West Nile Virus Seroprevalence in the Italian Tuscany Region from 2016 to 2019

Although in humans West Nile virus is mainly the cause of mild or sub-clinical infections, in some cases a neuroinvasive disease may occur predominantly in the elderly. In Italy, several cases of West Nile virus infection are reported every year. Tuscany was the first Italian region where the virus was identified; however, to date only two cases of infection have been reported in humans. This study aimed at evaluating the prevalence of antibodies against West Nile virus in the area of Siena Province to estimate the recent circulation of the virus. Human serum samples collected in Siena between 2016 and 2019 were tested for the presence of antibodies against West Nile virus by ELISA. ELISA positive samples were further evaluated using immunofluorescence, micro neutralization, and plaque reduction neutralization assays. In total, 1.9% (95% CI 1.2-3.1) and 1.4% (95% CI 0.8-2.4) of samples collected in 2016-2017 were positive by ELISA and immunofluorescence assay, respectively. Neutralizing antibodies were found in 0.7% (95% CI 0.3-1.5) of samples. Additionally, 0.9% (95% CI 0.4-1.7) and 0.65% (95% CI 0.3-1.45) of samples collected in 2018-2019 were positive by ELISA and immunofluorescence assay, respectively. The prevalence of neutralizing antibodies was 0.5% (95% CI 0.2-1.3). Although no human cases of West Nile infection were reported in the area between 2016 and 2019 and virus prevalence in the area of Siena Province was as low as less than 1%, the active asymptomatic circulation confirms the potential concern of this emergent virus for human health

Parvovirus B19 in Rheumatic Diseases

Parvovirus B19 (B19V) is a human pathogen belonging to the Parvoviridae family. It is widely diffused in the population and responsible for a wide range of diseases, diverse in pathogenetic mechanisms, clinical course, and severity. B19V infects and replicates in erythroid progenitor cells (EPCs) in the bone marrow leading to their apoptosis. Moreover, it can also infect, in an abortive manner, a wide set of different cell types, normally non-permissive, and modify their normal physiology. Differences in the characteristics of virus-cell interaction may translate into different pathogenetic mechanisms and clinical outcomes. Joint involvement is a typical manifestation of B19V infection in adults. Moreover, several reports suggest, that B19V could be involved in the pathogenesis of some autoimmune rheumatologic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), systemic sclerosis (SSc), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or vasculitis. This review provides basic information on the B19 virus, highlights characteristics of viral infection in permissive and non-permissive systems, and focuses on recent findings concerning the pathogenic role of B19V in rheumatologic diseases

Expression of genes for drug transporters in the human female genital tract and modulatory effect of antiretroviral drugs

Acknowledgments: We wish to thank patients and surgical teams at the University of Siena and St Mary’s Hospital London for their generous contribution to this study. Darunavir was kindly provided by Janssen R&D Ireland, and tenofovir by Gilead Sciences. Funding: This study was supported by the European Commission grant MOTIF (Microbicide Optimization Through Innovative Formulation for Vaginal and Rectal Delivery), FP7-HEALTH-2012-305316 http://cordis.europa.eu/result/rcn/15853​0_en.html. Beneficiaries of MOTIF include the University of Aberdeen, the University of Siena, Microbiotec srl, Imperial College, and King’s College London. MICROBIOTEC srl provided support in the form of a salary for MAS, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Drug transporters gene expression in tenofovir-treated cell lines.

<p>Cells were treated with 1000 μM tenofovir for 24 and 72 hours. Levels of total mRNA were measured by Real Time PCR. Relative quantitation was determined using the comparative Ct method with data normalized to three housekeeping genes (HPRT1, RPLP0, UBC) and calibrated to the average ΔCt of untreated controls (fold induction = 2^-ΔΔCt). ABC and SLC transporters gene expression in tenofovir-treated VK2/E6E7, Ect-1/E6E7 and End-1/E6E7 cell lines. Values are represented as mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments. A fold change cut-off of 3 was used for statistical analysis by one-way ANOVA and Dunnet’s post test. Only genes which showed statistically significant changes of expression are reported (P ≤ 0.05).</p

Drug transporters gene expression in dapivirine-treated cell lines.

<p>Cells were treated with 10 μM dapivirine for 24 and 72 hours. Levels of total mRNA were measured by Real Time PCR. Relative quantitation was determined using the comparative Ct method with data normalized to three housekeeping genes (HPRT1, RPLP0, UBC) and calibrated to the average ΔCt of untreated controls (fold induction = 2^-ΔΔCt). A) ABC transporters gene expression in dapivirine-treated HEC-1A, VK2/E6E7, Ect-1/E6E7 and End-1/E6E7 cell lines. B) SLC transporters gene expression in dapivirine-treated HEC-1A, VK2/E6E7, Ect-1/E6E7 and End-1/E6E7 cell lines. Values are represented as mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments. A fold change cut-off of 3 was used for statistical analysis by one-way ANOVA and Dunnet’s post test. Only genes which showed statistically significant changes of expression are reported (P ≤ 0.05).</p