Current Clinical Microbiology Reports最新文献

Purpose of review: Human race is currently facing the wrath of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a highly transmittable and pathogenic RNA virus, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the worst ever global pandemic. Coronaviruses (CoVs) have emerged as a major public health concern. Urgent global response to COVID-19 outbreak has been to limit spread of SARS-CoV-2 via extensive monitoring and containment. Various treatment regimens have been adopted to manage COVID-19, with known drugs and drug combinations used to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19. Intensive research on various fronts including studying molecular and structural aspects of these viruses and unraveling the pathophysiology and mechanistic basis of COVID-19 aimed at developing effective prophylactic, therapeutic agents and vaccines has been carried out globally.

Recent findings: No approved antiviral treatment except remdesivir exists for SARS-CoV-2 till date though novel drug targets have been identified. However, worldwide frantic and competitive vaccine development pharmaceutical race has borne fruit in the form of a number of promising candidate vaccines, out of which few have already received emergency use authorization by regulatory bodies in record time.

Summary: This review highlights the painstaking efforts of healthcare workers and scientific community to successfully address the COVID-19 pandemic-though damage in the form of severe illness, loss of lives, and livelihood has left a serious mark. Focusing on extensive research on various therapeutic options and antiviral strategies including neutralizing antibodies, potential drugs, and drug targets, light has been shed on various diagnostic options and the amazing vaccine development process as well.

Purpose of review: Along with the continued in silico-based studies for drug designing and repurposing followed by the corresponding cell culture studies, the ongoing clinical trials with some completed regarding finding the drug efficacy and the vaccine development against the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been the most functional and indispensable issue during the current COVID-19 pandemic within 2020 and onward. The present review attempted to figure out the update on this effective vaccine and discussed the other promising vaccines.

Recent findings: A range of investigations on the SARS-CoV-2 genomics, on its similarities with SARS-CoV-1, and with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been accomplished and the host immune dodging mechanisms by the SARS-CoV-2 have been unraveled which in turn led the scientists around the world to work rigorously on the vaccine development. Working with various vaccine platforms so far revealed the efficacy of the mRNA-1273 vaccine as the most effective one as resulted through the clinical trials which resulted in 95% positive output.

Summary: Although currently commercialized mRNA-1273 vaccine appears to be effective, still several points are to be pondered regarding the sustainability of vaccine efficacy against the rising variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Purpose of review: In order to eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists around the world have been working very hard for a year or more with the motto of designing effective drugs and vaccines against the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Along with the positive results with the antiviral drugs and a few commercialized vaccines, the unresponsiveness as well as some side effects of such therapies have also been noticed, possibly due to the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 variants. Therefore, current review summarized the actual effectiveness of the antivirals and vaccines which are in current use for the treatment of the COVID-19 patients.

Recent findings: So far, some drugs have been found with hopeful results among which remdesivir and arbidol are with momentous clinical progress. Besides drug designing, vaccine development has been a major effort whereby the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) and BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccines showed the required efficacy and have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

Summary: While a number of existing/repurposed/repositioned or new drugs and the currently used commercial vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 apparently seem to be effective against COVID-19 mitigation, the new variants of the virus as well as the recently increased cases raised the doubt about the usefulness of these agents. Current review figured out the efficacy of different drugs and vaccines in terms of their action potential against SARS-CoV-2 and further recommended some useful measures which may be useful for future remedies.

Purpose of review: The world is currently facing the largest global health crisis since the early 1900s due to a novel coronavirus. While SARS-CoV-2 infection causes predictable symptoms in COVID-19 patients, including upper respiratory distress and fever, the heterogeneity of manifestations is surprising. This review focuses on direct and indirect causes of myocardial injury in COVID-19 patients and highlights current knowledge, treatment strategies, and outstanding questions in the field.

Recent findings: Data are emerging that highlight the extent of cardiovascular involvement in COVID-19 patients, including evidence that SARS-CoV-2 causes myocarditis and increases cardiac risk. The incidence of cardiac injury is much greater in patients with severe disease presentation and those in intensive care.

Summary: During the past year, COVID-19 patient mortality rates have improved due to tailored pharmacological treatments and patient management strategies that address the unique presentation of symptoms, which will hopefully also reduce the incidence of cardiac injury.

Purpose of review: Coccidioidomycosis is an infectious disease that gained clinical significance in the early 20th century. Many of the foundational contributions to coccidioidomycosis research, including the discovery of the fungal disease agent, Coccidioides spp., were made by women. We review recent progress in Coccidioides research and big questions remaining in the field, while highlighting some of the contributions from women.

Recent findings: New molecular-based techniques provide a promising method for detecting Coccidioides, which can help determine the dominate reservoir host and ideal environmental conditions for growth. Genetic and genomic analyses have allowed an understanding of population structure, species level diversity, and evolutionary histories. We present a current, comprehensive genome list, where women contributed many of these entries. Several efforts to develop a coccidioidomycosis vaccine are underway.

Summary: Women continue to pioneer research on Coccidioides, including the relationships between the fungi and the environment, genetics, and clinical observations. Significant questions remain in the field of Coccidioides, including the main host reservoir, the relationships between genotypic and phenotypic variation, and the underlying cause for chronic clinical coccidioidomycosis cases.

Purpose of review: COVID-19 pandemic has been the major threat to the global public health for a year (last of 2019-till date); and unfortunately, there is still as no specific antiviral agent which can be effectively used against this disease curation. Present review focused on the application of the convalescent plasma (CP) therapy as a quick remediation of the disease severity.

Recent findings: While several drugs have been repurposed based on a number of completed clinical trials together with a huge ongoing effort to develop appropriate vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the therapeutic approach of the CP therapy appears to be one of the effective methods to rescue the severely affected COVID-19 patients. Such a therapy based on passive immunity evolved from the SARS-CoV-2-infected patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19; and hence these individuals are quite likely to possess high titers of the SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing immunoglobulins (antibodies). However, there are some risks such therapy, and its effectivity also appeared doubtful in some cases. Thus, the current review discussed the issues raised by the administration of such plasma into the SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals.

Summary: Application of CP therapy has been conducted since long time; and for the mitigation of COVID-19 severity, such pharmaceutical strategy is also being employed in spite of several risks which actually can be monitored as well as optimized in order to combat the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Purpose of review: Cryptosporidium spp. (C. hominis and C. parvum) are a major cause of diarrhea-associated morbidity and mortality in young children globally. While C. hominis only infects humans, C. parvum is a zoonotic parasite that can be transmitted from infected animals to humans. There are no treatment or control measures to fully treat cryptosporidiosis or prevent the infection in humans and animals. Our knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of Cryptosporidium-host interactions and the underlying factors that govern infectivity and disease pathogenesis is very limited.

Recent findings: Recent development of genetics and new animal models of infection, along with progress in cell culture platforms to complete the parasite lifecycle in vitro, is greatly advancing the Cryptosporidium field.

Summary: In this review, we will discuss our current knowledge of host-parasite interactions and how genetic manipulation of Cryptosporidium and promising infection models are opening the doors towards an improved understanding of parasite biology and disease pathogenesis.

Purpose of review: Metabolic rewiring of the host cell is required for optimal viral replication. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been observed to manipulate numerous mitochondrial functions. In this review, we describe the strategies and targets HCMV uses to control different aspects of mitochondrial function.

Recent findings: The mitochondria are instrumental in meeting the biosynthetic and bioenergetic needs of HCMV replication. This is achieved through altered metabolism and signaling pathways. Morphological changes mediated through biogenesis and fission/fusion dynamics contribute to strategies to avoid cell death, overcome oxidative stress, and maximize the biosynthetic and bioenergetic outputs of mitochondria.

Summary: Emerging data suggests that cytomegalovirus relies on intact, functional host mitochondria for optimal replication. HCMV large size and slow replication kinetics create a dependency on mitochondria during replication. Targeting the host mitochondria is an attractive antiviral target.

Purpose of the review: Recent concerns have emerged regarding the potential of immunotherapy to cause infection. In this review, we summarize the current literature on invasive fungal infections that occur during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy.

Recent findings: Fungal infections are uncommon with the use of checkpoint inhibitors. Most cases are caused by invasive aspergillosis and pneumocystis pneumonia and occur in patients requiring high dose corticosteroids for the management of immune-related adverse events. Conversely, fungal infections are commonly reported during therapy with CAR T cells. Most cases are caused by invasive aspergillosis and candidiasis and are likely the result of prolonged neutropenia following the conditioning regimen or immunosuppressant use for the management of cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity.

Summary: Treatment-related toxicities that require prolonged immunosuppressive agents appear to play a key role in the development of fungal infections during immunotherapy. Ongoing surveillance is needed to fully address the risks of fungal infections with these novel agents.