Current and future trends in the laboratory diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to exert a considerable public health and social burden globally, particularly for developing countries. Due to the high prevalence of asymptomatic infections and the limitations of symptom-based (syndromic) diagnosis, confirmation of infection using laboratory tools is essential to choose the most appropriate course of treatment and to screen at-risk groups. Numerous laboratory tests and platforms have been developed for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, trichomoniasis, genital mycoplasmas, herpesviruses, and human papillomavirus. Point-of-care testing is now a possibility, and microfluidic and high-throughput omics technologies promise to revolutionize the diagnosis of STIs. The scope of this paper is to provide an updated overview of the current laboratory diagnostic tools for these infections, highlighting their advantages, limitations, and point-of-care adaptability. The diagnostic applicability of the latest molecular and biochemical approaches is also discussed

Clinical recrudescence of chronic untreated P. malariae infection after BNT162b2 CoVID-19 vaccine

We described a case of clinical reactivation of chronic P. malariae infection following CoVID-19 vaccination with BNT162b2 (Pifzer-Biontech CoVID-19 vaccine) in a 48-year old Italian man.The patient came to our attention for fever of unknown origin show a quartan pattern (every third day) associated to splenomegaly, the onset of the fever occurred one month after CoVID-19 vaccination with BNT162b2. P. malariae was diagnosed using Carestart™ malaria rapid test and Polymerase-Chain Reaction. Post-vaccine transient reduction of immune reactivity is described in literature, although the mechanism is unknown

Draft genome sequence and biofilm production of a carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KpR405) sequence type 405 strain isolated in Italy

Rapid identification and characterization of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains is essential to diagnose severe infections in patients. In clinical routine practice, K. pneumoniae is frequently identified and characterized for outbreak investigation. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis or multilocus sequence typing could be used, but, unfortunately, these methods are time-consuming, laborious, expensive, and do not provide any information about the presence of resistance and virulence genes. In recent years, the decreasing cost of next-generation sequencing and its easy use have led to it being considered a useful method, not only for outbreak surveillance but also for rapid identification and evaluation, in a single step, of virulence factors and resistance genes. Carbapenem-resistant strains of K. pneumoniae have become endemic in Italy, and in these strains the ability to form biofilms, communities of bacteria fixed in an extracellular matrix, can defend the pathogen from the host immune response as well as from antibiotics, improving its persistence in epithelial tissues and on medical device surfaces

Clinical recrudescence of chronic untreated P. malariae infection after BNT162b2 CoVID-19 vaccine

We described a case of clinical reactivation of chronic P. malariae infection following CoVID-19 vaccination with BNT162b2 (Pifzer-Biontech CoVID-19 vaccine) in a 48-year old Italian man.The patient came to our attention for fever of unknown origin show a quartan pattern (every third day) associated to splenomegaly, the onset of the fever occurred one month after CoVID-19 vaccination with BNT162b2. P. malariae was diagnosed using CarestartTM malaria rapid test and Polymerase-Chain Reaction. Post-vaccine transient reduction of immune reactivity is described in literature, although the mechanism is unknown.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.CC_BY_NC_ND_4.

Circulating E-selectin levels in chronic hepatitis C patients with normal or elevated transaminase before and after alpha-interferon treatment

E-selectin, an adhesion molecule of the selectin family, is involved in leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium and in the cellular immunological reactions. Expression of this molecule, in fact, is physiologically absent, but it becomes evident on sinusoidal lining cells during inflammatory liver disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of E-selectin in chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) patients with persistently normal transaminase in comparison to patients with CH-C and elevated transaminase, and its changes during alpha-interferon therapy. Immunohistochemical localization of E-selectin was also performed on liver tissue specimens of both groups. Fifty-eight subjects were divided into 3 groups: group A included 18 patients with CH-C and persistently normal transaminase; group B 20 patients with CH-C and persistently elevated transaminase levels and group C included 20 healthy subjects, representing the control group. The first two groups were treated with r-IFN \u3b1 at a dose of 6 MU 3 times a week for 3 months and followed-up with 3 MU 3 times a week for another 3 months. Serum baseline values of E-selectin in groups A and B were significantly higher than those in group C (P < 0.04), but there was no difference between groups A and B. Furthermore, there was a trend toward higher E-selectin values as histological severity increased (r = 0.69; P < 0.0001). Post-treatment E-selectin serum values showed a moderate decrease in both groups, but only among responder patients; while E-selectin levels were unchanged in non responders. Immunohistochemical localization showed no staining for E-selectin in normal liver specimens, while there was a quite similar staining for E-selectin in the two groups of patients. In conclusion, this study shows that serum E-selectin levels in patients with CH-C and persistently normal transaminase are higher than in controls and they are associated with severity of liver disease. Liver of these patients express E-selectin molecules, suggesting an activation of the immune system almost identical to that of patients with CH-C and elevated transaminase. In both groups only responder patients showed a moderate decrease below baseline serum values

SHIP2: a "NEW" insulin pathway target for ageing research.

Strong evidence suggests that systemic inflammation and central adiposity contribute to and perpetuate metabolic syndrome. All of these alterations predispose individuals to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, as well as Alzheimer's disease (AD), all characterized by chronic inflammatory status. On the other hand, extensive abnormalities in insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGF-II signaling mechanisms in brains with AD have been demonstrated, suggesting that AD could be a third form of diabetes. The Src homology domain-containing inositol 5-phosphatase 2 (SHIP2) has an important role in the insulin pathway because its over-expression causes impairment of insulin/IGF-1 signaling. Because some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the gene encoding SHIP2 were significantly associated in T2DM patients with metabolic syndrome and some related conditions, we decided to conduct a case-control study on this gene, analyzing AD and T2DM subjects as cases and young, old, and centenarians as controls. Our results suggest a putative correlation between the the rs144989913 SNP and aging, both successful and unsuccessful, rather than age-related diseases. Because this SNP is an insertion/deletion of 28 bp, it might cause an alteration in SHIP2 expression. It is noteworthy that SHIP2 has been demonstrated to be a potent negative regulator of insulin signaling and insulin sensitivity. Many studies demonstrated the association of the insulin/IGF1 pathway with aging and longevity, so it is tempting to speculate that the found association with SHIP2 and aging might depend on its effect on the insulin/IGF-1 pathway