Expression of Foxp3 in colorectal cancer but not in Treg cells correlates with disease progression in patients with colorectal cancer

Background: Regulatory T cells (Treg) expressing the transcription factor forkhead-box protein P3 (Foxp3) have been identified to counteract anti-tumor immune responses during tumor progression. Besides, Foxp3 presentation by cancer cells itself may also allow them to evade from effector T-cell responses, resulting in a survival benefit of the tumor. For colorectal cancer (CRC) the clinical relevance of Foxp3 has not been evaluated in detail. Therefore the aim of this study was to study its impact in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods and Findings: Gene and protein analysis of tumor tissues from patients with CRC was performed to quantify the expression of Foxp3 in tumor infiltrating Treg and colon cancer cells. The results were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and patients overall survival. Serial morphological analysis demonstrated Foxp3 to be expressed in cancer cells. High Foxp3 expression of the cancer cells was associated with poor prognosis compared to patients with low Foxp3 expression. In contrast, low and high Foxp3 level in tumor infiltrating Treg cells demonstrated no significant differences in overall patient survival. Conclusions: Our findings strongly suggest that Foxp3 expression mediated by cancer cells rather than by Treg cells contribute to disease progression

The 3rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction: Expanding the Platform for Bridging Science and Policy Making

The Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes held its 3rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan, 19–21 March, 2017. The Global Alliance seeks to contribute to enhancing disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster resilience through the collaboration of research organizations around the world. The summit aim was to expand the platform for bridging science and policy making by evaluating the evidence base needed to meet the expected outcomes and actions of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and its Science and Technology Roadmap. The summit reflected the international nature of collaborative research and action. A pre-conference questionnaire filled out by Global Alliance members identified 323 research projects that are indicative of current research. These were categorized to support seven parallel discussion sessions related to the Sendai Framework priorities for action. Four discussion sessions focused on research that aims to deepen the understanding of disaster risks. Three cross-cutting sessions focused on research that is aimed at the priorities for action on governance, resilience, and recovery. Discussion summaries were presented in plenary sessions in support of outcomes for widely enhancing the science and policy of DRR

Persistent symptoms and decreased health-related quality of life after symptomatic pediatric COVID-19: A prospective study in a Latin American tertiary hospital

OBJECTIVES: To prospectively evaluate demographic, anthropometric and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in pediatric patients with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) METHODS: This was a longitudinal observational study of surviving pediatric post-COVID-19 patients (n=53) and pediatric subjects without laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 included as controls (n=52) was performed. RESULTS: The median duration between COVID-19 diagnosis (n=53) and follow-up was 4.4 months (0.8-10.7). Twenty-three of 53 (43%) patients reported at least one persistent symptom at the longitudinal follow-up visit and 12/53 (23%) had long COVID-19, with at least one symptom lasting for >12 weeks. The most frequently reported symptoms at the longitudinal follow-up visit were headache (19%), severe recurrent headache (9%), tiredness (9%), dyspnea (8%), and concentration difficulty (4%). At the longitudinal follow-up visit, the frequencies of anemia (11% versus 0%, p=0.030), lymphopenia (42% versus 18%, p=0.020), C-reactive protein level of >30 mg/L (35% versus 0%, p=0.0001), and D-dimer level of >1000 ng/mL (43% versus 6%, p=0.0004) significantly reduced compared with baseline values. Chest X-ray abnormalities (11% versus 2%, p=0.178) and cardiac alterations on echocardiogram (33% versus 22%, p=0.462) were similar at both visits. Comparison of characteristic data between patients with COVID-19 at the longitudinal follow-up visit and controls showed similar age (p=0.962), proportion of male sex (p=0.907), ethnicity (p=0.566), family minimum monthly wage (p=0.664), body mass index (p=0.601), and pediatric pre-existing chronic conditions (p=1.000). The Pediatric Quality of Live Inventory 4.0 scores, median physical score (69 [0-100] versus 81 [34-100], p=0.012), and school score (60 [15-100] versus 70 [15-95], p=0.028) were significantly lower in pediatric patients with COVID-19 at the longitudinal follow-up visit than in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with COVID-19 showed a longitudinal impact on HRQoL parameters, particularly in physical/school domains, reinforcing the need for a prospective multidisciplinary approach for these patients. These data highlight the importance of closer monitoring of children and adolescents by the clinical team after COVID-19

Syphilis at the Crossroad of Phylogenetics and Paleopathology

The origin of syphilis is still controversial. Different research avenues explore its fascinating history. Here we employed a new integrative approach, where paleopathology and molecular analyses are combined. As an exercise to test the validity of this approach we examined different hypotheses on the origin of syphilis and other human diseases caused by treponemes (treponematoses). Initially, we constructed a worldwide map containing all accessible reports on palaeopathological evidences of treponematoses before Columbus's return to Europe. Then, we selected the oldest ones to calibrate the time of the most recent common ancestor of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, T. pallidum subsp. endemicum and T. pallidum subsp. pertenue in phylogenetic analyses with 21 genetic regions of different T. pallidum strains previously reported. Finally, we estimated the treponemes' evolutionary rate to test three scenarios: A) if treponematoses accompanied human evolution since Homo erectus; B) if venereal syphilis arose very recently from less virulent strains caught in the New World about 500 years ago, and C) if it emerged in the Americas between 16,500 and 5,000 years ago. Two of the resulting evolutionary rates were unlikely and do not explain the existent osseous evidence. Thus, treponematoses, as we know them today, did not emerge with H. erectus, nor did venereal syphilis appear only five centuries ago. However, considering 16,500 years before present (yBP) as the time of the first colonization of the Americas, and approximately 5,000 yBP as the oldest probable evidence of venereal syphilis in the world, we could not entirely reject hypothesis C. We confirm that syphilis seems to have emerged in this time span, since the resulting evolutionary rate is compatible with those observed in other bacteria. In contrast, if the claims of precolumbian venereal syphilis outside the Americas are taken into account, the place of origin remains unsolved. Finally, the endeavor of joining paleopathology and phylogenetics proved to be a fruitful and promising approach for the study of infectious diseases