High Human Bocavirus Viral Load Is Associated with Disease Severity in Children under Five Years of Age

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus and detected worldwide in lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs), but its pathogenic role in respiratory illness is still debatable due to high incidence of co-infection with other respiratory viruses. To determine the prevalence of HBoV infection in patients with LRTI in Shanghai and its correlation with disease severity, we performed a 3-year prospective study of HBoV in healthy controls, outpatients and inpatients under five years of age with X-ray diagnosed LRTIs. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were tested by PCR for common respiratory viruses and by real time PCR for HBoV subtypes 1–4. Nasopharyngeal swabs from healthy controls and serum samples and stools from inpatients were also tested for HBoV1-4 by real time PCR. Viral loads were determined by quantitative real time PCR in all HBoV positive samples. HBoV1 was detected in 7.0% of inpatients, with annual rates of 5.1%, 8.0% and 4.8% in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) subtype A was the most frequent co-infection detected; HBoV1 and RSVA appeared to co-circulate with similar seasonal variations. High HBoV viral loads (>10(6) copies/ml) were significantly more frequent in inpatients and outpatients than in healthy controls. There was a direct correlation of high viral load with increasing disease severity in patients co-infected with HBoV1 and at least one other respiratory virus. In summary, our data suggest that HBoV1 can cause LRTIs, but symptomatic HBoV infection is only observed in the context of high viral load

Intensive Cytokine induction in Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Virus Infection Accompanied by Robust Production of IL-10 and IL-6

BACKGROUND: The innate immune system is the first line of defense against viruses by inducing expression of cytokines and chemokines. Many pandemic influenza H1N1 virus [P(H1N1)] infected severe cases occur in young adults under 18 years old who were rarely seriously affected by seasonal influenza. Results regarding host cytokine profiles of P(H1N1) are ambivalent. In the present study we investigated host cytokine profiles in P(H1N1) patients and identified cytokines related to disease severity. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We retrieved 77, 59, 26 and 26 sera samples from P(H1N1) and non-flu influenza like illness (non-ILIs) cases with mild symptoms (mild patients), P(H1N1) vaccinees and healthy individuals, respectively. Nine and 16 sera were from hospitalized P(H1N1) and non-ILIs patients with severe symptoms (severe patients). Cytokines of IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α were assayed by cytokine bead array, IL-17 and IL-23 measured with ELISA. Mild P(H1N1) patients produced significantly elevated IL-2, IL-12, IFN-γ, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-5, IL-10, IL-17 and IL-23 versus to healthy controls. While an overwhelming IL-6 and IL-10 production were observed in severe P(H1N1) patients. Higher IL-10 secretion in P(H1N1) vaccinees confirmed our observation that highly increased level of sera IL-6 and IL-10 in P(H1N1) patients may lead to disease progression. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: A comprehensive innate immune response was activated at the early stage of P(H1N1) infection with a combine Th1/Th2/Th3 cytokines production. As disease progression, a systemic production of IL-6 and IL-10 were observed in severe P(H1N1) patients. Further analysis found a strong correlation between IL-6 and IL-10 production in the severe P(H1N1) patients. IL-6 may be served as a mediator to induce IL-10 production. Highly elevated level of sera IL-6 and IL-10 in P(H1N1) patients may lead to disease progression, but the underlying mechanism awaits further detailed investigations

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of the mangrove associate species Talipariti tiliaceum

Talipariti tiliaceum is an evergreen mangrove associate species distributed throughout the world. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of T. tiliaceum was assembled and characterized using high-throughput sequencing data. The chloroplast genome was found to be 161 766 bp in length, consisting of large single-copy (LSC) and small single-copy (SSC) regions of 89 273 and 19 551 bp, respectively, which were separated by a pair of 26 471 bp inverted repeat (IR) regions. The genome contained 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. A phylogenetic tree including 66 chloroplast genomes from various species revealed that T. tiliaceum was most related to T. hamabo of the same genus

Speeding extreme cold events under global warming

Regional anthropogenic warming caused stronger and shorter cold events in the winter (December–February) of 2020–21, with the strongest cooling of −10 °C covering an area of 1.63 × 10 ^7 km ^2 over East Asia. In contrast to previous cold events, the extreme cold events in 2020–21 were a result of meridional circulation change due to stronger regional anthropogenic warming. Our results show a multi-aspect anthropogenic effect in the process of cold events, and illustrate that anthropogenic effect played a role not only in the thermodynamic process but also in the dynamic process. The exchange of equilibrium from low to high index does not take fewer cold events anymore; new principles on equilibrium have appeared and will soon play an effect in more fields of climate change

Sera cytokine levels between people got mild and severe infection.

<p>Geomean production of IFN-γ, IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8 in sera samples from severe (Grey bars, n = 9) and mild P(H1N1) patients (White bars, n = 77) were graphed as <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0028680#pone-0028680-g004" target="_blank">figure 4A and 4B</a>. Geomean production of IFN-γ, IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8 in sera samples from severe (Grey bars, n = 16) and mild non-ILIs (White bars, n = 59) were graphed as <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0028680#pone-0028680-g004" target="_blank">figure 4C and 4D</a>. Bars represent geomeans ±95% CI. * Indicates significant differences (p≤0.05) between 2 study groups.</p