Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater for prevalence estimation and investigating clinical diagnostic test biases

Here we analyze SARS-CoV-2 genome copies in Catalonia's wastewater during the Omicron peak and develop a mathematical model to estimate the number of infections and the temporal relationship between reported and unreported cases. 1-liter samples from 16 wastewater treatment plants were collected and used in a compartmental epidemiological model. The average correlation between genome copies and reported cases was 0.85, with an average delay of 8.8 days. The model estimated that 53% of the population was infected, compared to the 19% reported cases. The under-reporting was highest in November and December 2021. The maximum genome copies shed in feces by an infected individual was estimated to range from 1.4×108 gc/g to 4.4×108 gc/g. Our framework demonstrates the potential of wastewater data as a leading indicator for daily new infections, particularly in contexts with low detection rates. It also serves as a complementary tool for prevalence estimation and offers a general approach for integrating wastewater data into compartmental models.

Bow-tie structures of twitter discursive communities

Bow-tie structures were introduced to describe the World Wide Web (WWW): in the direct network in which the nodes are the websites and the edges are the hyperlinks connecting them, the greatest number of nodes takes part to a bow-tie, i.e. a Weakly Connected Component (WCC) composed of 3 main sectors: IN, OUT and SCC. SCC is the main Strongly Connected Component of WCC, i.e. the greatest subgraph in which each node is reachable by any other one. The IN and OUT sectors are the set of nodes not included in SCC that, respectively, can access and are accessible to nodes in SCC. In the WWW, the greatest part of the websites can be found in the SCC, while the search engines belong to IN and the authorities, as Wikipedia, are in OUT. In the analysis of Twitter debate, the recent literature focused on discursive communities, i.e. clusters of accounts interacting among themselves via retweets. In the present work, we studied discursive communities in 8 different thematic Twitter datasets in various languages. Surprisingly, we observed that almost all discursive communities therein display a bow-tie structure during political or societal debates. Instead, they are absent when the argument of the discussion is different as sport events, as in the case of Euro2020 Turkish and Italian datasets. We furthermore analysed the quality of the content created in the various sectors of the different discursive communities, using the domain annotation from the fact-checking website Newsguard: we observe that, when the discursive community is affected by m/disinformation, the content with the lowest quality is the one produced and shared in SCC and, in particular, a strong incidence of low- or non-reputable messages is present in the flow of retweets between the SCC and the OUT sectors. In this sense, in discursive communities affected by m/disinformation, the greatest part of the accounts has access to a great variety of contents, but whose quality is, in general, quite low; such a situation perfectly describes the phenomenon of infodemic, i.e. the access to "an excessive amount of information about a problem, which makes it difficult to identify a solution", according to WHO.

Italian Twitter semantic network during the Covid-19 epidemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the lives of the entire world population, inducing a participated societal debate. As in other contexts, the debate has been the subject of several d/misinformation campaigns; in a quite unprecedented fashion, however, the presence of false information has seriously put at risk the public health. In this sense, detecting the presence of malicious narratives and identifying the kinds of users that are more prone to spread them represent the first step to limit the persistence of the former ones. In the present paper we analyse the semantic network observed on Twitter during the first Italian lockdown (induced by the hashtags contained in approximately 1.5 millions tweets published between the 23rd of March 2020 and the 23rd of April 2020) and study the extent to which various discursive communities are exposed to d/misinformation arguments. As observed in other studies, the recovered discursive communities largely overlap with traditional political parties, even if the debated topics concern different facets of the management of the pandemic. Although the themes directly related to d/misinformation are a minority of those discussed within our semantic networks, their popularity is unevenly distributed among the various discursive communities.

Geographical characteristics influencing the risk of poisoning in pet dogs: Results of a large population-based epidemiological study in Italy

Pets can act as sentinels for human health and thus surveillance of pet dogs has the potential to improve awareness of emerging risks for animal and public health. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with the risk of canine poisoning. In a large population-based epidemiological investigation in Italy performed from January 2015 to January 2016 and April 2016 to April 2017, descriptive statistics were acquired and analysed to determine variables associated with poisoning events in pet dogs. Results were validated in a test population and forecast analysis of risk was performed. The cumulative incidence of poisoning events was low (10.2/1000 dogs/year). Anticoagulant rodenticides, organophosphate pesticides, metaldehyde and strychnine were the most frequent causes of intoxications. Territory characteristics significantly modulated both the frequency and the nature of the involved substances. The seashore area was associated with poisoning by rodenticides (odds ratio, OR, 1.81, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.54-2.13) and metaldehyde (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.16-2.28). The hill country area was associated with poisoning by organophosphate pesticides (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.38-2.15), metaldehyde (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.53-3.25) and strychnine (OR 1.86, 95% CI, 1.34-2.57). The mountain area was associated with strychnine poisoning (OR 3.79, 95% CI 2.84-5.06). The prospective cumulative incidence of poisoning over 10 years was 9.74% (95% CI 9.57-9.91). These results may be useful for predicting the risk of poisoning and for estimating the risk index related to specific toxic compounds in specific territories. This study suggests that poisoning events in dogs may represent a problem of public health with the potential to affect wildlife and human beings.

Combining long-acting bronchodilators with different mechanisms of action: A pharmacological approach to optimize bronchodilation of equine airways

The ultra long-acting β₂ -adrenoceptor agonist olodaterol plus the ultra long-acting muscarinic antagonist tiotropium bromide are known to relax equine airways. In human bronchi combining these drugs elicits a positive interaction, thus we aimed to characterize this information further in equine isolated airways stimulated by electrical field stimulation (EFS) and using the Concentration-Reduction Index (CRI) and Combination Index (CI) equations. The drugs were administered alone and together by reproducing ex vivo the concentration-ratio delivered by the currently available fixed-dose combination (1:1). The single agents elicited a significant (p < .05) concentration-dependent reduction in the EFS-induced contractility, that was synergistically improved (CI 0.18) when administered in combination (0.9 logarithms more potent, 24% more effective than the monocomponents). The drugs mixture allowed a reduction in the concentration of olodaterol from ≃1 to ≃2.3 logarithms. A favorable CRI was detected also for tiotropium bromide, whose concentration can be reduced ≃1 logarithm at medium effect levels, remaining positive up to submaximal relaxant effect in the presence of olodaterol. The combination of tiotropium bromide/olodaterol allows the reduction in the concentration of the monocomponents to achieve airway smooth muscle relaxation, thus potentially decreases the risk of adverse events when these drugs are used to treat severe asthmatic horses.

Differential effects on membrane permeability and viability of human keratinocyte cells undergoing very low intensity megasonic fields

Among different therapeutic applications of Ultrasound (US), transient membrane sonoporation (SP) - a temporary, non-lethal porosity, mechanically induced in cell membranes through US exposure - represents a compelling opportunity towards an efficient and safe drug delivery. Nevertheless, progresses in this field have been limited by an insufficient understanding of the potential cytotoxic effects of US related to the failure of the cellular repair and to the possible activation of inflammatory pathway. In this framework we studied the in vitro effects of very low-intensity US on a human keratinocyte cell line, which represents an ideal model system of skin protective barrier cells which are the first to be involved during medical US treatments. Bioeffects linked to US application at 1 MHz varying the exposure parameters were investigated by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence activated cell sorting. Our results indicate that keratinocytes undergoing low US doses can uptake drug model molecules with size and efficiency which depend on exposure parameters. According to sub-cavitation SP models, we have identified the range of doses triggering transient membrane SP, actually with negligible biological damage. By increasing US doses we observed a reduced cells viability and an inflammatory gene overexpression enlightening novel healthy relevant strategies.

Chloroquine supplementation increases the cytotoxic effect of curcumin against Her2/neu overexpressing breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo in nude mice while counteracts it in immune competent mice

Autophagy is usually a pro-survival mechanism in cancer cells, especially in the course of chemotherapy, thus autophagy inhibition may enhance the chemotherapy-mediated anti-cancer effect. However, since autophagy is strongly involved in the immunogenicity of cell death by promoting ATP release, its inhibition may reduce the immune response against tumors, negatively influencing the overall outcome of chemotherapy. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer effect of curcumin (CUR) against Her2/neu overexpressing breast cancer cells (TUBO) in the presence or in the absence of the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ). We found that TUBO cell death induced by CUR was increased in vitro by CQ and slightly in vivo in nude mice. Conversely, CQ counteracted the Cur cytotoxic effect in immune competent mice, as demonstrated by the lack of in vivo tumor regression and the reduction of overall mice survival as compared with CUR-treated mice. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed the presence of a remarkable FoxP3 T cell infiltrate within the tumors in CUR/CQ treated mice and a reduction of T cytotoxic cells, as compared with single CUR treatment. These findings suggest that autophagy is important to elicit anti-tumor immune response and that autophagy inhibition by CQ reduces such response also by recruiting T regulatory (Treg) cells in the tumor microenvironment that may be pro-tumorigenic and might counteract CUR-mediated anti-cancer effects.

Neonatal protection and preterm birth reduction following maternal group B streptococcus vaccination in a mouse model

PURPOSE

Evaluate effects of maternal immunization in a mouse model of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaginal colonization using clinical isolates.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Female pregnant mice were immunized with heat-killed GBS 21 days before pregnancy and were inoculated intravaginally with GBS cultures (5 × 10⁷ CFU twice a day for three days) from the 16th day of pregnancy. Gestation period and mice survival were monitored. Maternal anti-GBS IgG levels have been determined by ELISA analysis in vaccinated, unvaccinated mothers and newborns.

RESULTS

Maternal immunization before pregnancy provided protection to newborns for three of the four GBS strains used. Evaluation of the immunogenicity showed that this vaccination induced higher levels of IgG in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated dams and the presence of antibodies in the offspring at embryonic and postnatal age, and a Th1 response and high levels of IgG2a subclass antibody and IFN-γ were detected. A significant reduction of preterm births was observed in vaccinated mothers (p< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our finding suggest that vaccinated mothers could protect their progeny from GBS infection and preterm birth through passive immunization. The proposed mouse model may represent a noninvasive and effective tool to investigate pathogenetic mechanisms of GBS ascending infection and for vaccine protection studies.

Curcumin induces apoptosis in breast cancer cell lines and delays the growth of mammary tumors in neu transgenic mice

Breast cancer is a leading cancer in women and despite the benefits of the current therapies a significant number of patients with this tumor is at risk of relapse. Some of the alterations taking place in breast cancer cells are currently exploited by molecularly targeted drugs. Different drugs have been developed which target a single molecule but, given that the tumor originates from the dysregulation of many genes, there is the need to find new drugs that have more than one molecular target. Curcumin [1,7-bis-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione] (CUR), a polyphenolic compound found in the spice turmeric, is a pleiotropic molecule able to interact with a variety of molecular targets and has antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antimicrobial activities. Here we demonstrate that CUR inhibits the growth of breast cancer cell lines in a dose dependent manner, with IC50 values in the micromolar range, and induces an increase in the percentage of cells in sub-G0 phase, representing the apoptotic cell population. The activation of apoptosis was confirmed by PARP-1 cleavage and by the increased ratio between the pro-apoptotic Bax and the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. In addition, in CUR-treated cells the activity of ERK1/ERK2 MAP kinases was down-regulated. The cytotoxic effects of CUR were observed in breast cancer cells expressing either high or low levels of ErbB2/neu. The in vivo antitumor activity of CUR was tested in BALB-neuT mice transgenic for the neu oncogene, which develop atypical hyperplasia of the mammary gland at 6 weeks of age and invasive carcinoma at 16 weeks of age. CUR, administered to mice both early and in an advanced stage of mammary carcinogenesis, induced a significant prolongation of tumor-free survival and a reduction of tumor multiplicity. In addition, CUR administration was safe, since no modification of hematological and clinical chemistry parameters could be observed in BALB-neuT and BALB/c mice treated with this compound for several weeks. These findings support further studies on the therapeutic potential of CUR in combination with standard therapies in breast cancer patients.

[Severe liver cytolysis could be a marker of the severity of hemorrhagic dengue: report of two cases]

We report two cases of severe dengue fever in persons returned from stays in endemic areas during the summer outbreak of 2010. Both presented a hemorrhagic syndrome associated with primary hemostasis disorders, neutropenia, and severe hepatic cytolysis without any hepatocellular insufficiency. Three days after hospitalization, the first patient's AST and ALT levels rose to 80 and 12 times the upper reference values respectively, and the second patient's to 12 and 7 times those values. The second also presented signs of hemodynamic shock. Our observations suggest that the combination of severe hepatic cytolysis and hemostatic disorders may be a predictive marker of the severity of dengue fever. The pathophysiologic mechanisms explaining this severity remain unknown.

Bloodless hepatic resection with automatic bipolar radiofrequency generator and multielectrode device

Liver resection is a standard treatment for liver tumours. Intra-operative blood loss remains a major concern during liver resection due to its association with higher postoperative complications and shorter long-term survival. To perform bloodless hepatic resection we realized an apparatus consisting of an incremental, bipolar radiofrequency generator and a probe with six in-line needles (SURTRON SB). Several ex-vivo and in-vivo pig liver experiments and a first-phase clinical study allowed the realization of a prototype radiofrequency (RF) generator that works at 470 kHz, 150 watts maximum power delivered. The probe consists of six needle electrodes of 1.5 mm diameter, with 4.5 mm free space, 6.0 mm centre to centre, between each. We obtained a coagulation of 35 mm length and 12 mm width. The transection was performed with a common scalpel after coagulation of liver parenchyma. We observed good healing of the liver edge both in animal model and in ongoing pilot clinical study. Coagulation with SURTRON SB allows a feasible, easy and safe bloodless liver resection. This method is tolerated with no systemic complication or adverse reaction. This technique offers a method for a bloodless hepatic transection without the need for sutures, ties, staples or tissue glue.

Batimastat reduces Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced apoptosis in macrophages

In this study, we report evidences that Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-induced apoptosis in macrophages is reduced by a broad-spectrum hydroxamic acid-based matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor, Batimastat (BB-94). In particular, we show that BB-94 administration to MTB-infected macrophages inhibits apoptosis and the downmodulation of membrane CD14 expression. Moreover, the addition of broad spectrum matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor to cell culture, during MTB infection, decreases the release of soluble TNF-alpha and leads to a simultaneous increase of membrane TNF-alpha. These results show that MTB-induced apoptosis in macrophages is reduced by a MMP inhibitor and most probably is related to TNF-alpha release. This identifies BB-94 as a simultaneous anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory molecule during MTB infection.

Inhibition of contact hypersensitivity reaction to picryl chloride: effect of small molecular weight peptidomimetic compounds possessing inhibitory activity against metalloproteinases

We have studied the effect of small molecular weight inhibitors of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMP) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) on the induction and effector phase of the contact hypersensitivity reaction (CHR) in a mouse model. Identification of nonsteroid small molecules is very important for the development of new anti-inflammatory drugs. The compounds that we tested were synthetically modified tripeptides (peptidomimetic compounds) POL-257, POL-509, POL-443, POL-491, and POL-647, with structures based on natural occurring peptides in snake venom. A well-known hydroxamate-based inhibitor of the MMPs, Batimastat (BB-94), was also used. We have shown that these peptidomimetics possess in vitro inhibitory activity against the MMP-2 (gelatinase-A), MMP-9 (gelatinase-B), and MMP-3 (stromelysin). They also inhibit metalloproteinases purified from the venom of Crotalus adamanteus and C. atrox snakes, which are very similar to the so-called A Desintegrine, A Metalloproteinase (ADAMs) enzymes. When injected intraperitonealy before the topical application of the contact sensitizer (picryl chloride) or before the challenge, these compounds significantly inhibited the development of CHR. BB-94 at doses 0.4 and 4 mg/kg before the sensitization or before the challenge almost completely abrogated the reaction. POL-257 and POL-443 were among the most active peptidomimetics tested. They inhibited the inflammatory reaction up to 70-80%, when applied either immediately before sensitization or before challenge. POL-509, a methylated derivative of POL-257, inhibited the CHR to 40-50% when administered at either challenge or sensitization. However, when applied 24 h before the challenge, it completely abrogated the inflammatory reaction. The results show that these small molecular weight peptidomimetic compounds, as well as BB-94, are able to significantly inhibit the CHR. This finding opens possibilities for using metalloproteinase inhibitors in the treatment of allergic contact dermatitis and other inflammatory diseases.

Assignment of transcription factor NFAT5 to human chromosome 16q22.1, murine chromosome 8D and porcine chromosome 6p1.4 and comparison of the polyglutamine domains

To date, transcription factors of the NFAT family (nuclear factors of activated T cells) have been described for mouse and man. Recently, we mapped the human NFAT5 gene to chromosome 16 by PCR using DNA from hybrid cell lines. Here we report the exact position of the human gene between D16S496 and WI5254 within the 16q22.1 subband, the localization of the murine gene at chromosome 8D, and the identification and mapping of the porcine counterpart to chromosome 6p1.4.