Mixed-method evaluation study of a targeted mass drug administration of long-acting anti-malarials among children aged 3 months to 15 years in the Bossangoa sub-prefecture, Ouham, Central African Republic, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) initiated three cycles of dihydroartemisin-piperaquine (DHA-PQ) mass drug administration (MDA) for children aged three months to 15 years within Bossangoa sub-prefecture, Central African Republic. Coverage, clinical impact, and community members perspectives were evaluated to inform the use of MDAs in humanitarian emergencies. METHODS: A household survey was undertaken after the MDA focusing on participation, recent illness among eligible children, and household satisfaction. Using routine surveillance data, the reduction during the MDA period compared to the same period of preceding two years in consultations, malaria diagnoses, malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) positivity in three MSF community healthcare facilities (HFs), and the reduction in severe malaria admissions at the regional hospital were estimated. Twenty-seven focus groups discussions (FGDs) with community members were conducted. RESULTS: Overall coverage based on the MDA card or verbal report was 94.3% (95% confidence interval (CI): 86.3-97.8%). Among participants of the household survey, 2.6% (95% CI 1.6-40.3%) of round 3 MDA participants experienced illness in the preceding four weeks compared to 30.6% (95% CI 22.1-40.8%) of MDA non-participants. One community HF experienced a 54.5% (95% CI 50.8-57.9) reduction in consultations, a 73.7% (95% CI 70.5-76.5) reduction in malaria diagnoses, and 42.9% (95% CI 36.0-49.0) reduction in the proportion of positive RDTs among children under five. A second community HF experienced an increase in consultations (+ 15.1% (- 23.3 to 7.5)) and stable malaria diagnoses (4.2% (3.9-11.6)). A third community HF experienced an increase in consultations (+ 41.1% (95% CI 51.2-31.8) and malaria diagnoses (+ 37.3% (95% CI 47.4-27.9)). There were a 25.2% (95% CI 2.0-42.8) reduction in hospital admissions with severe malaria among children under five from the MDA area. FGDs revealed community members perceived less illness among children because of the MDA, as well as fewer hospitalizations. Other indirect benefits such as reduced household expenditure on healthcare were also described. CONCLUSION: The MDA achieved high coverage and community acceptance. While some positive health impact was observed, it was resource intensive, particularly in this rural context. The priority for malaria control in humanitarian contexts should remain diagnosis and treatment. MDA may be additional tool where the context supports its implementation.

Diversity and dispersal of aquatic invertebrate species from surface and groundwater: Development and application of microsatellite markers for the detection of hydrological exchange processes.

Groundwater is one of our most important resources, however groundwater ecosystems are among the most understudied habitats of the planet earth. Studies on groundwater organisms are hampered by the difficult accessibility of species, the lack of morphological differentiation and the limitation for laboratory cultures. One important approach to overcome these shortcomings is to provide sensitive genetic methods to unravel patterns of biodiversity, population structure and gene flow in natural populations. In this study we present five sets of microsatellite markers developed for the isopods Asellus aquaticus and Proasellus slavus, the cyclopoides Paracyclops fimbriatus and Acanthocyclops sensitivus and the harpacticoide Bryocamptus echinatus (Crustacea). Two of these species were subjected to detailed population genetic analyses: We studied 501 specimens of Asellus aquaticus from four different regions in Northern Germany using nine microsatellite markers and 70 specimens of Bryocamptus echinatus using nine microsatellite markers from three different sampling sites in South-Western Germany. Our results show that genetic diversity is high (A. aquaticus: 10 to 20 and B. echinatus: 4 to 18 alleles per locus) among populations of aquatic invertebrates, populations are highly differentiated (FST > 0.2) and genetic differentiation was associated with geographic patterns. Applications of molecular genetic methods and their use for the detection of hydrological exchange processes relevant for drinking water suppliers are demonstrated and discussed.

Oxygen-dependent regulation of NDRG1 in human glioblastoma cells in vitro and in vivo.

NDRG1 is a member of the N-myc downregulated gene (NDRG) family. Its induction occurs via diverse physiological and pathological conditions (hypoxia, cellular differentiation, heavy metal, N-myc, neoplasia) which modulate NDRG1 transcription, mRNA stability and translation. Hypoxia, among other factors, induces NDRG1 expression and plays an important role in its regulation of expression. To date, the complete detailed function of this protein in humans remains unknown. Hypoxia represents a common feature of solid tumors. In our study, differences in NDRG1 expression between different WHO grades of astrocytic tumors were comparatively examined in vivo in human low-grade astrocytoma (WHO grade 2) and glioblastoma (WHO grade 4) at both the protein and mRNA level by Western blot analysis and semi-quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. Furthermore, the same proteins were determined in vitro in U373, U251 and GaMG human glioblastoma cells using the same methods. HIF-1alpha protein and mRNA regulation under hypoxia was also determined in vitro in U251, U373 and GaMG cells. This regulation was shown at the same levels in vivo in human low-grade astrocytoma (WHO grade 2) and glioblastoma which showed a higher NDRG1 overexpression level in glioblastoma than in low-grade astrocytoma. siRNA- and iodoacetate (IAA)-mediated downregulation of NDRG1 mRNA and protein expression in vitro in human glioblastoma cell lines showed a nearly complete inhibition of NDRG1 expression when compared to the results obtained due to the inhibitory role of glycolysis inhibitor IAA. Hypoxia responsive elements (HREs) bound by nuclear HIF-1alpha in human glioblastoma cells in vitro under different oxygenation conditions and the clearly enhanced binding of nuclear extracts from glioblastoma cell samples exposed to extreme hypoxic conditions confirmed the HIF-1 Western blotting results. Due to its clear regulatory behavior under hypoxic condition in human tumor cells, NDRG1 represents an additional diagnostic marker for brain tumor detection, due to the role of hypoxia in regulating this gene, and it can represent a potential target for tumor treatment in human glioblastoma.

Rapid detection of the hypoxia-regulated CA-IX and NDRG1 gene expression in different glioblastoma cells in vitro.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a key regulator of tumor cell hypoxia. It regulates the expression of several genes related to oxygen homeostasis in response to hypoxic stress. Carbonic anhydrase IX (Ca-IX) has been found to be a stable marker of acute or chronic hypoxia. N-Myc down-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) has been shown to possess more specific characteristics for clinical analysis and identification purposes. HIF-1 activates gene expression of the two genes and promotes tumor cell survival under hypoxic conditions. Herein, we modified a flow cytometry protocol to separate NDRG1- and CA-IX-negative and -positive cells in vitro to sort chronically hypoxic cells from glioblastoma tumors. The FITC-anti-CA-IX fluorescence differed between positive and negative cells by a factor of 60-160 in U373, U87-MG, U251 and GaMG, respectively. A clear effect of the O2 concentration on CA-IX expression was visible in GaMG and U251 cell lines whereas U373 showed a less differentiated pattern. NDRG1 expression was present in U373, U251 and GaMG with the lowest expression rate in GaMG. It was stable over 48 h of reoxygenation after 24 h of extreme hypoxia (0.1% O2). During reoxygenation NDRG1 was relatively stable in the four tumor cell lines with the lowest expression in GaMG. An oxygen- and time-dependent elevation of nuclear HIF-1alpha binding on HRE was displayed. FACS analysis of CA-IX and NDRG1 expression may be a new approach to determining the hypoxic state of tumor cells. However, an extensive analysis of other hypoxia-regulated genes in different tumors is required to identify additional markers for the detection of the oxygenation state in human tumors in order to tailor effective tumor-specific therapeutic strategies.

Saturation screening for p53 target genes by digital fluorescent differential display.

Differential display (DD) is one of the most commonly used approaches for identifying differentially expressed genes. Despite the great impact of the method on biomedical research, there has been a lack of automation of DD technology to increase its throughput and accuracy for a systematic gene expression analysis. Most of previous DD work has taken a "shotgun" approach of identifying one gene at a time, with limited polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reactions set up manually, giving DD a low-technology and low-throughput image. With our newly created DD mathematical model, which has been validated by computer simulations, global analysis of gene expression by DD technology is no longer a shot in the dark. After identifying the "rate-limiting" factors that contribute to the "noise" level of DD method, we have optimized the DD process with a new platform that incorporates fluorescent digital readout and automated liquid handling. The resulting streamlined fluorescent DD (FDD) technology offers an unprecedented accuracy, sensitivity, and throughput in comprehensive and quantitative analysis of gene expression. We are using this newly integrated FDD technology to conduct a systematic and comprehensive screening for p53 tumor-suppressor gene targets.

Identification of p53 target genes by fluorescent differential display.

Differential display (DD) is a method used worldwide for identifying differentially expressed genes in eukaryotic cells. The mRNA DD technology works by systematic amplification of the 3' terminal regions of mRNAs. Using anchored primers designed to bind 5' boundary of the polyA tails for reverse transcription, followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with additional upstream primers of arbitrary sequences, mRNA subpopulations are separated by denaturing polyacrylamide electrophoresis. This allows direct side-by-side comparison of most of the mRNAs between or among related cells. Because of its simplicity, sensitivity, and reproducibility, the mRNA DD method is finding wide-ranging and rapid applications in developmental biology, cancer research, neuroscience, pathology, endocrinology, plant physiology, and many other areas. Since the recent development of the fluorescent differential display (FDD), the first nonradioactive DD system with equivalent sensitivity to the original 33P isotopic labeling method, it is now possible with this technology to automate, which can greatly increase the throughput and accuracy of mRNA DD.

Inhibition of N-Myc down regulated gene 1 in in vitro cultured human glioblastoma cells.

AIM: To study short dsRNA oligonucleotides (siRNA) as a potent tool for artificially modulating gene expression of N-Myc down regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) gene induced under different physiological conditions (Normoxia and hypoxia) modulating NDRG1 transcription, mRNA stability and translation. METHODS: A cell line established from a patient with glioblastoma multiforme. Plasmid DNA for transfections was prepared with the Endofree Plasmid Maxi kit. From plates containing 5 × 10(7) cells, nuclear extracts were prepared according to previous protocols. The pSUPER-NDRG1 vectors were designed, two sequences were selected from the human NDRG1 cDNA (5'-GCATTATTGGCATGGGAAC-3' and 5'-ATGCAGAGTAACGTGGAAG-3'. reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed using primers designed using published information on ß-actin and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α mRNA sequences in GenBank. NDRG1 mRNA and protein level expression results under different conditions of hypoxia or reoxygenation were compared to aerobic control conditions using the Mann-Whitney U test. Reoxygenation values were also compared to the NDRG1 levels after 24 h of hypoxia (P < 0.05 was considered significant). RESULTS: siRNA- and iodoacetate (IAA)-mediated downregulation of NDRG1 mRNA and protein expression in vitro in human glioblastoma cell lines showed a nearly complete inhibition of NDRG1 expression when compared to the results obtained due to the inhibitory role of glycolysis inhibitor IAA. Hypoxia responsive elements bound by nuclear HIF-1 in human glioblastoma cells in vitro under different oxygenation conditions and the clearly enhanced binding of nuclear extracts from glioblastoma cell samples exposed to extreme hypoxic conditions confirmed the HIF-1 Western blotting results. CONCLUSION: NDRG1 represents an additional diagnostic marker for brain tumor detection, due to the role of hypoxia in regulating this gene, and it can represent a potential target for tumor treatment in human glioblastoma. The siRNA method can represent an elegant alternative to modulate the expression of the hypoxia induced NDRG1 gene and can help to monitor the development of the cancer disease treatment outcome through monitoring the expression of this gene in the patients undergoing the different therapeutic treatment alternatives available nowadays.

Leptin promotes the mobilization of vascular progenitor cells and neovascularization by NOX2-mediated activation of MMP9.

AIMS: Bone marrow (BM) progenitors participate in new vessel formation and endothelial repair. The leptin receptor (ObR) is expressed on hematopoietic cells; however, the effects of leptin on BM progenitor cells and their angiogenic potential are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the present study, we show that the short-term administration of leptin (over five consecutive days) into wild-type mice increased the number of circulating, BM-derived sca-1(+), flk-1(+) vascular progenitors, 95 ± 1.7% of which also expressed ObR. Ex vivo stimulation of BM cells with leptin enhanced the expression of NADPH oxidase isoform 2 (NOX2), and the leptin-induced increase in reactive oxygen species production, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) expression and circulating soluble KitL levels was absent in mice lacking NOX2. Furthermore, intraperitoneal injections of leptin improved perfusion and increased the number of BM-derived, CD31-positive endothelial cells in ischaemic hindlimbs after femoral artery ligation. The effects of leptin on the mobilization of sca-1(+), flk-1(+) cells and neovascularization were abolished in mice transplanted with BM from ObR-deficient and in NOX2(-/-) mice. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the angiogenic effects of leptin involve sca-1(+), flk-1(+) vascular progenitor cells mobilized from the BM in response to ObR-mediated activation of NOX2, increased MMP9 expression, and sKitL release.

CYFIP2, a direct p53 target, is leptomycin-B sensitive.

A number of target genes for the tumor suppressor, p53, have been identified, however, the mechanisms that contribute to p53-dependent apoptosis remain to be fully elucidated. In a comprehensive screen for p53 target genes, we have identified Cytoplasmic FMR Interacting Protein 2 (CYFIP2) as a p53-inducible gene. Here we show that the CYFIP2 promoter contains a p53-responsive element that confers p53 binding as well as transcriptional activation of a heterologous reporter. Inducible expression of CYFIP2 is sufficient for caspase activation and cellular apoptosis, reminiscent of p53 activation. Together, these results suggest that CYFIP2 is a direct p53 target gene that may be part of a redundant network of genes responsible for p53-dependent apoptosis. In addition, the sensitivity of CYFIP2 protein subcellular localization to Leptomycin-B, a CRM-1/Exportin inhibitor, suggests that the biological functions of CYFIP2 may extend from the cytoplasmic compartment into the nucleus of the cell.

NDRG1 is necessary for p53-dependent apoptosis.

Although a number of target genes for the tumor suppressor p53 have been described, the mechanism of p53-dependent apoptosis is incompletely understood. Thus, it is essential to identify and characterize additional target genes that could mediate apoptosis. In the study reported here, we isolated a p53-regulated gene named NDRG1 (N-Myc down-regulated gene 1). Its expression is induced by DNA damage in a p53-dependent fashion. The promoter region of the NDRG1 gene contains a p53 binding site that confers p53-dependent transcriptional activation via a heterologous reporter. RNA interference and inducible gene expression approaches suggest that NDRG1 is necessary but not sufficient for p53-mediated caspase activation and apoptosis. This report further supports the notion that p53 controls a network of genes that are required for its apoptotic function.