OBJECTIVE: Glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy (GFAP-A) pathogenesis remains uncertain, with potential viral involvement. More clinical cases are needed to deepen our understanding of this disease, along with the exploration of more effective treatment options to provide clinicians with additional choices.
METHODS: We report a severe case of GFAP-A secondary to EBV infection, characterized predominantly by central respiratory failure. Additionally, we conducted a literature review summarizing the characteristics of GFAP-IgG-positive patients associated with EBV infection.
RESULTS: Among the 13 patients identified, fever (92.3%) and headache (84.6%) were the most common initial symptoms, while urinary dysfunction was universally present in all patients. Over half of the patients with altered consciousness required endotracheal intubation (7/11, 63.6%), with only one individual experiencing complete resolution without any residual sequela. Only two patients (16.7%) displayed the classic feature of periventricular enhancement on neuroimaging, whereas T2-FLAIR hyperintensities were more prevalent. All patients tested positive for GFAP-IgG in CSF, and 91.7% (11/12) had detectable serum GFAP-IgG antibodies. Three patients (23.1%) achieved full recovery solely through antiviral therapy. In patients receiving various immunotherapies, 60% (6/10) still had residual sequelae.
CONCLUSIONS: EBV infection may contribute to the pathogenesis of GFAP-A. GFAP antibody testing is recommended for diagnostic evaluation in cases of central nervous system viral infections presenting with respiratory insufficiency. For severe GFAP-A patients, Protein A immunoadsorption (Protein A IA).

Microbial communities, including bacteria, diatoms, and fungi, colonize plastic surfaces, forming biofilms known as the \"plastisphere.\" Recent research has revealed that plastispheres also host a wide range of viruses, sparking interest in microbial ecology and virology. This shared habitat allows viruses to replicate, interact, infect, and spread, potentially impacting the environment and human health. Consequently, viruses attached to microplastics are now recognized to have broad effects on cellular and immune responses. However, the ecology and implications of viruses hosted in plastisphere habitats remain poorly understood, highlighting their fundamental importance as a subject of study. This review explores various pathways for virus attachment to plastispheres, factors influencing these interactions, their impacts within plastisphere and host-associated environments, and associated issues. It also summarizes current research and identifies knowledge gaps. We anticipate that this paper will help improve our predictive understanding of plastisphere viruses in natural settings and emphasizes the need for more research in real-world environments to advance the field.

Liver disease represents a significant global burden, placing individuals at a heightened risk of developing cirrhosis and liver cancer. Viral infections act as a primary cause of liver diseases on a worldwide scale. Infections involving hepatitis viruses, notably hepatitis B, C, and E viruses, stand out as the most prevalent contributors to acute and chronic intrahepatic adverse outcome, although the hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be effectively cured with antiviral drugs, but no preventative vaccination developed. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HCV can lead to both acute and chronic liver diseases, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which are principal causes of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Other viruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), are capable of causing liver damage. Therefore, it is essential to recognize that virus infections and liver diseases are intricate and interconnected processes. A profound understanding of the underlying relationship between virus infections and liver diseases proves pivotal in the effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of these conditions. In this review, we delve into the mechanisms by which virus infections induce liver diseases, as well as explore the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of liver diseases. This article is categorized under: Infectious Diseases > Biomedical Engineering.

The interplay between pathogen and host determines the immune response during viral infection. The Nod‑like receptor (NLR) protein 3 inflammasome is a multiprotein complex that induces the activation of inflammatory caspases and the release of IL‑1β, which play an important role in the innate immune responses. In the present review, the mechanisms of the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome activation and its dysregulation in viral infection were addressed.

There is current interest in the role of ambient pollen in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) infection risk. The aim of this review is to summarise studies published up until January 2023 investigating the relationship between airborne pollen and the risk of COVID-19 infection. We found conflicting evidence, with some studies showing that pollen may increase the risk of COVID-19 infection by acting as a carrier, while others showed that pollen may reduce the risk by acting as an inhibiting factor. A few studies reported no evidence of an association between pollen and the risk of infection. A major limiting factor of this research is not being able to determine whether pollen contributed to the susceptibility to infection or just the expression of symptoms. Hence, more research is needed to better understand this highly complex relationship. Future investigations should consider individual and sociodemographic factors as potential effect modifiers when investigating these associations. This knowledge will help to identify targeted interventions.

UNASSIGNED: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) contributes significantly to the development and occurrence of B-cell lymphomas. However, the association between EBV infection status and clinical outcomes in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients has long been controversial. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the prognostic significance of EBV infection in HL survival.
UNASSIGNED: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for relevant cohort studies from the date of their inception to February 20, 2022. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall survival (OS), Failure-free survival (FFS), Progression-free survival (PFS), Event-free survival (EFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were extracted from the studies or calculated. Subgroup analyses were conducted independently on the five survival outcomes to investigate the source of heterogeneity.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 42 qualified studies involving 9570 patients were identified in our meta-analysis. There was an association between EBV positivity and significantly poorer OS (HR=1.443, 95% CI: 1.250-1.666) and DSS (HR=2.312, 95% CI: 1.799-2.972). However, the presence of EBV in HL showed no effect on FFS, PFS or EFS. In subgroup analyses of OS, DSS and FFS stratified by age groups, EBV positivity was associated with poorer prognosis in elderly patients. Meanwhile, in children and adolescents with EBV-positive HL, we also observed a trend toward a better prognosis, though the results were not statistically significant.
UNASSIGNED: EBV-positive status is associated with poor OS and DSS in HL patients. EBV infection should therefore be considered a valuable prognostic marker and risk-stratifying factor in HL, especially in older patients.
UNASSIGNED: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42022328708.

There is a knowledge gap regarding the consequences of exercise during acute infections in humans and contradictory findings in animal studies, compromising public health advice on the potential benefits of physical activity for immunity. Here, we carried out a meta-analysis of studies of the effects of moderate exercise (ME) and exercise until fatigue (EF) on symptom severity, morbidity and mortality during viral infection in animal models. The systematic review on PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane and EBSCOhost (CINAHL and SPORT Discus) identified 8 controlled studies, with 15 subgroups within them. The studies exposed the animals (mice [7 studies] and monkeys [1 study]) to exercise immediately before or after viral inoculation (HSV-1, H1N1 influenza and B.K. virus) with follow-up for 21 days. ME significantly reduced morbidity (OR 0.43 [0.19; 0.98], P = 0.04) with no change for symptom severity (SMD -3.37 [-9.01; 2.28], P = 0.24) or mortality (OR 0.48 [0.08;3.03], P = 0.43). In contrast, EF gave a trend towards increased symptom severity (SMD 0.96 [-0.06; 1.98], P = 0.07) and mortality (OR 1.47 [0.96;2.28], P =0.08) with no change in morbidity (OR 1.22 [0.60;2.5], P = 0.58). We conclude that in animals moderate exercise during infection is advantageous, whilst exercise until fatigue should be avoided. Further research is required to determine if moderate exercise may also be beneficial in humans during infection.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) is a virus whose genetic material is positive single-stranded RNA, being responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19), an infection that compromises the lungs and consequently the respiratory capacity of the infected individual, according to the WHO in November 2021, 249,743,428 cases were confirmed, of which 5,047,652 individuals died due to complications resulting from the infection caused by SARSCOV- 2. As the infection progresses, the individual may experience loss of smell and taste, as well as breathing difficulties, severe respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, and death. Due to this new epidemiological agent in March 2020 it was announced by the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) a pandemic status, and with that, many research groups are looking for new therapeutic alternatives through synthetic and natural bioactives. This research is a literature review of some in silico studies involving natural products against COVID-19 inflammation published in 2020 and 2021. Work like this presents relevant information to the scientific community, boosting future research and encouraging the use of natural products for the search for new antivirals against COVID-19.

People with severe mental illnesses (SMI: schizophrenia, depressive disorder, bipolar disorder) have a high risk of being infected by viruses and suffer a more severe infection illness course than the general population. The aim of this literature review was to elucidate rates as well as immunogenicity and side effects of vaccinations in SMI.
All studies in the English or German language, which investigated either prevalence rates or effects of vaccinations in the target groups, were systematically searched in the databank PubMed by three independent authors using the PRISMA guidelines and discussed in more detail.
The search found 24 studies reporting epidemiological data and 16 investigating immunogenicity of vaccinations. The results on prevalence rates, antibody production, inflammation response and side effects were inconsistent. About interactions with psychotropic medication, only two studies on clozapine were found.
Only a few trials with heterogeneous samples have investigated prevalence and effects of vaccinations in SMI. Sex, age and other factors such as somatic comorbidities and special vaccination programmes have not been considered continuously and may influence rates as well. As individuals with SMI might be at special risk, further research on the willingness to be vaccinated as well as efficacy of vaccinations is needed.

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a series of behavioral changes that resulted in increased social isolation and a more sedentary life for many across all age groups, but, above all, for the elderly population who are the most vulnerable to infections and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. Systemic inflammatory responses are known to accelerate neurodegenerative disease progression, which leads to permanent damage, loss of brain function, and the loss of autonomy for many aged people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a spectrum of inflammatory responses was generated in affected individuals, and it is expected that the elderly patients with chronic neurodegenerative diseases who survived SARSCoV-2 infection, it will be found, sooner or later, that there is a worsening of their neurodegenerative conditions. Using mouse prion disease as a model for chronic neurodegeneration, we review the effects of social isolation, sedentary living, and viral infection on the disease progression with a focus on sickness behavior and on the responses of microglia and astrocytes. Focusing on aging, we discuss the cellular and molecular mechanisms related to immunosenescence in chronic neurodegenerative diseases and how infections may accelerate their progression.