The Potential of Fasting and Caloric Restriction to Mitigate Radiation Damage—A Systematic Review

Detrimental health effects from ionizing radiation to the living being is one of the key concerns identified and addressed by Radiation Protection institutions, nationally and internationally on Earth and for human spaceflight. Thus, new methods for mitigating the adverse effects of ionizing radiation are urgently needed for terrestrial health and deep space exploration. Caloric restriction and (intermittent-) fasting have been reported to elicit a variety of immediate and long-term physiological effects. The rapidly growing body of evidence of research studies investigating the effects of caloric restriction and dietary fasting points towards a multitude of health benefits affecting numerous physiological systems. Therefore, a systematic literature review was performed to evaluate the evidence of caloric restriction and dietary fasting on the physiological response to ionising radiation in humans and animals. All experimental studies in humans, animals and eukaryotic cell lines available in PubMed, Cochrane library and specialised databases were searched comparing irradiation post-caloric restriction or fasting to a non-nutritionally restricted control group on a broad range of outcomes from molecular to clinical responses. The initial search yielded 2653 records. The final analysis included 11 studies. Most studies investigated the survival rate or cancer occurrence in animals. Included studies did not reveal any benefit from pre exposure caloric restriction, except when performed with post radiation caloric restriction. However, the effects of pre-exposure fasting suggest increased resilience to ionizing radiation

Evaluation of waning of IgG antibody responses after rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP and Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo Ebola virus disease vaccines: a modelling study from the PREVAC randomized trial.

rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP and Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo are WHO-prequalified vaccination regimens against Ebola virus disease (EVD). Challenges associated with measuring long-term clinical protection warrant the evaluation of immune response kinetics after vaccination. Data from a large phase 2 randomized double-blind clinical trial (PREVAC) were used to evaluate waning of anti-Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP1,2) antibody concentrations after rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP or Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo vaccination with linear mixed-effect regression models. After a post-vaccination peak, each vaccination strategy was associated with a decrease of anti-EBOV GP1,2 antibody concentrations with distinct kinetics, highlighting a less-rapid decline in antibody levels after vaccination by rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP. One year after administration of the vaccine, antibody concentrations were higher in children compared to adults for both vaccines, although with different effect sizes: 1.74-fold higher concentrations (95% confidence interval [CI] [1.48; 2.02]) for children 12-17 years old to 3.10-fold higher concentrations (95% CI [2.58; 3.69]) for those 1-4 years old compared to adults for Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo versus 1.36-fold (95% CI [1.12; 1.61]) to 1.41-fold (95% CI [1.21; 1.62]) higher than these values for adults, with relatively small changes from one age category of children to another, for rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP. Antibody concentrations also differed according to geographical location, pre-vaccination antibody concentration, and sex. In combination with knowledge on memory response, characterization of the major determinants of immune response durability of both vaccinations may guide future EVD control protocols.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02876328

Pulmonary bacterial infections in patients hospitalized for COVID-19: a retrospective observational study

Abstract Backround During the COVID-19 pandemic, antibiotics use was very common. However, bacterial co/secondary infections with coronaviruses remain largely unknown, especially outside of intensive care. The aim of this study was to investigate the pulmonary bacterial infections characteristics associated with COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. Methods A retrospective monocentric observational study was conducted in Bichat hospital in France, between February 26 and April 22, 2020. All patients hospitalized in standard wards with COVID-19 (positive nasopharyngeal PCR and/or typical aspect on CT scan) and diagnosed with a pulmonary bacterial infection (positive bacteriological samples) were included. Bacteriological and clinical data were collected from the microbiology laboratories and the patient's medical records. Results Twenty-three bacteriological samples from 22 patients were positive out of 2075 screened samples (1.1%) from 784 patients (2.8%). Bacterial infection occurred with a median of ten days after COVID-19 onset. Diagnosis of pulmonary bacterial infection was suspected on the increase of oxygen requirements (20/22), productive cough or modification of sputum (17/22), or fever (10/22). Positive samples included 13 sputum cultures, one Film Array® on sputum, one bronchoalveolar lavage, six blood cultures and two pneumococcal antigenuria. The most frequent bacteria were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6/23), Staphylococcus aureus (5/23), Streptococcus pneumoniae (4/23), Enterococcus faecalis (3/23) and Klebsiella aerogenes (3/23). No Legionella antigenuria was positive. Four out of 496 nasopharyngeal PCR (0.8%) were positive for intracellular bacteria (two Bordetella pertussis and two Mycoplasma pneumonia). Conclusions Pulmonary bacterial secondary infections and co-infections with SARS-CoV-2 are uncommon. Antibiotic use should remain limited in the management of COVID-19.</jats:p

Splenectomy allows remission of angioedema with acquired C1-inhibitor deficiency associated with splenic marginal zone lymphoma

International audienc

Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in adult inpatients during the 2023–24 outbreak in France (MYCADO): a national, retrospective, observational study

International audienceBackground. An epidemic of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection has been observed in France since the fall of 2023. We aimed to: i) describe the characteristics of adults hospitalized for M. pneumoniae infection and ii) identify factors associated with severe outcomes of infection (i.e., intensive care unit [ICU)] admission or in-hospital death).Methods. MYCADO is a retrospective observational study including adults hospitalized for ≥24 hours in 76 French hospitals for a M. pneumoniae infection between 1 September 2023 and 29 February 2024. Clinical, laboratory and imaging data were collected from medical records.We identified factors associated with severe outcomes of infection, defined as need for ICU or in-hospital death, using multivariable logistic regression.Findings. Overall, 1309 patients with M. pneumoniae infection were included: 718 (54.9%) males; median age 43 years (IQR 31-63); 288 (22.0%) with chronic respiratory failure; 423 (32.3%) with cardiovascular comorbidities; 95 (7.3%) with immunosuppression. The most common symptoms were: cough (n=1098, 83.9%), fever (n=1023, 78.2%), dyspnoea (n=948, 72.4%), fatigue (n=550, 42.0%), headache (n=211, 16.1%), arthromyalgia (n=253, 19.3%), vomiting (n=132, 10.1%); 156 (11.9%) patients had extra-respiratory manifestations, including 36 (2.8%) erythema multiforme, 19 (1.5%) meningoencephalitis, 44 (3.4%) autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and 17 (1.3%) myocarditis. The median hospital stay duration was 8 days (IQR 6-11); 415 (31.7%) patients were admitted to ICU and 28 (2.1%) died at hospital. Men, patients with hypertension, obesity, respiratory or liver chronic failure, extra-respiratory manifestations, bilateral lung damage or consolidation on computed tomography scan, elevated inflammatory syndrome, lymphopenia, and those who did not receive any active antibiotic against M. pneumoniae prior to admission, were more likely to present with severe outcomes of infection.Interpretation. This national, observational study highlights unexpected, atypical radiologic presentations, a high proportion of transfers to ICU, and an association between severity and delayed administration of effective antibiotics

Emerg Microbes Infect

rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP and Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo are WHO-prequalified vaccination regimens against Ebola virus disease (EVD). Challenges associated with measuring long-term clinical protection warrant the evaluation of immune response kinetics after vaccination.Data from a large phase 2 randomized double-blind clinical trial (PREVAC) were used to evaluate waning of anti-Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP(1,2)) antibody concentrations after rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP or Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo vaccination with linear mixed-effect regression models.After a post-vaccination peak, each vaccination strategy was associated with a decrease of anti-EBOV GP(1,2) antibody concentrations with distinct kinetics, highlighting a less-rapid decline in antibody levels after vaccination by rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP. One year after administration of the vaccine, antibody concentrations were higher in children compared to adults for both vaccines, although with different effect sizes: 1.74-fold higher concentrations (95% confidence interval [CI] [1.48; 2.02]) for children 12-17 years old to 3.10-fold higher concentrations (95% CI [2.58; 3.69]) for those 1-4 years old compared to adults for Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo versus 1.36-fold (95% CI [1.12; 1.61]) to 1.41-fold (95% CI [1.21; 1.62]) higher at month 12 higher than these values for adults, with relatively small changes from one age category of children to another for rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP. Antibody concentrations also differed according to geographical location, pre-vaccination antibody concentration, and sex.In combination with knowledge on memory response, characterization of the major determinants of immune response durability of both vaccinations may guide future EVD control protocols.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02876328.