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Background: The protective or pathogenic role of T lymphocytes during the acute phase of dengue virus (DENV) infection has not been fully understood despite its importance in immunity and vaccine development. Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the kinetics of T lymphocyte subsets during the clinical course of acute dengue patients. Study design: In this hospital-based cohort study, 59 eligible Vietnamese dengue patients were recruited and admitted. They were investigated and monitored for T cell subsets and a panel of clinical and laboratory parameters every day until discharged and at post-discharge from the hospital. Results: We described for the first time the kinetics of T cell response during the clinical course of DENV infection. Severe cases showed significantly lower levels of effector CD8 + T cells compared to mild cases at day -1 ( p = 0.017) and day 0 ( p = 0.033) of defervescence. After defervescence, these cell counts in severe cases increased rapidly to equalize with the levels of mild cases. Our results also showed a decline in total CD4 + T, Th1, Th1/17 cells during febrile phase of dengue patients compared to normal controls or convalescent phase. On the other hand, Th2 cells increased during DENV infection until convalescent phase. Cytokines such as interferon-γ, IL-12p70, IL-5, IL-23, IL-17A showed tendency to decrease on day 0 and 1 compared with convalescence and only IL-5 showed significance indicating the production during acute phase was not systemic. Conclusion: With a rigorous study design, we uncovered the kinetics of T cells in natural DENV infection. Decreased number of effector CD8 + T cells in the early phase of infection and subsequent increment after defervescence day probably associated with the T cell migration in DENV infection., (Copyright © 2020 Manh, Weiss, Thuong, Mizukami, Dumre, Luong, Thanh, Thang, Huu, Phuc, Nhung, Mai, Truong, Ngu, Quoc, Ha, Ton, An, Halhouli, Quynh, Kamel, Karbwang, Huong, Huy and Hirayama.)

The development of low cost, portable diagnostic tools for in-field detection of viruses and other pathogenic microorganisms is in great demand but remains challenging. In this study, a novel approach based on reduced graphene oxide-polyaniline (rGO-PANi) film for the in situ detection of loop-mediated-isothermal-amplification (LAMP) products by means of open circuit potential measurement is proposed. The pH-sensitive conducting polymer PANi was electro-deposited onto rGO coated screen printed electrodes and tuned to be at the emeraldine state at which the pH sensitivity was maximized. By combining PANi and rGO, the pH sensitivity of the system was modulated up to about -64 mV per pH unit. This enabled the number of amplified amplicons resulting from the isothermal amplification process to be monitored. The sensor was then examined for monitoring LAMP reactions using Hepatitis B virus (HBV) as a model. This simple, low-cost, reproducible and sensitive interfacing layer is expected to provide a new possibility for designing point-of-care sensors under limited-resource conditions., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Objective: To examine the relationship between hypertension, overweight and indices of insulin resistance in Vietnamese subjects., Patients: One hundred and eight hypertensive subjects (51 men and 57 women) over 40 y of age were compared with 36 control subjects over 40 y of age., Methods: Blood glucose and plasma insulin were measured at fasting and 2 h after 75 g glucose taken orally., Results: Hypertensive subjects had significantly higher body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold, waist and hip circumferences and waist/hip ratio. Glycaemia at fasting and after glucose were similar in the two groups. Insulinaemia at fasting and after glucose were significantly higher in the hypertensive subjects. In the whole series of hypertensive subjects, plasma insulin and insulin/glucose ratio at fasting and after glucose correlated significantly with BMI, triceps skinfold and waist and hip cicumferences. After exclusion of the subjects with BMI > 22 kg/m2, compared with the controls, plasma insulin and insulin/glucose ratio were significantly higher in the whole hypertensive group and separately in hypertensive men and women. The logistic regression analyses have shown that plasma insulin and insulin/glucose ratio at fasting and after glucose were significantly associated with hypertension, independently of gender, BMI and waist circumference., Conclusion: This study shows that in Vietnamese people, essential hypertension is associated with a significant increase in BMI, which however remains far lower than the definition threshold of occidental obesity and with a state of insulin resistance found despite very slight or no excess weight.