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Background While Latin America has been heavily affected by the pandemic, only a few seroprevalence studies have been conducted there during the first epidemic wave in the first half of 2020. Methodology/Principal findings A cross-sectional survey was performed between 15 July 2020 and 23 July 2020 among individuals who visited 4 medical laboratories or 5 health centers for routine screening or clinical management, with the exception of symptomatic suggestive cases of covid-19. Samples were screened for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG directed against domain S1 of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using the anti-SARS-CoV-2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from Euroimmun. Conclusions/Significance The overall seroprevalence was 15.4% [9.3%-24.4%] among 480 participants, ranging from 4.0% to 25.5% across the different municipalities. The seroprevalence did not differ according to gender (p = 0.19) or age (p = 0.51). Among SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals, we found that 24.6% [11.5%-45.2%] reported symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Our findings revealed high levels of infection across the territory but a low number of resulting deaths, which can be explained by French Guiana’s young population structure., Author summary While Latin America has been heavily affected by the pandemic, only a few seroprevalence studies have been conducted there during the first epidemic wave in the first half of 2020. A cross-sectional survey was performed between 15 July 2020 and 23 July 2020 among individuals who visited 4 medical laboratories or 5 health centers for routine screening or clinical management, with the exception of symptomatic suggestive cases of covid-19. Samples were screened for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG using the anti-SARS-CoV-2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from Euroimmun. The overall seroprevalence was 15.4% [9.3%-24.4%] among 480 participants, ranging from 4.0% to 25.5% across the different municipalities. The seroprevalence did not differ according to gender (p = 0.19) or age (p = 0.51). Among SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals, we found that 24.6% [11.5%-45.2%] reported symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Our findings revealed high levels of infection across the territory but a low number of resulting deaths, which can be explained by French Guiana’s young population structure.

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies are crucial for clarifying dynamics in affected countries and determining the route that has already been achieved towards herd immunity. While Latin America has been heavily affected by the pandemic, only a few seroprevalence studies have been conducted there.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was performed between 15 July 2020 and 23 July 2020 in 4 medical biology laboratories and 5 health centers of French Guiana, representing a period shortly after the epidemic peak. Samples were screened for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG directed against domain S1 of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using the anti-SARS-CoV-2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from Euroimmun.ResultsThe overall seroprevalence was 15.4% [9.3%-24.4%] among 480 participants, ranging from 4.0% to 25.5% across the different municipalities. The seroprevalence did not differ according to gender (p=0.19) or age (p=0.51). Among SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals, we found that 24.6% [11.5%-45.2%] reported symptoms consistent with COVID-19.ConclusionsOur findings revealed high levels of infection across the territory but a low number of resulting deaths, which can be explained by young population structure.

COUP-TFII has an important role in regulating metabolism in vivo. We showed this previously by deleting COUP-TFII from pancreatic beta cells in heterozygous mutant mice, which led to abnormal insulin secretion. Here, we report that COUP-TFII expression is reduced in the pancreas and liver of mice refed with a carbohydrate-rich diet and in the pancreas and liver of hyperinsulinemic and hyperglycemic mice. In pancreatic beta cells, COUP-TFII gene expression is repressed by secreted insulin in response to glucose through Foxo1 signaling. Ex vivo COUP-TFII reduces insulin production and secretion. Our results suggest that beta cell insulin secretion is under the control of an autocrine positive feedback loop by alleviating COUP-TFII repression. In hepatocytes, both insulin, through Foxo1, and high glucose concentrations repress COUP-TFII expression. We demonstrate that this negative glucose effect involves ChREBP expression. We propose that COUP-TFII acts in a coordinate fashion to control insulin secretion and glucose metabolism.

Pancreatic islet beta cell differentiation and function are dependent upon a group of transcription factors that maintain the expression of key genes and suppress others. Knockout mice with the heterozygous deletion of the gene for chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) or the complete disruption of the gene for hepatocyte nuclear factor 4alpha (HNF4alpha) in pancreatic beta cells have similar insulin secretion defects, leading us to hypothesize that there is transcriptional cross talk between these two nuclear receptors. Here, we demonstrate specific HNF4alpha activation of a reporter plasmid containing the COUP-TFII gene promoter region in transfected pancreatic beta cells. The stable association of the endogenous HNF4alpha with a region of the COUP-TFII gene promoter that contains a direct repeat 1 (DR-1) binding site was revealed by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Mutation experiments showed that this DR-1 site is essential for HNF4alpha transactivation of COUP-TFII. The dominant negative suppression of HNF4alpha function decreased endogenous COUP-TFII expression, and the specific inactivation of COUP-TFII by small interfering RNA caused HNF4alpha mRNA levels in 832/13 INS-1 cells to decrease. This positive regulation of HNF4alpha by COUP-TFII was confirmed by the adenovirus-mediated overexpression of human COUP-TFII (hCOUP-TFII), which increased HNF4alpha mRNA levels in 832/13 INS-1 cells and in mouse pancreatic islets. Finally, hCOUP-TFII overexpression showed that there is direct COUP-TFII autorepression, as COUP-TFII occupies the proximal DR-1 binding site of its own gene in vivo. Therefore, COUP-TFII may contribute to the control of insulin secretion through the complex HNF4alpha/maturity-onset diabetes of the young 1 (MODY1) transcription factor network operating in beta cells.

BACKGROUND Morbidity and mortality are higher among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants than unexposed infants, particularly if the mother had a low CD4 count. We investigated the possible association between maternal immune depression during pregnancy and the risk of infection in HEU infants in the national French Perinatal Cohort (EPF). METHODS All neonates, born alive, to HIV-1-infected women enrolled in the EPF between 2002 and 2010 were included. The primary outcome was the first serious (hospitalization or death) infection during the first year of life. The main exposure variable was maternal CD4 cell count near delivery. The Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox models were applied, with the different types of infections managed as competing events. RESULTS Among 7638 HEU neonates, 699 had at least 1 serious infection (of which 159 were bacterial) with a Kaplan-Meier probability of 9.3% (95% confidence interval, 8.7-10.0) at 1 year. The risk of serious bacterial infection during the first year of life significantly increased with lower maternal CD4 cell count, before and after adjustment for maternal CD4 cell count

Background The Nuclear Receptor 2F2 (NR2F2/COUP-TFII) heterozygous knockout mice display low basal insulinemia and enhanced insulin sensitivity. We previously established that insulin represses NR2F2 gene expression in pancreatic β-cells. The cis-regulatory region of the NR2F2 promoter is unknown and its influence on metabolism in humans is poorly understood. The present study aimed to identify the regulatory regions that control NR2F2 gene transcription and to evaluate the effect of NR2F2 promoter variation on glucose homeostasis in humans. Methodology/Principal Findings Regulation of the NR2F2 promoter was assessed using gene reporter assays, ChIP and gel shift experiments. The effects of variation at SNP rs3743462 in NR2F2 on quantitative metabolic traits were studied in two European prospective cohorts. We identified a minimal promoter region that down-regulates NR2F2 expression by attenuating HNF4α activation in response to high glucose concentrations. Subjects of the French DESIR population, who carried the rs3743462 T-to-C polymorphism, located in the distal glucose-responsive promoter, displayed lower basal insulin levels and lower HOMA-IR index. The C-allele at rs3743462 was associated with increased NR2F2 binding and decreased NR2F2 gene expression. Conclusions/Significance The rs3743462 polymorphism affects glucose-responsive NR2F2 promoter regulation and thereby may influence whole-body insulin sensitivity, suggesting a role of NR2F2 in the control of glucose homeostasis in humans.

Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) has been implicated in the control of blood glucose by its potent effect on expression and signaling of various nuclear receptors. To understand the role of COUP-TFII in glucose homeostasis, conditional COUP-TFII-deficient mice were generated and crossed with mice expressing Cre under the control of rat insulin II gene promoter, resulting in deletion of COUP-TFII in pancreatic β-cells. Homozygous mutants died before birth for yet undetermined reasons. Heterozygous mice appeared healthy at birth and showed normal growth and fertility. When challenged intraperitoneally, the animals had glucose intolerance associated with reduced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Moreover, these heterozygous mice presented a mild increase in fasting and random-fed circulating insulin levels. In accordance, islets isolated from these animals exhibited higher insulin secretion in low glucose conditions and markedly decreased glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Their pancreata presented normal microscopic architecture and insulin content up to 16 weeks of study. Altered insulin secretion was associated with peripheral insulin resistance in whole animals. It can be concluded that COUP-TFII is a new, important regulator of glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity.

A new technique to enhance the conventional tomographic images of soft tissues such as the brain is described. The method, called intensified tomography, optimizes the information available from conventional tomography through the use of three modifications: a specially designed filter to attenuate selectively the x-ray beam at the source to compensate for the variable shape of the skull, an improved blurring movement to reduce system artifacts, and enhanced image contrast by the superimposition of several identical images on the same film or television screen. Intensified tomography was performed in 200 patients. Ten of these tomographic images later were compared with computed tomographic (CT) scans to confirm that the ventricles could be imaged with intensified tomography. An unexpected case of lenticulocapsular calcification was also demonstrated by intensified tomography and confirmed by CT. It is proposed that intensified tomography be developed as a preliminary screening technique to be used in places where CT is not readily available.