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The cGAS-STING pathway appears to contribute to dysregulated inflammation during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, inflammatory factors related to long COVID are still being investigated. In the present study, we evaluated the association of cGAS and STING gene expression levels and plasma IFN-α, TNF-α and IL-6 levels with COVID-19 severity in acute infection and long COVID, based on analysis of blood samples from 148 individuals, 87 with acute COVID-19 and 61 in the post-COVID-19 period. Quantification of gene expression was performed by real-time PCR, and cytokine levels were quantified by ELISA and flow cytometry. In acute COVID-19, cGAS, STING, IFN-α, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels were higher in patients with severe disease than in those with nonsevere manifestations (p < 0.05). Long COVID was associated with elevated cGAS, STING and IFN-α levels (p < 0.05). Activation of the cGAS-STING pathway may contribute to an intense systemic inflammatory state in severe COVID-19 and, after infection resolution, induce an autoinflammatory disease in some tissues, resulting in long COVID., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by pathogenic variants in CYP27A1 , leading to a deficiency in sterol 27-hydroxylase. This defect results in the accumulation of cholestanol and bile alcohols in various tissues, including the brain, tendons and peripheral nerves. We conducted this review to evaluate lipid profile abnormalities in patients with CTX. A search was conducted in PubMed, Embase and the Virtual Health Library in January 2023 to evaluate studies reporting the lipid profiles of CTX patients, including the levels of cholestanol, cholesterol and other lipids. Elevated levels of cholestanol were consistently observed. Most patients presented normal or low serum cholesterol levels. A decrease in chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) leads to increased synthesis of cholesterol metabolites, such as bile alcohols 23S-pentol and 25-tetrol 3-glucuronide, which may serve as surrogate follow-up markers in patients with CTX. Lipid abnormalities in CTX have clinical implications. Cholestanol deposition in tissues contributes to clinical manifestations, including neurological symptoms and tendon xanthomas. Dyslipidemia and abnormal cholesterol metabolism may also contribute to the increased risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular complications observed in some CTX patients.

Our aim was to analyze the association between socioeconomic status and quality of life (QoL) among older people with depressive symptoms treated through the Primary Health Care (PHC) system in Brazil and Portugal. This was a comparative cross-sectional study with a nonprobability sample of older people in the PHC in Brazil and Portugal conducted between 2017 and 2018. To evaluate the variables of interest, the socioeconomic data questionnaire, the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Medical Outcomes Short-Form Health Survey were used. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed to test the study hypothesis. The sample consisted of n = 150 participants (Brazil n = 100 and Portugal n = 50). There was a predominance of woman (76.0%, p = 0.224) and individuals between 65 and 80 years (88.0%, p = 0.594). The multivariate association analysis showed that in the presence of depressive symptoms, the QoL mental health domain was most associated with the socioeconomic variables. Among the prominent variables, woman group (p = 0.027), age group 65-80 years (p = 0.042), marital status "without a partner" (p = 0.029), education up to 5 years (p = 0.011) and earning up to 1 minimum wage (p = 0.037) exhibited higher scores among brazilian participants. The portuguese participants showed an association between the general health status domain and woman group (p = 0.042) and education up to 5 years (p = 0.045). The physical functioning domain was associated with income of up to 1 minimum wage (p = 0.037). In these domains, the portuguese participants exhibited higher scores than the brazilian participants. We verified the association between socioeconomic profile and QoL in the presence of depressive symptoms, which occurred mainly among woman, participants with low levels of education and low income, with QoL aspects related to mental, physical and social health and self-perceived health. The group from Brazil had higher QoL scores than the group from Portugal., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Torres et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Interleukin-6 has been recognized as a major role player in COVID-19 severity, being an important regulator of the cytokine storm. Hence, the evaluation of the influence of polymorphisms in key genes of the IL-6 pathway, namely IL6, IL6R, and IL6ST, may provide valuable prognostic/predictive markers for COVID-19. The present cross-sectional study genotyped three SNPs (rs1800795, rs2228145, and rs7730934) at IL6. IL6R and IL6ST genes, respectively, in 227 COVID-19 patients (132 hospitalized and 95 non-hospitalized). Genotype frequencies were compared between these groups. As a control group, published data on gene and genotype frequencies were gathered from published studies before the pandemic started. Our major results point to an association of the IL6 C allele with COVID-19 severity. Moreover, IL-6 plasmatic levels were higher among IL6 CC genotype carriers. Additionally, the frequency of symptoms was higher at IL6 CC and IL6R CC genotypes. In conclusion, the data suggest an important role of IL6 C allele and IL6R CC genotype on COVID-19 severity, in agreement with indirect evidence from the literature about the association of these genotypes with mortality rates, pneumonia, and heightening of protein plasmatic levels pro-inflammatory driven effects.

Introduction: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) promotes opsonization, favoring phagocytosis and activation of the complement system in response to different microorganisms, and may influence the synthesis of inflammatory cytokines. This study investigated the association of MBL2 gene polymorphisms with the plasma levels of MBL and inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19., Methods: Blood samples from 385 individuals (208 with acute COVID-19 and 117 post-COVID-19) were subjected to real-time PCR genotyping. Plasma measurements of MBL and cytokines were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry, respectively., Results: The frequencies of the polymorphic MBL2 genotype (OO) and allele (O) were higher in patients with severe COVID-19 (p< 0.05). The polymorphic genotypes (AO and OO) were associated with lower MBL levels (p< 0.05). IL-6 and TNF-α were higher in patients with low MBL and severe COVID-19 (p< 0.05). No association of polymorphisms, MBL levels, or cytokine levels with long COVID was observed., Discussion: The results suggest that, besides MBL2 polymorphisms promoting a reduction in MBL levels and therefore in its function, they may also contribute to the development of a more intense inflammatory process responsible for the severity of COVID-19., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Queiroz, Santiago, Brito, Pereira, de Brito, Torres, Lopes, Santos, da Costa, de Sarges, Cantanhede, de Brito, da Silva, Leite, Viana, Rodrigues, da Silva, Viana, Chaves, Veríssimo, Carvalho, Henriques, Santos, Nunes, Costa, Amoras, Lima, Cayres-Vallinoto, Brasil-Costa, Quaresma, Falcão, Santos and Vallinoto.)

Mayaro virus (MAYV, Togaviridae) and Oropouche orthobunyavirus (OROV, Peribunyaviridae) are emerging enzootic arboviruses in Latin America. Outbreaks of febrile illness associated with MAYV and OROV have been reported among humans mainly in the northern region of Brazil since the 1980s, and recent data suggest these viruses have circulated also in more populated areas of western Brazil. MAYV shares mosquito vectors with yellow fever virus and it has been historically detected during yellow fever epidemics. Aiming to investigate the transmission of OROV and MAYV at the human-animal interface during a yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika outbreaks in Brazil, we conducted a retrospective molecular investigation in 810 wild and domestic animals, 106 febrile patients, and 22.931 vectors collected from 2016 to 2018 in Cuiaba and Campo Grande metropolitan regions, western Brazil. All samples tested negative for OROV and MAYV RNA by RT-qPCR. Findings presented here suggest no active circulation of MAYV and OROV in the sampled hosts. Active surveillance and retrospective investigations are instrumental approaches for the detection of cryptic and subclinical activity of enzootic arboviruses and together serve as a warning system to implement appropriate actions to prevent outbreaks., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.)

The duration and severity of COVID-19 are related to age, comorbidities, and cytokine synthesis. This study evaluated the impact of these factors on patients with clinical presentations of COVID-19 in a Brazilian cohort. A total of 317 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were included; cases were distributed according to clinical status as severe (n=91), moderate (n=56) and mild (n=170). Of these patients, 92 had acute COVID-19 at sample collection, 90 had already recovered from COVID-19 without sequelae, and 135 had sequelae (long COVID syndrome). In the acute COVID-19 group, patients with the severe form had higher IL-6 levels (p=0.0260). In the post-COVID-19 group, there was no significant difference in cytokine levels between groups with different clinical conditions. In the acute COVID-19 group, younger patients had higher levels of TNF-α, and patients without comorbidities had higher levels of TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-2 (p<0.05). In contrast, patients over age 60 with comorbidities had higher levels of IL-6. In the post-COVID-19 group, subjects with long COVID-19 had higher levels of IL-17 and IL-2 (p<0.05), and subjects without sequelae had higher levels of IL-10, IL-6 and IL- 4 (p<0.05). Our results suggest that advanced age, comorbidities and elevated serum IL-6 levels are associated with severe COVID-19 and are good markers to differentiate severe from mild cases. Furthermore, high serum levels of IL-17 and IL-2 and low levels of IL-4 and IL-10 appear to constitute a cytokine profile of long COVID-19, and these markers are potential targets for COVID-19 treatment and prevention strategies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Queiroz, Neves, Lima, Lopes, Torres, Vallinoto, Bichara, Santos, de Brito, da Silva, Leite, da Costa, Viana, Rodrigues, de Sarges, Cantanhede, da Silva, Bichara, Berg, Veríssimo, Carvalho, Henriques, Santos, Nunes, Costa, Viana, Carneiro, Palacios, Quaresma, Brasil-Costa, Santos, Falcão and Vallinoto.)

Fluid drops coated with particles, so-called Pickering drops, play an important role in emulsion and capsule applications. In this context, knowledge of mechanical properties and stability of Pickering drops are essential. Here we prepare Pickering drops via electric field-driven self-assembly. We use direct current (DC) electric fields to induce mechanical stress on these drops, as a possible alternative to the use of, for example, fluid flow fields. Drop deformation is monitored as a function of the applied electric field strength. The deformation of pure silicone oil drops is enhanced when covered by insulating polyethylene (PE) particles, whereas drops covered by conductive clay particles can also change shape from oblate to prolate. We attribute these results to changes in the electric conductivity of the drop interface after adding particles, and have developed a fluid shell description to estimate the conductivity of Pickering particle layers that are assumed to be non-jammed and fluid-like. Retraction experiments in the absence of electric fields are also performed. Particle-covered drops retract slower than particle-free drops, caused by increased viscous dissipation due to the presence of the Pickering particle layer.