Development and application of a low-priced duplex quantitative PCR assay based on SYBR Green I for the simultaneous detection of porcine deltacoronavirus and porcine sapelovirus.

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) and porcine sapelovirus (PSV) are two viruses that can cause diarrhoea in pigs and bring great economic loss to the pig industry. In this research, a duplex real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay based on SYBR Green I was developed to simultaneously detect PDCoV and PSV. No specific melting peaks were found in other porcine diarrhoea-associated viruses, indicating that the method developed in this study had good specificity. The detection limits of PDCoV and PSV were 1.0 × 101 copies µl-1 and 1.0 × 102 copies µl-1, respectively. The duplex real-time qPCR assay tested two hundred and three (203) intestinal and faecal samples collected from diarrhoeal and asymptomatic pigs. The positive rates of PDCoV and PSV were 20.2% and 23.2%, respectively. The co-infection rate of PDCoV and PSV was 13.8%. To evaluate the accuracy of the developed method, conventional PCR and singular TaqMan real-time qPCR assays for PDCoV/PSV were also used to detect the samples. The results showed that the duplex real-time qPCR assay was consistent with the singular assays, but its sensitivity was higher than conventional PCR methods. This duplex real-time qPCR assay provides a rapid, sensitive and reliable method in a clinic to simultaneously detect PDCoV and PSV.

A Cross-Sectional Study on the Psychological Changes of Medical Personnel in Hospitals Who Experienced Special COVID-19 Situations.

The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increase in mental health issues; Psychological changes occur in health professionals who are more susceptible to infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate health professionals' levels of anxiety, rage, and depression in COVID-related special circumstances. A general hospital in Korea experienced a widespread COVID-19 outbreak. There was a total of 149 involved frontline and non-frontline health professionals surveyed. The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, General Anxiety Disorder-7, and Korean Screening Tool for Depressive Disorders were utilized in the evaluation of their rage, anxiety, and depression. Anxiety and depression were found to be significantly higher among health professionals by occupation than among non-health professionals. Frontline workers were more depressed than non-frontline workers, according to type of work. These psychological changes can cause PTSD, so it is necessary to check and care for the mental health of health care workers working in medical institutions in the event of mass infections. These issues have been confirmed through studies related to the occurrence of mass infections such as SARS and MERS that the occurrence of mass infections can cause PTSD. The findings proved that the COVID-19 pandemic had a psychological impact on healthcare workers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical to raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder among healthcare professionals.

A Toll-like receptor 9-mediated pathway stimulates perilipin 3 (TIP47) expression and induces lipid accumulation in macrophages.

Excessive accumulation of lipids in macrophages results in formation of foam cells and is a hallmark of atherosclerosis. The PAT family of proteins has been implicated in this process, but details of their involvement in foam cell formation have not been fully elucidated. One of dominant members of the PAT proteins, perilipin 3 (TIP47), is likely to be involved in such a regulatory mechanism. In this study, we demonstrated that the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9)-mediated pathway stimulates perilipin 3 expression and accumulation of lipids, especially triglycerides, in macrophages. Oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) 1826, a ligand of TLR9, significantly enhanced perilipin 3 expression in RAW264.7 cells, and chloroquine, a TLR9 inhibitor, almost completely inhibited ODN1826-induced perilipin 3 expression. The inhibitors of c-jun NH2-terminal kinase and PI 3-kinase suppressed the level of perilipin 3 mRNA induced by ODN1826. ODN1826 induced the expression of IL-1α and IFNß, both of which increased perilipin 3 expression. Antibodies against these cytokines suppressed the ODN1826-induced perilipin 3 mRNA levels. These results suggest that the expression of perilipin 3 in macrophages is in part regulated through the TLR9-mediated mechanism. Furthermore, ODN1826 increased intracellular lipid accumulation in the presence of oxLDL, which was reduced by perilipin 3 siRNA. Perilipin 3 expression was not stimulated by oxLDL. Depletion of perilipin 3 by siRNA specifically reduced triglyceride content in the cells but not cholesterol content, indicating that perilipin 3 is involved mainly in triglyceride accumulation. In conclusion, the TLR9-mediated pathway facilitates foam cell formation in part through increased expression of perilipin 3.