Alimentation

Pour donner une image fidèle de l’alimentation des Berbères depuis les origines et suivre son évolution il aurait fallu disposer de documents et de textes qui font malheureusement défaut, aussi plutôt que de se livrer à une étude diachronique impossible à rédiger dans l’état actuel de la recherche nous avons choisi de présenter ce que l’on sait de l’alimentation des Paléoberbères des temps préhistoriques antérieurs à l’élevage et à l’agriculture puis de regrouper nos connaissances sur l’alime..

The COVID-19 pandemic and its global effects on dental practice. An international survey

Objectives A multicentre survey was designed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on dental practice worldwide, estimate the COVID-19 related symptoms/signs, work attitudes and behaviour and the routine use of protective measures and personal protective equipment (PPE). Methods A global survey using a standardized questionnaire with research groups from 36 countries was designed. The questionnaire was developed and pretested during April 2020 and contained three domains: 1) personal data; 2) COVID-19 positive rate and symptoms/signs presumably related to the coronavirus; 3) working conditions and PPE adopted after the outbreak. Countries’ data were grouped by the country positive rate (CPR) during the survey period and by Gross-National-Income per capita. An ordinal multinomial logistic regression model was carried out with COVID-19 self-reported rate referred by dental professionals as dependent variable to assess the association with questionnaire items. Results A total of 52,491 questionnaires were returned with a male/female ratio of 0.63. Out of the total respondents, 7,859 dental professionals (15%) reported symptoms/signs compatible with COVID-19. More than half of the sample (n=27,818; 53%) stated to use FFP2/N95 masks, while 21,558 (41.07%) used eye protection. In the bivariate analysis, CPR and N95/FFP2 were significantly associated (OR=1.80 95%CI=1.60/2.82 and OR=5.20 95%CI=1.44/18.80, respectively), while Gross-National-Income was not statistically associated with CPR (OR=1.09 95%CI=0.97/1.60). The same significant associations were observed in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions Oral health service provision has not been significantly affected by COVID-19, although access to routine dental care was reduced due to country-specific temporary lockdown periods. While the dental profession has been identified at high-risk, the reported rates of COVID-19 for dental professionals were not significantly different to those reported for the general population in each country. These findings may help to better plan oral health care for future pandemic events

MADD-like pattern of acylcarnitines associated with sertraline use

Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD) is a primary mitochondrial dysfunction affecting mitochondrial fatty acid and protein metabolism, caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in ETFA, ETFB, or ETFDH genes. The heterogeneous phenotypes associated with MADD have been classified into three groups: neonatal onset with congenital anomalies (type 1), neonatal onset without congenital anomalies (type 2), and attenuated and/or later onset (type 3). Here, we present two cases with biochemical profiles mimicking late-onset MADD but negative genetic testing, associated with the use of sertraline, a commonly used antidepressant. Case 1 is a 22 yo woman diagnosed with depression and profound fatigue who was referred to the metabolic clinic because of carnitine deficiency and a plasma acylcarnitine profile with a MADD-like pattern. Case 2 is a 61 yo woman with a history of chronic fatigue who was admitted to the emergency department with difficulty swallowing, metabolic acidosis, and mild rhabdomyolysis. Plasma acylcarnitine profile showed a MADD-like pattern. The muscle biopsy revealed lipid droplet accumulation and proliferation of mitochondria with abnormal osmiophilic inclusions, and a biochemical assay of the respiratory chain showed a deficit in complex II activity. In both cases, urine organic acid profile was normal, and genetic tests did not detect variants in the genes involved in MADD. Sertraline was on their list of medications and considering its association with inhibition of mitochondrial function and rhabdomyolysis, the team recommended the discontinuation under medical supervision. In Case 1 after discontinuation, the plasma acylcarnitine test normalized, only to return abnormal when the patient resumed sertraline. In Case 2, after sertraline was discontinued rhabdomyolysis resolved, and the muscle biopsy and biochemical assay of the respiratory chain normalized. Although sertraline is considered a safe drug, these two cases suggest that the use of sertraline may be associated with a potentially reversible form of mitochondrial dysfunction mimicking MADD. Further studies are needed to confirm and estimate the risk of MADD-like presentations with the use of sertraline, as well as identifying additional contributing factors, including genetic factors. Metabolic physicians should consider sertraline use in the differential diagnosis of MADD, particularly when genetic testing is negative

Anti- SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain Antibody Evolution after mRNA Vaccination

SummarySevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection produces B-cell responses that continue to evolve for at least one year. During that time, memory B cells express increasingly broad and potent antibodies that are resistant to mutations found in variants of concern1. As a result, vaccination of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) convalescent individuals with currently available mRNA vaccines produces high levels of plasma neutralizing activity against all variants tested1, 2. Here, we examine memory B cell evolution 5 months after vaccination with either Moderna (mRNA-1273) or Pfizer- BioNTech (BNT162b2) mRNA vaccines in a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 naïve individuals. Between prime and boost, memory B cells produce antibodies that evolve increased neutralizing activity, but there is no further increase in potency or breadth thereafter. Instead, memory B cells that emerge 5 months after vaccination of naïve individuals express antibodies that are similar to those that dominate the initial response. While individual memory antibodies selected over time by natural infection have greater potency and breadth than antibodies elicited by vaccination, the overall neutralizing potency of plasma is greater following vaccination. These results suggest that boosting vaccinated individuals with currently available mRNA vaccines will increase plasma neutralizing activity but may not produce antibodies with breadth equivalent to those obtained by vaccinating convalescent individuals.</jats:p

Increased Potency and Breadth of SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibodies After a Third mRNA Vaccine Dose

AbstractThe omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 infected very large numbers of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated and convalescent individuals1–3. The penetrance of this variant in the antigen experienced human population can be explained in part by the relatively low levels of plasma neutralizing activity against Omicron in people who were infected or vaccinated with the original Wuhan-Hu-1 strain4–7. The 3rd mRNA vaccine dose produces an initial increase in circulating anti-Omicron neutralizing antibodies, but titers remain 10-20-fold lower than against Wuhan-Hu-1 and are, in many cases, insufficient to prevent infection7. Despite the reduced protection from infection, individuals that received 3 doses of an mRNA vaccine were highly protected from the more serious consequences of infection8. Here we examine the memory B cell repertoire in a longitudinal cohort of individuals receiving 3 mRNA vaccine doses9,10. We find that the 3rd dose is accompanied by an increase in, and evolution of, anti-receptor binding domain specific memory B cells. The increase is due to expansion of memory B cell clones that were present after the 2nd vaccine dose as well as the emergence of new clones. The antibodies encoded by these cells showed significantly increased potency and breadth when compared to antibodies obtained after the 2nd vaccine dose. Notably, the increase in potency was especially evident among newly developing clones of memory cells that differed from the persisting clones in targeting more conserved regions of the RBD. Overall, more than 50% of the analyzed neutralizing antibodies in the memory compartment obtained from individuals receiving a 3rd mRNA vaccine dose neutralized Omicron. Thus, individuals receiving 3 doses of an mRNA vaccine encoding Wuhan-Hu-1, have a diverse memory B cell repertoire that can respond rapidly and produce antibodies capable of clearing even diversified variants such as Omicron. These data help explain why a 3rd dose of an mRNA vaccine that was not specifically designed to protect against variants is effective against variant-induced serious disease.</jats:p