A clinical case of post-COVID-19 myoendocarditis and arrhythmic syndrome at the outpatient stage

Background: Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus entails the development of complications which affect the prognosis of the underlying disease. More than 40% of COVID-19 complications represent diseases of the cardiovascular system, most of which are the rhythm and conduction disturbances. In order to avoid these complications, it is necessary to detect cases of infection in a timely manner at the outpatient stage. Clinical case description: A 40-year-old patient came to the clinic with complaints of interruptions in the heart rhythm that appeared after the coronavirus infection. The laboratory examination (CBC) revealed signs of systemic inflammation (leukocytosis 12.6×109 U/l; erythrocyte sedimentation rate 18 mm/h, C-reactive protein 18 mg/l); the instrumental examination of the heart revealed the rhythm disturbances in the form of frequent ventricular ectopic activity and weakness of the SA node. The patient received propafenone (150 mg, 3 times a day) as a therapy with a positive effect. Against the background of improvement in the patient’s condition and despite the history of myocarditis and a positive result of enzyme immunoassay for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (IgG, 10 BAU/ml), the patient was prescribed immunization with the CoviVac vaccine. After the immunization, the condition worsening was observed in the form of an increase in the rhythm disturbances, which required an inpatient treatment. A clinical diagnosis of recurrent ventricular arrhythmia — ventricular extrasystole was established, and the therapy was corrected. The outcome was favorable. Conclusion: Myocarditis is one of the most common complications of SARS-CoV-2 and should be kept in mind at all stages of medical care. This clinical case demonstrates the importance of the correct diagnosis and treatment of post-COVID myocarditis, as well as the need to assess contraindications for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with cardiac complications

Outcomes of the multicenter monitoring of the causative agent of invasive listeriosis in the metropolis

Introduction. Invasive listeriosis is a rare disease posing a threat to high-risk groups and often leading to a fatal outcome. Its causative agent is Listeria monocytogenes, a ubiquitous saprophyte that has turned into an important foodborne pathogen with the growing industry of semi-cooked and ready-to-eat products. The aim of the study is the characterization of L. monocytogenes isolates in the Moscow region and identification of possible causes of susceptibility to infection Materials and methods. The multicenter monitoring of L. monocytogenes was conducted in the Moscow metropolitan area, using bacteriological and genomic methods for description of the pathogen, medical history collection and detailed analysis of patient case summaries. Results. In the cohorts of patients with perinatal listeriosis (PL) and meningitis-septicemia (MS), invasive listeriosis had a year-round occurrence with slight upswings in MarchApril and JulyNovember. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the MS group, the minimum age of patients decreased to 31 years and the proportion of deaths increased 1.57-fold compared to 20182019. During the pandemic, an increase in the diversity of L. monocytogenes genotypes was observed, along with changes in the spectrum of pathogen genotypes throughout the pandemic stages. During the monitoring, a total of 73 L. monocytogenes clinical isolates belonging to 24 genotypes were described. Seven genotypes belonged to the first phylogenetic lineage (PLI); 14 genotypes belonged to PLII. The PL cohort had the highest proportion of PLI genotypes (52%). In the MS cohort, the group of men had the widest diversity of genotypes, 6 of which were identical to genotypes of food isolates. In the analysed set of isolates, 12 new profiles of internalin genes were identified and described. The whole genome sequencing detected the presence of plasmids in 9 of 58 genomes of clinical isolates. The comparison of core genomes revealed an epidemic relationship between isolates of the same genotype for ST4, ST21, and ST425. Conclusion. The performed study presents a detailed description of the diversity and virulence of L. monocytogenes circulating in the Moscow metropolitan area, thus providing information for timely diagnosis and treatment of invasive listeriosis

Effective transcription factor binding site prediction using a combination of optimization, a genetic algorithm and discriminant analysis to capture distant interactions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reliable transcription factor binding site (TFBS) prediction methods are essential for computer annotation of large amount of genome sequence data. However, current methods to predict TFBSs are hampered by the high false-positive rates that occur when only sequence conservation at the core binding-sites is considered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To improve this situation, we have quantified the performance of several Position Weight Matrix (PWM) algorithms, using exhaustive approaches to find their optimal length and position. We applied these approaches to bio-medically important TFBSs involved in the regulation of cell growth and proliferation as well as in inflammatory, immune, and antiviral responses (NF-κB, ISGF3, IRF1, STAT1), obesity and lipid metabolism (PPAR, SREBP, HNF4), regulation of the steroidogenic (SF-1) and cell cycle (E2F) genes expression. We have also gained extra specificity using a method, entitled SiteGA, which takes into account structural interactions within TFBS core and flanking regions, using a genetic algorithm (GA) with a discriminant function of locally positioned dinucleotide (LPD) frequencies.</p> <p>To ensure a higher confidence in our approach, we applied resampling-jackknife and bootstrap tests for the comparison, it appears that, optimized PWM and SiteGA have shown similar recognition performances. Then we applied SiteGA and optimized PWMs (both separately and together) to sequences in the Eukaryotic Promoter Database (EPD). The resulting SiteGA recognition models can now be used to search sequences for BSs using the web tool, SiteGA.</p> <p>Analysis of dependencies between close and distant LPDs revealed by SiteGA models has shown that the most significant correlations are between close LPDs, and are generally located in the core (footprint) region. A greater number of less significant correlations are mainly between distant LPDs, which spanned both core and flanking regions. When SiteGA and optimized PWM models were applied together, this substantially reduced false positives at least at higher stringencies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on this analysis, SiteGA adds substantial specificity even to optimized PWMs and may be considered for large-scale genome analysis. It adds to the range of techniques available for TFBS prediction, and EPD analysis has led to a list of genes which appear to be regulated by the above TFs.</p

Intramolecular Conversions of (Aminoferrocenylpenta-1,4-dienyl)-ferrocenylcarbenes: Synthesis of Diferrocenylmono-, bi-, tricycles and Amino(diferrocenyl)hexa-1,3,5-trienes

Synthesis of 3,4-diferrocenyltoluene (7), 1-morpholino- and 1-piperidino-2,3-diferrocenylbicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-enes 8a, 8b, 1-morpholino- and 1-piperidino-7-ferrocenyl-3,4-ferrocenobicyclo[3.2.1]oct-6-enes 9a, 9b, 2- and 3-amino(diferrocenyl)-hexa-1,3,5-trienes 10a,b, 11a,b by reactions of amino(diferrocenyl)cyclopropenylium tetrafluoro-borates with 1-methylprop-2-enylmagnesium chloride at 80 °C is described. The structures of the compounds obtained were determined by IR, 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. X-ray diffraction data for 1-piperidino-7-ferrocenyl-3,4-ferroceno-bicyclo[3.2.1]oct-6-ene (9b), 2-morpholino- and 2-piperidino-1,3-diferrocenyl-4-methyl-hexa-1,3,5-trienes 10a and 10b is presented. The electrochemical behaviour of compounds 7, 8a, 10a and 10b was investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry. For 7 and 8a two electrochemical processes (I-II), attributed to the oxidation of the ferrocene moieties were found. On the other hand for compounds 10a and 10b a single electron transfer for both ferrocene groups and the electrochemical generation of the monocation and dication species were detected

2,3-Diruthenocenylcyclopropenone

In the title compound, [Ru2(C5H5)2(C13H8O)], the Ru—C bond lengths in the two ruthenocenyl moieties are in the range of 2.155 (4)–2.196 (3) Å. Both cyclopentadienyl (Cp) rings are planar and parallel with staggered (18.6 °) and eclipsed (3.1°) conformations between the mutual orientations of rings in the independent sandwiches of each ruthenocenyl molecule. In the crystal, there are intermolecular C—H...O hydrogen bonds between Cp carbon donor atoms and the cyclopropenone O atom of adjacent molecules, forming R22(14) and R66(38) motifs along the b and c axes

4,5-Diferrocenyl-1,2-dithiol-3-one

The title compound, [Fe2(C5H5)2(C13H8OS2)], crystallizes with two molecules in the asymmetric unit. Each molecule comprises a pair of ferrocenyl units bridged by a dithiol-3-one moiety. The dihedral angles between the dithiol-3-one ring and the substituted cyclopentadienyl rings are in the range 32.4 (3)–39.3 (3)°. One of the dithiol-3-one rings was refined as being disordered over two sets of sites while the same kind of disorder in the other molecule was negligible. The molecular packing is dominated by C—H...O hydrogen bonds and C—H...π interactions

4-Ferrocenylpyridine- and 4-Ferrocenyl-3-ferrocenylmethyl-3,4-dihydropyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles: Multi-Component Synthesis, Structures and Electrochemistry

The reactions of 2-cyano-3-ferrocenylacrylonitrile (1) with malononitrile (2) in a MeOH/H2O or 2-PrOH/H2O medium in the presence of Na2CO3 afforded 6-alkoxy-2-amino-4-ferrocenylpyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles 3a,b (multi-component condensation) and 6-alkoxy-2-amino-4-ferrocenyl-3-ferrocenylmethyl-3,4-dihydropyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles 4a,b (multi-component cyclodimerization). Analogous reactions of 1 with 2 in an MeOH/H2O medium in the presence of NaOH, piperidine, or morpholine gave compounds 3a, 4a and 2-amino-4-ferrocenyl-6-hydroxy-, 6-piperidino- and 6-morpholinopyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles 3c–e, respectively. The structures of the compounds 3b, 4a and 4b were established by the spectroscopic data and X-ray diffraction analysis. The electrochemical behaviour of compounds 3b, 3d and 4b was investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry

Nordihydroguaiaretic acid: From herbal medicine to clinical development for cancer and chronic diseases

Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is a phenolic lignan obtained from Larrea tridentata, the creosote bush found in Mexico and USA deserts, that has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of numerous diseases such as cancer, renal, cardiovascular, immunological, and neurological disorders, and even aging. NDGA presents two catechol rings that confer a very potent antioxidant activity by scavenging oxygen free radicals and this may explain part of its therapeutic action. Additional effects include inhibition of lipoxygenases (LOXs) and activation of signaling pathways that impinge on the transcription factor Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-related Factor (NRF2). On the other hand, the oxidation of the catechols to the corresponding quinones my elicit alterations in proteins and DNA that raise safety concerns. This review describes the current knowledge on NDGA, its targets and side effects, and its synthetic analogs as promising therapeutic agents, highlighting their mechanism of action and clinical projection towards therapy of neurodegenerative, liver, and kidney disease, as well as cancer.This work was supported by SAF2016-76520-R of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness; P-024-FTPGB 2018 from the Spanish “Tatiana de Guzman el Bueno Foundation” and by the P_37_732/2016 grant (REDBRAIN) financed by the European Regional Development Fund, Competitiveness Operational Program 2014–2020. EM-K was financed by a Postdoctoral Scholarship from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACY, Mexico) with support from the Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas at UNAM. Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (grant B2017/BMD-3827).Peer reviewe