SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication in human gastric organoids

COVID-19 typically manifests as a respiratory illness, but several clinical reports have described gastrointestinal symptoms. This is particularly true in children in whom gastrointestinal symptoms are frequent and viral shedding outlasts viral clearance from the respiratory system. These observations raise the question of whether the virus can replicate within the stomach. Here we generate gastric organoids from fetal, pediatric, and adult biopsies as in vitro models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To facilitate infection, we induce reverse polarity in the gastric organoids. We find that the pediatric and late fetal gastric organoids are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, while viral replication is significantly lower in undifferentiated organoids of early fetal and adult origin. We demonstrate that adult gastric organoids are more susceptible to infection following differentiation. We perform transcriptomic analysis to reveal a moderate innate antiviral response and a lack of differentially expressed genes belonging to the interferon family. Collectively, we show that the virus can efficiently infect the gastric epithelium, suggesting that the stomach might have an active role in fecal-oral SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Evidence for an association between migraine and the hypocretin receptor 1 gene

The aim of our study was to investigate whether genetic variants in the hypocretin receptor 1 (HCRTR1) gene could modify the occurrence and the clinical features of migraine. Using a case–control strategy we genotyped 384 migraine patients and 259 controls for three SNPs in the HCRTR1 gene. Genotypic and allelic frequencies of the rs2271933 non-synonymous polymorphism resulted different (χ2 = 9.872, p = 0.007; χ2 = 8.108, p = 0.004) between migraineurs and controls. The carriage of the A allele was associated with an increased migraine risk (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.11–1.81). When we divided the migraine patients into different subgroups, the difference reached the level of statistical significance only in migraine without aura. The different genotypes had no significant effect on the examined clinical characteristics of the disease. In conclusion, our data supports the hypothesis that the HCRTR1 gene could represent a genetic susceptibility factor for migraine without aura and suggests that the hypocretin system may have a role in the pathophysiology of migraine

Analysis of shared common genetic risk between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy

Because hyper-excitability has been shown to be a shared pathophysiological mechanism, we used the latest and largest genome-wide studies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n = 36,052) and epilepsy (n = 38,349) to determine genetic overlap between these conditions. First, we showed no significant genetic correlation, also when binned on minor allele frequency. Second, we confirmed the absence of polygenic overlap using genomic risk score analysis. Finally, we did not identify pleiotropic variants in meta-analyses of the 2 diseases. Our findings indicate that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy do not share common genetic risk, showing that hyper-excitability in both disorders has distinct origins

The sexual exploitation of girls in the United States: the role of female pimps

The role of women in the sex trafficking of minors in the United States has received limited research attention. Case study analysis of 49 female pimps from federal, state and local cases were analyzed to explore if there were differences in the penalties given to females when compared to their male co-defendants, and cross-case analysis was conducted to identify themes that represent female pimp typologies. Both prison sentence and probation sentences were significantly lower for female co-defendants when compared to their male co-defendant. Five discrete typologies were developed including: Bottom, Madam/Business partner, Family, Girilla, and Handler. Each of these had unique features regarding violence towards their minor victims, co-defendants, actions during the sexual exploitation of the minor and sentencing outcomes. Implications for practice and future research were recommended