No abstract

A total of 332 fecal specimens collected during January-December 2008 from adult patients with diarrhea were screened for group A and C rotaviruses, noroviruses GI and GII, sapovirus, Aichi virus, human parechovirus, enterovirus, adenovirus and astrovirus by RT-multiplex PCR. The detection rate for diarrheal viruses was 4.2 %. Adenovirus and enterovirus were equally detected as the most predominant viruses, with prevalence of 1.2 %, followed by Aichi virus (0.9 %) and norovirus GII (0.6 %). Mixed infection with norovirus GII and human parechovirus was also detected (0.3 %). This study provides epidemiological data for a wide variety of diarrheal viruses circulating in adult patients with diarrhea in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Human cosavirus (HCoSV) is a newly discovered virus in Picornaviridae family. At present it is not clear whether HCoSV is associated with diseases, including gastroenteritis in humans, as epidemiological data is limited. Epidemiological surveillance of HCoSV was conducted on 150 fecal specimens collected from children and 150 samples from adults with diarrhea in Thailand by RT-PCR screening. HCoSV was found in a single adult specimen and not in any of the fecal specimens from children. This represents the first report of HCoSV infection in patients with diarrhea in Thailand. Extensive epidemiological surveillance of novel viruses associated with diarrhea in other populations may provide a better understanding of the distribution, genetic diversity, and association of the viral agents associated with acute gastroenteritis in humans.

Viral gastroenteritis is a common public health problem that causes morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recently, new viruses causing gastroenteritis have been identified. Among these, Aichivirus has also been proposed as a causative agent of gastroenteritis in human. Most studies have been conducted in infants and children, the information in adults is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiology and molecular characterization of Aichivirus in adult patients with diarrhea. A total of 332 fecal specimens collected from January to December 2008 were screened for the presence of Aichivirus by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) method. Out of 332 fecal specimens tested, Aichivirus was detected with the prevalence of 0.9% (3/332). The data indicate that the prevalence of Aichivirus in adults was as low as those reported in children in Thailand. Phylogenetic analysis of the VP1 sequence revealed that one Aichivirus belonged to genotype A, while other two Aichiviruses were genotype B. In conclusion, this study provided the molecular epidemiological data of Aichivirus circulating in adult patients with diarrhea at low prevalence and the viruses were genetically variable as both genotypes A and B were found in this population.

Rice is one of the most important food crops in many countries, with nutritional value and health benefits. In this study, the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of red jasmine rice from Chiang Mai, Thailand were examined for their anthocyanins and phenolic contents. The antioxidant and antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2), as well as anticancer activity, were investigated. The total anthocyanins content of 708.03 ± 11.56 mg Cy-3-glc equivalent/g extract, determined from the ethanolic extract, was higher than the aqueous extract. However, the aqueous extract showed the highest total phenolic compound of 81.91 ± 0.51 mg GAE/g extract. In addition, the ethanolic extract demonstrated higher antioxidant activity than aqueous extract using DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays by 28.91 ± 3.26 mg GAE/g extract, 189.45 ± 11.58 mg 24 TEAC/g extract, and 3292.46 ± 259.64 g FeSO4/g extract, respectively. In the antiviral assay, it was found that the ethanolic extract of red jasmine rice could inhibit HSV-1 more effectively than HSV-2 when treated before, during, and after the viral attachment on Vero cells, with 50% effective doses of 227.53 ± 2.41, 189.59 ± 7.76, and 192.62 ± 2.40 µg/mL, respectively. The extract also demonstrated the highest reduction of HSV-1 particles at 4 h after treatment and the inhibition of HSV-1 replication. The ethanolic extract exhibited a higher toxicity level than the aqueous extract, as well as the potential to induce DNA fragmentation by intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis pathways on the Caco-2 cells. These findings suggest that red jasmine rice extract demonstrates nutritional value and biological activity on HSV, free radicals, and cancer cell inhibition.