Seroepidemiology and molecular epidemiology of enterovirus 71 in Russia.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an emerging human pathogen causing massive epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease with severe neurological complications in Asia. EV71 also circulates in Europe, however it does not cause large outbreaks. The reason for distinct epidemiological patterns of EV71 infection in Europe and Asia and the risk of EV71 epidemic in Europe and Russia remain unknown. Seroepidemiology of EV71 and molecular epidemiology of occasional EV71 isolates were studied to explore circulation of EV71 in Russia. In six regions of Russian Federation, seroprevalence of EV71 in sera collected in 2008 ranged from 5% to 20% in children aged 1-2 years and from 19% to 83% in children aged 3-5 years. The seroprevalence among elder children was significantly higher (41-83% vs. 19-27%) in Asian regions of Russia. EV71 strains identified in Russia in 2001-2011 belonged to subtypes C1 and C2, while genotype C4 that was causing epidemics in Asia since 1998 emerged in 2009 and became dominant in 2013

Emerging Concepts and Challenges in Rheumatoid Arthritis Gene Therapy

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory joint disease affecting about 1% of the population worldwide. Current treatment approaches do not ensure a cure for every patient. Moreover, classical regimens are based on nontargeted systemic immune suppression and have significant side effects. Biological treatment has advanced considerably but efficacy and specificity issues remain. Gene therapy is one of the potential future directions for RA therapy, which is rapidly developing. Several gene therapy trials done so far have been of moderate success, but experimental and genetics studies have yielded novel targets. As a result, the arsenal of gene therapy tools keeps growing. Currently, both viral and nonviral delivery systems are used for RA therapy. Herein, we review recent approaches for RA gene therapy

Phylogenetic tree of EV71 isolates from Russia and CIS (indicated in bold) and all GenBank sequences of EV71 genotype C that differ by over 1%.

<p>For Russian/CIS sequences, the isolate number is indicated, which refers to the sampling location indicated in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0097404#pone-0097404-g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1</a>. The tree was created using the complete VP1 genome region (891 nucleotides) and the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm implemented in Beast 1.7.5. Scale bar indicates time. Branches are colored according to isolation region indicated in the legend.</p

Sampling territories (shaded on the map), the number of sampled sera, sociogeographic conditions in the study regions, prevalence and mean geometric titers of antibodies to EV71 in children aged 1–2 and 3–5 years.

<p>Social and economic status of the regions is provided according to the official census and statistical data. Climate zone is indicated in accordance with Köppen classification. Dfb, warm summer continental, even annual rainfall; Dfc, continental subarctic, even annual rainfall; Dwb, warm summer continental, low winter rainfall. Isolations sites of EV71 strains presented in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0097404#pone-0097404-g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2</a> are indicated with empty circles. Significance of Fisher's exact test comparing seroprevalence in younger and elder age groups is indicated above the bars of the seroprevalence graph; comparison regions are indicated by first letters. Only significant values are shown; * indicates p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001.</p