Rotavirus infection is the most common cause of severe, dehydrating, gastroenteritis among children worldwide. In developing countries, approximately 1440 children die from rotavirus infections each day, with an estimated 527,000 annually. In infants, rotavirus is estimated to cause more than 2 million hospitalizations every year depending on the income level of the country.

Research on the microbiota–gut–brain axis in autism has primarily focused on bacteria, with limited attention to fungi. There is a growing interest in understanding the involvement of fungi, particularly Candida, in patients with autism spectrum disorder. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, antifungal susceptibility profiles and virulence factors of Candida isolates from the guts of Tunisian children with autism. Twenty-eight children with autism and forty-six controls were enrolled. Candida isolates from the faecal samples were identified using biochemical and molecular methods; antifungal susceptibility testing was determined by the EUCAST broth microdilution method and virulence factors, including biofilm formation, cell surface hydrophobicity and phospholipase and proteinase activities, were assessed in vitro. As a result, Candida was detected in 13 children with autism (46.4%) and 14 control children (30.4%). Candida albicans was found to be the most common species isolate in the faeces of both groups of children. Antifungal susceptibility profiles showed that one Candida isolate was resistant to amphotericin B and anidulafungin (3.7%), six were resistant to micafungin (22.2%) and five were resistant to fluconazole (18.5%). All Candida isolates were biofilm producers. Of the twenty-seven isolates, only four showed phospholipase activity (14.8%), eight showed aspartyl-proteinase activity (29.6%) and nine were hydrophobic (33.3%). These results highlight the presence of Candida in the guts of children with autism, as well as the ability to express multiple virulence factors and the antifungal resistance, and they emphasize the need for further studies to confirm intestinal Candida colonization and its potential role in autism.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to compare the specific clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or laboratory findings between patients with and without anti-ribosomal P (anti-P) antibodies and to investigate possible associations between isolated anti-P antibodies and these features.Material and methods: Seventy-five SLE patients were enrolled in this study. They were recruited from the Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Rheumatology at the University Hospital of Monastir, Tunisia (January 2008 – December 2022). All patients met at least four American College of Rheumatology criteria or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus International Collaborating Clinics criteria at the time of disease diagnosis. Antibody typing was performed using a commercial line blot technique. Statistical analysis was performed using the χ2 test, Fisher’s test when appropriate, Student’s t-test, or Mann-Whitney U test according to normality of the data distribution.Results: Thirty patients (40%) were positive for anti-P (anti-P+). The anti-P+ had higher frequency of skin features (26/49 [53.1%] vs. 4/26 [15.4%], p = 0.003) and central nervous system (CNS) involvement (10/15 [66.7%] vs. 20/60 [33.3%], p = 0.018) than patients without anti-P. Interestingly, anti-P+ showed a lower frequency of SLE/rheumatoid arthritis overlap syndrome (1/11 [9.1%] vs. 29/64 [45.3%], p = 0.042). The comparison between groups of patients according to the presence of anti-P, anti-dsDNA, and anti-Sm showed that the group with anti-P lacking anti-dsDNA and anti-Sm had the highest frequency of neuropsychiatric SLE (75%, p = 0.034), and the lowest frequency of lupus nephritis (0%, p = 0.029) and arthritis (12.5%, p = 0.039).Conclusions: This study supports the association of anti-P antibodies with CNS and cutaneous mani­festations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report a negative association between isolated anti-P antibodies and renal and articular involvement in SLE.