Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for more than 50% of acute viral hepatitis cases in endemic countries. Approximately 2 billion individuals live in hepatitis E-endemic areas and, therefore, are at risk of infection. According to World Health Organization, HEV causes about 20.1 million infections and 70 000 deaths every year. In developing countries with poor sanitation, this disease is transmitted through contaminated water and is associated with large outbreaks, affecting hundreds or thousands of people. In developed countries, autochthonous cases of HEV have been increasingly recognized in the past several years. Hepatitis E virus typically causes an acute, self-limiting illness similar to other acute viral hepatitis, such as hepatitis A or B, with about 0.2% to 1% mortality rate in the general population. However, the course of hepatitis E in pregnancy is different than the mild self-constraining infection described in other populations. During pregnancy, HEV infection can take a fulminant course, resulting in fulminant hepatic failure, membrane rupture, spontaneous abortions, and stillbirths. Studies from various developing countries have shown a high incidence of HEV infection in pregnancy with a significant proportion of pregnant women progressing to fulminant hepatitis with a fatality rate of up to 30%. The present review will highlight new aspects of the HEV infection and pregnancy.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) have become a public health threat worldwide. There are three major mechanisms by which Enterobacteriaceae become resistant to carbapenems: enzyme production, efflux pumps and porin mutations. Of these, enzyme production is the main resistance mechanism. There are three main groups of enzymes responsible for most of the carbapenem resistance: KPC (Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase) (Ambler class A), MBLs (Metallo-ß-Lactamases) (Ambler class B) and OXA-48-like (Ambler class D). KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae are endemic in the United States, Colombia, Argentina, Greece and Italy. On the other hand, the MBL NDM-1 is the main carbapenemase-producing resistance in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while OXA-48-like enzyme-producers are endemic in Turkey, Malta, the Middle-East and North Africa. All three groups of enzymes are plasmid-mediated, which implies an easier horizontal transfer and, thus, faster spread of carbapenem resistance worldwide. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic guidelines to treat CRE infections. Bearing in mind the different mechanisms by which Enterobacteriaceae can become resistant to carbapenems, there are different approaches to treat infections caused by these bacteria, which include the repurposing of already existing antibiotics, dual therapies with these antibiotics, and the development of new ß-lactamase inhibitors and antibiotics.

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease with a high morbidity burden. Incidence of this disease is rising due to the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant strains. Neisseria gonorrhoeae has shown an extraordinary ability to develop resistance to all antimicrobials introduced for its treatment. In fact, it was recently classified as a “Priority 2” microorganism in the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Priority List of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria to Guide Research, Discovery and Development of New Antibiotics. Seeing as there is no gonococcal vaccine, control of the disease relies entirely on prevention, diagnosis, and, especially, antibiotic treatment. Different health organizations worldwide have established treatment guidelines against gonorrhea, mostly consisting of dual therapy with a single oral or intramuscular dose. However, gonococci continue to develop resistances to all antibiotics introduced for treatment. In fact, the first strain of super-resistant N. gonorrhoeae was recently detected in the United Kingdom, which was resistant to ceftriaxone and azithromycin. The increase in the detection of resistant gonococci may lead to a situation where gonorrhea becomes untreatable. Seeing as drug resistance appears to be unstoppable, new treatment options are necessary in order to control the disease. Three approaches are currently being followed for the development of new therapies against drug-resistant gonococci: (1) novel combinations of already existing antibiotics; (2) development of new antibiotics; and (3) development of alternative therapies which might slow down the appearance of resistances. N. gonorrhoeae is a public health threat due to the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant strains. Current treatment guidelines are already being challenged by this superbug. This has led the scientific community to develop new antibiotics and alternative therapies in order to control this disease.

Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s diseases (PD) are the two most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders in human populations. Epidemiological studies have shown that patients suffering from either condition present a reduced overall risk of cancer than controls (i.e., inverse comorbidity), suggesting that neurodegeneration provides a protective effect against cancer. Reduced risks of several site-specific tumors, including colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers, have also been observed in AD and PD. By contrast, an increased risk of melanoma has been described in PD patients (i.e., direct comorbidity). Therefore, a fundamental question to address is whether these associations are due to shared genetic and molecular factors or are explained by other phenomena, such as flaws in epidemiological studies, exposure to shared risk factors, or the effect of medications. To this end, we first evaluated the transcriptomes of AD and PD post-mortem brain tissues derived from the hippocampus and the substantia nigra and analyzed their similarities to those of a large panel of 22 site-specific cancers, which were obtained through differential gene expression meta-analyses of array-based studies available in public repositories. Genes and pathways that were deregulated in both disorders in each analyzed pair were examined. Second, we assessed potential genetic links between AD, PD, and the selected cancers by establishing interactome-based overlaps of genes previously linked to each disorder. Then, their genetic correlations were computed using cross-trait LD score regression and GWAS summary statistics data. Finally, the potential role of medications in the reported comorbidities was assessed by comparing disease-specific differential gene expression profiles to an extensive collection of differential gene expression signatures generated by exposing cell lines to drugs indicated for AD, PD, and cancer treatment (LINCS L1000). We identified significant inverse associations of transcriptomic deregulation between AD hippocampal tissues and breast, lung, liver, and prostate cancers, and between PD substantia nigra tissues and breast, lung, and prostate cancers. Moreover, significant direct (same direction) associations of deregulation were observed between AD and PD and brain and thyroid cancers, as well as between PD and kidney cancer. Several biological processes, including the immune system, oxidative phosphorylation, PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling, and the cell cycle, were found to be deregulated in both cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Significant genetic correlations were found between PD and melanoma and prostate cancers. Several drugs indicated for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and cancer, such as galantamine, selegiline, exemestane, and estradiol, were identified as potential modulators of the comorbidities observed between neurodegeneration and cancer.

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Hepatitis E, caused by Hepatitis E virus (HEV), is a highly prevalent disease in developing countries. In developed nations, autochthonous HEV infections seem to be an emergent disease. Its clinical manifestations and epidemiology are well known for endemic countries. It has been confirmed that hepatitis E is a zoonosis and that parenteral transmission can also occur. The molecular mechanisms of HEV replication are not fully understood, mostly because there are no efficient cell culture systems. HEV can cause chronic hepatitis in organ transplant recipients and immunocompetent patients. Cases with fulminant hepatitis and other extrahepatic manifestations have also been reported. The diagnosis is based on serological studies and detection of HEV RNA in blood and feces. Treatment with ribavirin and/or pegylated-IFN-α have proven to be successful in some cases. The recently approved/marketed vaccine is a good option in order to prevent this infection.

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Gonorrhea is the second most frequently reported notifiable disease in the United States and is becoming increasingly common in Europe. The purpose of this review was to assess the current state of drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in order to evaluate future prospects for its treatment. An exhaustive literature search was conducted to include the latest research regarding drug resistance and treatment guidelines for gonorrhea. Gonococci have acquired all known resistance mechanisms to all antimicrobials used for treatment. Currently, the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom have established surveillance programs to assess, on a yearly basis, the development of gonococcal resistance. Current treatment guidelines are being threatened by the increasing number of ceftriaxone-, cefixime-, and azithromycin-resistant N. gonorrhoeae strains being detected worldwide. This has led the scientific community to develop new treatment options with new molecules in order to persevere in the battle against this "superbug".