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Despite significant advancements in the field, the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains partially understood, with limited therapeutic options available for this debilitating condition. The precise impact of Interleukin-22 (IL-22) in the context of MS is still incompletely elucidated with some evidence suggesting its protective role. To provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of IL-22, we investigated its effect on remyelination in a mouse model of demyelination induced by Cuprizone. Mice underwent a 6 week regimen of Cuprizone or vehicle, followed or not by intraperitoneal administration of IL-22. Behavioral assessments including tail suspension and inverted screen tests were conducted, alongside histological, histochemical, and quantitative PCR analyses. In Cuprizone-treated mice, IL-22 significantly improved motor and behavioral performance and robustly promoted remyelination in the corpus callosum. Additionally, IL-22 administration led to a significant elevation in MBP transcription in brain biopsies of treated mice. These findings collectively suggest a crucial role for IL-22 in the pathophysiology of MS, particularly in supporting the process of remyelination. These results offer potential avenues for expanding therapeutic strategies for MS treatment. Ongoing experiments aim to further unravel the underlying mechanisms of IL-22 action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Because the regular vaccine campaign started in Guinea one year after the COVID-19 index case, the profile of naturally acquired immunity following primary SARS-CoV-2 infection needs to be deepened. Methods: Blood samples were collected once from 200 patients (90% of African extraction) who were recovered from COVID-19 for at least ~2.4 months (72 days), and their sera were tested for IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 using an in-house ELISA assay against the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike1 protein (RBD/S1-IH kit). Results: Results revealed that 73% of sera (146/200) were positive for IgG to SARS-CoV-2 with an Optical Density (OD) ranging from 0.13 to 1.19 and a median value of 0.56 (IC95: 0.51–0.61). The median OD value at 3 months (1.040) suddenly decreased thereafter and remained stable around OD 0.5 until 15 months post-infection. The OD median value was slightly higher in males compared to females (0.62 vs. 0.49), but the difference was not statistically significant (p-value: 0.073). In contrast, the OD median value was significantly higher among the 60–100 age group (0.87) compared to other groups, with a noteworthy odds ratio compared to the 0–20 age group (OR: 9.69, p-value: 0.044*). Results from the RBD/S1-IH ELISA kit demonstrated superior concordance with the whole spike1 protein ELISA commercial kit compared to a nucleoprotein ELISA commercial kit. Furthermore, anti-spike1 protein ELISAs (whole spike1 and RBD/S1) revealed higher seropositivity rates. Conclusions: These findings underscore the necessity for additional insights into naturally acquired immunity against COVID-19 and emphasize the relevance of specific ELISA kits for accurate seropositivity rates [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We previously reported the development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence factor - culture filtrate protein 32 (CFP32). The assay achieved high performance in comparing healthy Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-vaccinated controls with active tuberculosis (TB) patients from the Tunisian population. Herein, we aimed to assess the anti-CFP32 IgG response in suspected or confirmed active pulmonary TB individuals in different endemic settings. Methods: Serum samples were obtained from 224 donors from African and Latin American countries with variable levels of TB endemicity and different ethnical origins. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the performance of the serological assay. Results: The area under the curve was 0.70. The use of a cutoff level of 0.65 gave 67% and 68% sensitivity and specificity, respectively, regardless of ethnicity and endemicity. Except for the suspected Latin American group, overall multiple comparisons of medians pointed out the stability of the anti-CFP32 IgG response across the different endemic settings. Therefore, endemicity and ethnicity seem not to affect anti-CFP32 IgG response, mainly for detecting confirmed active TB individuals. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the inclusion of CFP32 epitopes in multi-antigen TB assay could attenuate serological differences related to heterogeneous endemicity and ethnicity. For this purpose, we further identified B-cell epitopes belonging to CFP32 by an in silico analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]