15.7% (n = 44) as determined by anaerobic toxigenic culture. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the Prodesse ProGastro Cd assay compared to the TOX-B test were 83.3%, 95.6%, 69.4%, and 98%, respectively. Compared to toxigenic culture, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the Prodesse ProGastro Cd assay were 77.3%, 99.2%, 94.4%, and 95.9%, respectively, and those of the TOX-B test were 63.6%, 99.2%, 93.3%, and 93.6%, respectively. Although no statistical difference (Fisher's exact test) was detected (P = 0.242) between the sensitivities of the Prodesse ProGastro Cd assay and a standard CCCNA compared to anaerobic culture for the detection of toxigenic C. difficile, the Prodesse ProGastro Cd assay did detect more toxigenic C. difficile isolates than the CCCNA.

Comparison of a commercial real-time PCR assay for tcdB detection to a cell culture cytotoxicity assay and toxigenic culture for direct detection of toxin-producing Clostridium difficile in clinical samples.

Rapid detection of toxin-producing strains of Clostridium difficile is essential for optimal management of patients with C. difficile infection. The BD GeneOhm (San Diego, CA) Cdiff assay, a real-time PCR assay that amplifies tcdB, was compared to a cell culture neutralization assay (Wampole C. difficile Toxin B [TOX-B] test; TechLab, Blacksburg, VA) and to toxigenic culture. Using liquid (n = 273) and soft (n = 131) stool specimens from 377 symptomatic patients, all testing was performed on the same day by independent laboratory staff according to the manufacturers' protocols. Toxigenic bacterial culture was performed as follows. A 0.5-ml aliquot of stool was heated to 80 degrees C for 10 min, followed by inoculation onto modified cycloserine cefoxitin fructose agar with and without horse blood (Remel, Lenexa, KS) and into prereduced chopped-meat broth. Of the 404 stool specimens tested, 340 were negative and 40 were positive (10.0% prevalence) both by PCR for tcdB and by cytotoxin production. The overall agreement between the BD GeneOhm Cdiff assay and the TOX-B test was 94.8% (380/401). When the TOX-B test was used as the reference method, the initial sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the BD GeneOhm Cdiff assay were 90.9% (40/44), 95.2% (340/357), 70.2% (40/57), and 98.8% (340/344), respectively. When toxigenic culture was used as the "gold standard," the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the BD GeneOhm Cdiff assay were 83.6%, 98.2%, 89.5%, and 97.1%, respectively, and those of the TOX-B test were 67.2%, 99.1%, 93.2%, and 94.4%, respectively. PCRs for three samples were inhibited upon initial testing; one sample was resolved upon retesting. One sample produced nonspecific cytotoxin results. The BD GeneOhm Cdiff assay performed well compared to a standard cell culture neutralization assay and to toxigenic culture for the detection of toxigenic C. difficile directly from fecal specimens.