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.5 mM of novobiocin completely suppresses the replication of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in vitro. Based on the evidence that murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) titres were reduced in vitro by 60% with the same concentration of the drug, the in vivo antiviral activity of novobiocin has been tested in the murine model. The results showed that if treatment started before the infection virus was not isolated from parenchymal organs during treatment. Virus could be isolated 24 h after stopping treatment, but not from kidney or spleen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infected human embryo fibroblast cell cultures, in the presence of different concentrations of novobiocin has shown that, in the presence of 0·5 mM of the drug, HCMV replication is inhibited. Under the same experimental conditions, the growth of adenovirus type 37 was completely unaffected. Novobiocin seems to interfere with cellular and/or viral function(s) necessary very early after infection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Up to 10% of individuals with breast cancer (BC) belong to families with hereditary syndromes. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to identify individuals/families at high-hereditary risk for BC and offer dedicated surveillance programs according to different risks., Methods: The instrument consisted of a primary questionnaire collecting history of BC and ovarian cancer (OC). This questionnaire was applied to women enrolled in the Emilia-Romagna Breast Cancer Screening Program. General practitioners (GPs) and specialists could propose the same questionnaire too. Women with a score of ≥ 2, were invited to complete an oncogenetic counseling. According to the Tyrer-Cuzick evaluation, women considered at high risk were invited to involve the most representative alive individual of the family affected with BC/OC for BRCA1/2 genetic testing., Results: Since January 2012 and December 2016, 660 040 women were evaluated by the regional screening program, of which 22 289 (3.5%) were invited to the Spoke evaluation, but only 5615 accepted (25.2%). Totally, also considering women sent by GPs and specialists, 11 667 were assessed and 5554 were sent to the Hub evaluation. Finally, 2342 (42.8%) women fulfilled the criteria for genetic testing, and 544 (23.2%) resulted BRCA1/2 mutation carriers., Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first regional population-based multistep model that is aimed to identify individuals with BRCA1/2 mutations and to offer an intensive surveillance program for hereditary-high risk women. This tool is feasible and effective, even if more efforts must be performed to increase the acceptance of multiple assessments by the study population., (© 2020 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Microbubbles (MBs) are ultrasound responsive colloidal particles with a strong potential to become theranostic agents, combining the contrast agent activity with therapeutic functionality. In the last decades, MBs have played a significant role as ultrasound contrast agents in diagnostic imaging. MBs have also shown great potential in applications such as molecular imaging, drug delivery, gene therapy and sonothrombolysis. A full understanding of all physical processes underlying the MBs' stability and acoustic behavior is available in the literature. Efforts have been now addressed to the study of chemical and biological features of multifunctional lipid, protein, or polymer shelled MBs. A number of methods of preparation of "smart" MBs for ultrasound image-guided therapy have been recently developed. In this review, different approaches utilized in preparing multifunctional MBs are discussed with specific attention to the current strategies adopted to design MBs with specialized functions. In vitro / in vivo assessment of MBs' stability and activity will be discussed with a particular emphasis on the emerging applications of MBs for the multiple imaging modalities, the effective opening of blood brain barrier, BBB, and for the therapeutic treatment of antimicrobial films.

Background & Objectives: Enterococci are important nosocomial pathogens that are increasingly difficult to treat due to intrinsic and acquired resistance to antibiotics. Studies were taken up to identify virulence factors and to characterise pathogenic mechanisms of such infections to evaluate potential targets for treatments alternative to antibiotic therapy. This study was carried out to evaluate the contribution of extracellular polysaccharide expressed by Enterococcus faecalis to resistance to phagocytosis and survival within rat peritoneal macrophages., Methods: Six E. faecalis clinical isolates were tested for their ability to survive within rat peritoneal macrophages. Cytochalasin D, colchicine and monodansylcadaverine were used to investigate the route of enterococcal entry inside macrophages., Results: Four of the isolates were able to produce extracellular polysaccharide and form biofilm after growth in glucose-supplemented medium, while no production could be detected in glucose deficient medium. Two isolates were polysaccharide-negative in both conditions. Isolates expressing extracellular polysaccharide were able to survive for more than 24 h compared to polysaccharide-negative bacterial cells of the same strain grown in glucose-deficient medium, which were readily cleared. Cytochalasin D virtually abolished the number of viable intracellular bacteria, after growth in either trypticase soy broth (TSB) or TSB supplemented with glucose; colchicine and monodansylcadaverine strongly affected survival of polysaccharide-positive bacteria, significantly more than that of polysaccharide-negative ones., Interpretation & Conclusion: Biofilm-forming E. faecalis survived within rat peritoneal macrophages significantly better than polysaccharide-negative isolates. Perturbators of cytoskeleton and of surface receptors turnover, indicated receptors-mediated endocytosis as the most likely route for enterococcal entry into macrophages.

Indirect immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect serum antibodies against Legionella pneumophila serotype 1 were compared. A very good agreement was found with the great majority of serum samples (85.07%). For detecting high antibody levels and rise in antibody titres, both methods seem to be suitable, however for the detection of relatively low antibody titres, very important in epidemiological studies, enzyme immunoassay could be more accurate.

Several sera with different IgG and IgM titres measured by enzyme immunoassay were studied in serial dilutions for their reactivity with human Cytomegalovirus structural polypeptides separated in SDS-PAGE and electrotransferred to nitrocellulose. The different immunogenicity of the viral proteins is documented and a hypothetical evolution of the humoral immune response to individual polypeptides is presented.

Due to the emergence of drug-resistant mutants during the treatment of viral infections, an easy and rapid laboratory technique to assay the antiviral sensitivity of virus isolates could be extremely useful. In this brief report we describe the use of enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) to detect the susceptibility of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 to three well known antiviral agents: Cytosine-arabinoside (Ara-C), 5'-iododeoxyuridine (IUDR), and acyclovir (ACG). The results indicate that EIA can easily give an accurate indication of antiviral susceptibility 24 hr after the isolation of the virus and provides important information from the therapeutical point of view.