Characterization of intestinal microbiota in celiac children

Celiac disease (CD) is enteropathy autoimmune induced by the ingestion of gluten in genetically predisposed subjects. The ingestion of gluten is responsible for the symptoms of CD, and a disturber of the intestinal microbiota. In this study, 13 Samples of intestinal biopsy, 15 fecal samples from celiac children, and 10 from controls children respectively were collected and analyzed by conventional culture technique to characterize the microbial profile intestinal of celiac children. There was 24 celiac children (8 boys), Mean age at diagnosis was 9.52 years, all have clinical manifestations, positive anti-transglutaminase antibodies and mucosal lesions suggestive of CD (Marsh Classification).We found a difference in intestinal microbiota, between celiac and controls children for example  the  Enterobacteria,  Clostridium sp and Staphylococcus sp were remarkably higher in biopsy and fecal samples of celiac children than in controls. Inversely the Enterococcus sp, Lactobacillus sp and Clostridium sp were slightly lower in celiac children. Our results indicate an imbalance in intestinal microbiota for celiac children as reduction in the numbers of Lactobacillus sp, Enterococcus sp and increases in the numbers of Enterobacteria, Staphylococcus sp and Clostridium sp.Keywords: Celiac disease, Intestinal Microbiota, Anti-transglutaminase, Lacobacillus sp

Electromagnetic jet for characterization applications

This comparative study allows to evaluate the performance of an electromagnetic jet to determine the electromagnetic response of materials, without being in usual far field conditions. In this work, the reflection coefficient of a substrate with ground plane, calculated analytically, is compared with that determined in simulation by the electromagnetic jet. The results show a satisfactory agreement after calibrating the simulated reflection coefficient at the focal point of the jet. Thus, we were able to find, by a local measurement, data consistent with a classical free space type measurement.Comment: in French language. 17{\`e}mes Journ{\'e}es de Caract{\'e}risation Microondes et Mat{\'e}riaux, Laboratoire GREMAIN; CEA Le Ripault, Apr 2023, TOURS, Franc

Characterization of the inflammatory cell infiltrate and expression of costimulatory molecules in chronic echinococcus granulosus infection of the human liver

Background: The local immune responses to chronic echinococcal infections in various organs are largely unknown. Since the liver is the most frequently involved organ in such infections in human we aimed to characterize the inflammatory as well as immune cell infiltrate around hydatid cysts in the liver and compared to common inflammatory processes of the liver. Method: Surgical samples from the liver of 21 cystic echinococcosis (CE) patients were studied and the distribution of different types of inflammatory and immune cells were determined by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, expression levels of costimulatory CTLA4, CD28, CD80 and CD86 molecules were measured at RNA level by PCR. Liver biopsy samples from patients with steatohepatitis (SH, n = 11) and chronic hepatitis (CH, n = 11) were used as non-inflammatory and chronic inflammatory controls, respectively. The composition and density of the inflammatory and immune cell infiltrates have been compared by using morphometry. Results: CD3+ T cells predominated the inflammatory infiltrate in all pathological processes, while in CE samples CD20+ B cells, in CH samples CD68+ macrophages were also frequent. Both myeloperoxidase (MPO) + leukocytes and CD68+ macrophages were found to be significantly decreased in CE as compared to either SH or CH samples. Concerning T cell subtypes, only CD8+ T cells were found to be significantly decreased in SH samples. CD1a + dendritic cells were almost completely missing from CE biopsies unlike in any other sample types. There were no differences detected in the mRNA expression of costimulatory molecules except decreased expression of CD28 in CE samples. Conclusion: In the hydatid lesions of the liver of chronic echinococcal infections T cell-mediated immunity seems to be impaired as compared to other types of chronic inflammatory processes, suggesting an immunosuppressive role for Echinococcus granulosus, which deserve further attentions

Awareness of cognitive decline trajectories in asymptomatic individuals at risk for AD

Background: Lack of awareness of cognitive decline (ACD) is common in late-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent studies showed that ACD can also be reduced in the early stages. Methods: We described different trends of evolution of ACD over 3 years in a cohort of memory-complainers and their association to amyloid burden and brain metabolism. We studied the impact of ACD at baseline on cognitive scores’ evolution and the association between longitudinal changes in ACD and in cognitive score. Results: 76.8% of subjects constantly had an accurate ACD (reference class). 18.95% showed a steadily heightened ACD and were comparable to those with accurate ACD in terms of demographic characteristics and AD biomarkers. 4.25% constantly showed low ACD, had significantly higher amyloid burden than the reference class, and were mostly men. We found no overall effect of baseline ACD on cognitive scores’ evolution and no association between longitudinal changes in ACD and in cognitive scores. Conclusions: ACD begins to decrease during the preclinical phase in a group of individuals, who are of great interest and need to be further characterized. Trial registration: The present study was conducted as part of the INSIGHT-PreAD study. The identification number of INSIGHT-PreAD study (ID-RCB) is 2012-A01731-42

Low Cognitive Awareness, but Not Complaint, is a Good Marker of Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may result from many conditions, including Alzheimer's disease (AD)

A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa

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A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa.

The progression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous, and the full impact is not yet well understood. In this study, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predominantly from Europe, which diminished after the early introduction of international travel restrictions. As the pandemic progressed, ongoing transmission in many countries and increasing mobility led to the emergence and spread within the continent of many variants of concern and interest, such as B.1.351, B.1.525, A.23.1, and C.1.1. Although distorted by low sampling numbers and blind spots, the findings highlight that Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a source for new variants