High prevalence of human cytomegalovirus in a population of periodontally healthy subjects

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) appears to be more frequent in periodontally affected patients than in healthy control groups. Based on this assumption, it has been suggested that HCMV may play a role in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. Objective: The objective of this uncontrolled study was to assess the occurrence of HCMV in a large unselected population of periodontally healthy subjects. Study Design: Fifty consecutive periodontally healthy patients satisfied the inclusion criteria. Two samples of gingival crevicular fluids were taken from two non-bleeding on probing sites for each patient. Samples were collected from the anterior and the posterior area. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify the presence of HCMV. Results: HCMV was detected in 17 (33%) out of 50 participants. Ten subjects showed presence of HCMV on both anterior and posterior sites, whereas the remaining 7 only had HCMV present in the anterior sites. No differences were noticed between HCMV positive and HCMV negative in terms of smoking (p = 0.33), drinking habits (p=0,94) or the presence of prosthodontic restorations (p= 0,89). Conclusions: HCMV was detected in a high proportion of periodontally healthy subjects. Its presence was not found to be influenced by smoking or drinking habits

Structural and electronic properties of SrCuO2+ δthin films

The layered structure of superconducting cuprates is considered to be a key ingredient to achieve high superconducting transition temperatures. In this work, we investigate the possibility of doping the SrCuO2 infinite-layer compound by inserting additional oxygen into its structure. We observe that the infinite-layer SrCuO2 structure is epitaxially stabilized in thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition in pure O2. Increasing the oxidizing power by introducing ozone during the growth leads to a different phase with an elongated c axis. Scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis suggests that the films with an elongated c axis are composed of SrCuO2.5 blocks separated by SrCuO2 layers arranged to match the substrate spacing. X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements show that this SrCuO2+δ phase is associated with a more isotropic Cu orbital configuration and hole doping. This hole doping leads to a dramatic reduction in the resistivity of the films, with a magnitude that depends on the precise oxygen content in the structure.This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation—Division II (Grant No. 200020_179155) and by the European Research Council under the European Union Seventh Framework Programme, Grant No. FP7/2007–2013 and ERC Grant Agreement No. 319286 (Q-MAC). M.G. and G.D.L. acknowledge support by the Swiss National Science Foundation under Grant No. PP00P2_17056

A prospective humoral immune monitoring study of kidney transplant recipients receiving three doses of SARS‐CoV‐2 mRNA vaccine

: Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs), like other solid organ transplant recipients display a suboptimal response to mRNA vaccines, with only about half achieving seroconversion after two doses. However, the effectiveness of a booster dose, particularly in generating neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), remains poorly understood, as most studies have mainly focused on non-neutralizing antibodies. Here, we have longitudinally assessed the humoral response to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in 40 KTRs over a year, examining changes in both anti-spike IgG and NAbs following a booster dose administered about 5 months post-second dose. We found a significant humoral response increase 5 months post-booster, a stark contrast to the attenuated response observed after the second dose. Of note, nearly a quarter of participants did not achieve protective plasma levels even after the booster dose. We also found that the higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) correlated with a more robust humoral response postvaccination. Altogether, these findings underscore the effectiveness of the booster dose in enhancing durable humoral immunity in KTRs, as evidenced by the protective level of NAbs found in 65% of the patients 5 months post- booster, especially those with higher eGFR rates