Zagrożenia zdrowotne wśród dzieci i młodzieży. T. 3

Praca recenzowana / Peer-reviewed pape

Vaccination Failures in Pigs—The Impact of Chosen Factors on the Immunisation Efficacy

Infectious diseases that often lead to economic losses still pose a severe problem in the pig production sector. Because of increasing restrictions on antibiotic usage, vaccines may become one of the major approaches to controlling infectious diseases; much research has proved that they could be very efficient. Nevertheless, during their life, pigs are exposed to various factors that can interfere with vaccination efficacy. Therefore, in the present paper, we reviewed the influence of chosen factors on the pig immunisation process, such as stress, faecal microbiota, host genetics, the presence of MDAs, infections with immunosuppressive pathogens, and treatment with antibiotics and mycotoxins. Many of them turned out to have an adverse impact on vaccine efficacy

Effect of Zn2+Zn^{2+} concentration on the adsorption of organophosphonic acids on nanocrystalline ZnO surfaces

The effect of the presence of Zn2+ ions on the adsorption of octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA) on nanocrystalline ZnO films has been studied by means of Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) technique and complementary exsitu analysis of film properties. Phosphonic acid moiety has sufficient acidity, even in organic solvents, to cause dissolution of ZnO. Dissolved Zn2+ ions form complexes with the ODPA molecules in the solution, leading to the deposition of thick and undefined precipitation layers. Our results indicate that the formation of such precipitation layers could be prevented by the addition of appropriate amounts of Zn2+ ions into the deposition solution. Bi-functional monomolecular linkers with phosphonic acid head-groups are excellent candidates for application-specific functionalization of nanostructured ZnO films as well as ZnO nanoparticles. The results presented here demonstrate a straight forward method to increase the film qualit

Biocompatible Macroion/Growth Factor Assemblies for Medical Applications

Growth factors are a class of proteins that play a role in the proliferation (the increase in the number of cells resulting from cell division) and differentiation (when a cell undergoes changes in gene expression becoming a more specific type of cell) of cells. They can have both positive (accelerating the normal healing process) and negative effects (causing cancer) on disease progression and have potential applications in gene therapy and wound healing. However, their short half-life, low stability, and susceptibility to degradation by enzymes at body temperature make them easily degradable in vivo. To improve their effectiveness and stability, growth factors require carriers for delivery that protect them from heat, pH changes, and proteolysis. These carriers should also be able to deliver the growth factors to their intended destination. This review focuses on the current scientific literature concerning the physicochemical properties (such as biocompatibility, high affinity for binding growth factors, improved bioactivity and stability of the growth factors, protection from heat, pH changes or appropriate electric charge for growth factor attachment via electrostatic interactions) of macroions, growth factors, and macroion-growth factor assemblies, as well as their potential uses in medicine (e.g., diabetic wound healing, tissue regeneration, and cancer therapy). Specific attention is given to three types of growth factors: vascular endothelial growth factors, human fibroblast growth factors, and neurotrophins, as well as selected biocompatible synthetic macroions (obtained through standard polymerization techniques) and polysaccharides (natural macroions composed of repeating monomeric units of monosaccharides). Understanding the mechanisms by which growth factors bind to potential carriers could lead to more effective delivery methods for these proteins, which are of significant interest in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative and civilization diseases, as well as in the healing of chronic wounds

Monkeypox virus - epidemiology and prophylaxis

Monkeypox virus (MPXV), is a zoonotic pathogen, considered endemic in parts of Central and West Africa until 2003. Since the beginning of 2022, a sharp increase in the number of human cases has been observed worldwide. African rodents and non-human primates, like monkeys, might harbor the virus. Numerous animal species are susceptible to MPXV infection. Newborn mice, rats and domestic rabbits may serve as potential hosts of MPXV. Wild animals, such as squirrels are also susceptible. Pivotal role for control of monkeypox spreading, plays the quarantine of animals and constrain the contacts between humans and virus reservoirs. MPXV is closely related to the smallpox virus and the smallpox vaccine can immunize against monkeypox. Due to rapid worldwide transmission of MPXV, control and vaccination programs are likely to be introduced soon in numerous countries around the world

Mechanism of Myoglobin Molecule Adsorption on Silica: QCM, OWLS and AFM Investigations

Adsorption kinetics of myoglobin on silica was investigated using the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and the optical waveguide light-mode spectroscopy (OWLS). Measurements were carried out for the NaCl concentration of 0.01 M and 0.15 M. A quantitative analysis of the kinetic adsorption and desorption runs acquired from QCM allowed to determine the maximum coverage of irreversibly bound myoglobin molecules. At a pH of 3.5–4 this was equal to 0.60 mg m−2 and 1.3 mg m−2 for a NaCl concentration of 0.01 M and 0.15 M, respectively, which agrees with the OWLS measurements. The latter value corresponds to the closely packed monolayer of molecules predicted from the random sequential adsorption approach. The fraction of reversibly bound protein molecules and their biding energy were also determined. It is observed that at larger pHs, the myoglobin adsorption kinetics was much slower. This behavior was attributed to the vanishing net charge that decreased the binding energy of molecules with the substrate. These results can be exploited to develop procedures for preparing myoglobin layers at silica substrates of well-controlled coverage useful for biosensing purposes

Vaccine against African swine fever – where are we and where are we going?

African swine fever (ASF), is a viral disease of pigs and wild boar that is usually deadly. There are neither vaccines nor cures. African swine fever has got a significant negative impact on the global pig industry. The disease control is based on ensuring biosecurity, early diagnosis and culling pig herds with ASFV‐infected animals. However, in view of the ease with which ASFV spreads, its high resistance to environmental conditions and the many difficulties related to the introduction of effective specific immunoprophylaxis, this process is extremely difficult. Despite encountering problems such as lack of an animal model other than the natural host, lack of an effective continuous cell line for the isolation and propagation of ASFV, a risk of reversion to virulence, or inability to differentiate infected animals from vaccinated ones, scientists do not stop trying to design an effective vaccine. Recent approaches to ASF vaccine construction have focused on the development of modified live vaccines by targeted gene deletion from different isolates or of subunit vaccines. Here, we discuss current scientific advances and technological progress in this issue. The design of a safe and effective vaccine against ASFV seems to be achievable, nevertheless, a commercial vaccine is unlikely to appear within the next few years