Tamar Veres | Technion Israel Institute of Technology (original) (raw)

Papers by Tamar Veres

Pediatric Rheumatology

Objective It is common knowledge among clinicians who treat PFAPA (Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stoma... more Objective It is common knowledge among clinicians who treat PFAPA (Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis) patients that emotional stress can trigger PFAPA attacks similarly to other autoinflammatory diseases. However, it has never been proved scientifically. Our aim was to examine whether emotional stress serves as a trigger for PFAPA attacks. Methods Patients aged 3-12 years, with active PFAPA, from two Israeli medical centers were enrolled to this study. Patient's parents were reached via phone calls in two occasions: a stressful period related to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and a less stressful period. In both times they were asked to report occurrence of PFAPA attacks in the preceding 2 weeks. The relative stress levels of the two periods were validated by an emotional distress scale questionnaire. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results Mean age was 7.28 ± 2.7 for the 99 paediatric patients enrolled in the study. Scores for the mean emoti...

Frontiers in Pediatrics, Mar 3, 2022

Introduction: Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis (PFAPA) is the most comm... more Introduction: Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis (PFAPA) is the most common periodic fever syndrome in the pediatric population, yet its pathogenesis is unknown. PFAPA was believed to be sporadic but family clustering has been widely observed. Objective: To identify demographic and clinical differences between patients with PFAPA and a positive family history (FH+) as compared to those with no family history (FH−). Methods: In a database comprising demographic and clinical data of 273 pediatric PFAPA patients treated at two tertiary centers in Israel, 31 (14.3%) had FH+. Data from patients with FH+ were compared to data from those with FH−. Furthermore, family members (FMs) of those with FH+ were contacted via telephone for more demographic and clinical details. Results: The FH+ group as compared to the FH− group had more myalgia (56 vs. 19%, respectively, p = 0.001), headaches (32 vs. 2%, respectively, p = 0.016), and a higher carrier frequency of M694V mutation (54% vs. 25%, respectively, p = 0.05). Colchicine was seen to be a more beneficial treatment for the FH+ group as compared to the FH− group; however, with no statistical significance (p = 0.096). FMs displayed almost identical characteristics to patients in the FH+ group except for greater arthralgia during flares (64 vs. 23%, respectively, p = 0.008), and compared to the FH− group they had more oral aphthae (68 vs. 43%, respectively, p = 0.002), myalgia/arthralgia (64 vs. 19%/16%, respectively, p < 0.0001), and higher rates of FH of Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) (45 vs.15%, respectively, p = 0.003). Veres et al. Familial PFAPA Is It a Separate Disease? Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients with a FH+ likely experience a different subset of disease with higher frequency of family history of FMF, arthralgia, myalgia, and might have a better response to colchicine compared to FH−. Colchicine prophylaxis for PFAPA should be considered in FH+.

Differential effects of the G118R, H51Y and E138K resistance substitutions in HIV integrase of di... more Differential effects of the G118R, H51Y and E138K resistance substitutions in HIV integrase of different 1

Journal of Virology, 2014

ABSTRACTDolutegravir (DTG) is the latest antiretroviral (ARV) approved for the treatment of human... more ABSTRACTDolutegravir (DTG) is the latest antiretroviral (ARV) approved for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The G118R substitution, previously identified with MK-2048 and raltegravir, may represent the initial substitution in a dolutegravir resistance pathway. We have found that subtype C integrase proteins have a low enzymatic cost associated with the G118R substitution, mostly at the strand transfer step of integration, compared to either subtype B or recombinant CRF02_AG proteins. Subtype B and circulating recombinant form AG (CRF02_AG) clonal viruses encoding G118R-bearing integrases were severely restricted in their viral replication capacity, and G118R/E138K-bearing viruses had various levels of resistance to dolutegravir, raltegravir, and elvitegravir. In cell-free experiments, the impacts of the H51Y and E138K substitutions on resistance and enzyme efficiency, when present with G118R, were highly dependent on viral subtype. Sequence alignment an...

Introduction: PFAPA is the most common periodic fever syndrome in the pediatric population yet pa... more Introduction: PFAPA is the most common periodic fever syndrome in the pediatric population yet pathogenesis is unknown. PFAPA was believed to be sporadic but family clustering has been widely observed.Objective: To identify demographic and clinical differences between patients with PFAPA and a positive family history (FH+) compared to those with PFAPA with no family history (FH-).Methods: In a database comprising demographic and clinical data of 273 pediatric PFAPA patients treated at two tertiary centers in Israel, 31 (14.3%) of patients were PFAPA FH+. Data from patients with FH+ for PFAPA was compared to data from those with FH- of the disorder. Furthermore, family members (FMs) of those with FH+ were contacted via telephone for more demography and clinical details. Results: FH+ group had more headaches (32% vs.2%; p= 0.016), myalgia (56% vs. 19%; p= 0.001), higher carrier frequency of M694V mutation (54% vs. 25%; p=0.053), greater family history of FMF (30% vs. 15%; p=0.096) and...

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2013

ABSTRACTDrug resistance mutations (DRMs) have been reported for all currently approved anti-HIV d... more ABSTRACTDrug resistance mutations (DRMs) have been reported for all currently approved anti-HIV drugs, including the latest integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs). We previously used the new INSTI dolutegravir (DTG) to select a G118R integrase resistance substitution in tissue culture and also showed that secondary substitutions emerged at positions H51Y and E138K. Now, we have characterized the impact of the G118R substitution, alone or in combination with either H51Y or E138K, on 3′ processing and integrase strand transfer activity. The results show that G118R primarily impacted the strand transfer step of integration by diminishing the ability of integrase-long terminal repeat (LTR) complexes to bind target DNA. The addition of H51Y and E138K to G118R partially restored strand transfer activity by modulating the formation of integrase-LTR complexes through increasing LTR DNA affinity and total DNA binding, respectively. This unique mechanism, in which one function of HIV i...

Pediatric Rheumatology

Objective It is common knowledge among clinicians who treat PFAPA (Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stoma... more Objective It is common knowledge among clinicians who treat PFAPA (Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis) patients that emotional stress can trigger PFAPA attacks similarly to other autoinflammatory diseases. However, it has never been proved scientifically. Our aim was to examine whether emotional stress serves as a trigger for PFAPA attacks. Methods Patients aged 3-12 years, with active PFAPA, from two Israeli medical centers were enrolled to this study. Patient's parents were reached via phone calls in two occasions: a stressful period related to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and a less stressful period. In both times they were asked to report occurrence of PFAPA attacks in the preceding 2 weeks. The relative stress levels of the two periods were validated by an emotional distress scale questionnaire. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results Mean age was 7.28 ± 2.7 for the 99 paediatric patients enrolled in the study. Scores for the mean emoti...

Frontiers in Pediatrics, Mar 3, 2022

Introduction: Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis (PFAPA) is the most comm... more Introduction: Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis (PFAPA) is the most common periodic fever syndrome in the pediatric population, yet its pathogenesis is unknown. PFAPA was believed to be sporadic but family clustering has been widely observed. Objective: To identify demographic and clinical differences between patients with PFAPA and a positive family history (FH+) as compared to those with no family history (FH−). Methods: In a database comprising demographic and clinical data of 273 pediatric PFAPA patients treated at two tertiary centers in Israel, 31 (14.3%) had FH+. Data from patients with FH+ were compared to data from those with FH−. Furthermore, family members (FMs) of those with FH+ were contacted via telephone for more demographic and clinical details. Results: The FH+ group as compared to the FH− group had more myalgia (56 vs. 19%, respectively, p = 0.001), headaches (32 vs. 2%, respectively, p = 0.016), and a higher carrier frequency of M694V mutation (54% vs. 25%, respectively, p = 0.05). Colchicine was seen to be a more beneficial treatment for the FH+ group as compared to the FH− group; however, with no statistical significance (p = 0.096). FMs displayed almost identical characteristics to patients in the FH+ group except for greater arthralgia during flares (64 vs. 23%, respectively, p = 0.008), and compared to the FH− group they had more oral aphthae (68 vs. 43%, respectively, p = 0.002), myalgia/arthralgia (64 vs. 19%/16%, respectively, p < 0.0001), and higher rates of FH of Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) (45 vs.15%, respectively, p = 0.003). Veres et al. Familial PFAPA Is It a Separate Disease? Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients with a FH+ likely experience a different subset of disease with higher frequency of family history of FMF, arthralgia, myalgia, and might have a better response to colchicine compared to FH−. Colchicine prophylaxis for PFAPA should be considered in FH+.

Differential effects of the G118R, H51Y and E138K resistance substitutions in HIV integrase of di... more Differential effects of the G118R, H51Y and E138K resistance substitutions in HIV integrase of different 1

Journal of Virology, 2014

ABSTRACTDolutegravir (DTG) is the latest antiretroviral (ARV) approved for the treatment of human... more ABSTRACTDolutegravir (DTG) is the latest antiretroviral (ARV) approved for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The G118R substitution, previously identified with MK-2048 and raltegravir, may represent the initial substitution in a dolutegravir resistance pathway. We have found that subtype C integrase proteins have a low enzymatic cost associated with the G118R substitution, mostly at the strand transfer step of integration, compared to either subtype B or recombinant CRF02_AG proteins. Subtype B and circulating recombinant form AG (CRF02_AG) clonal viruses encoding G118R-bearing integrases were severely restricted in their viral replication capacity, and G118R/E138K-bearing viruses had various levels of resistance to dolutegravir, raltegravir, and elvitegravir. In cell-free experiments, the impacts of the H51Y and E138K substitutions on resistance and enzyme efficiency, when present with G118R, were highly dependent on viral subtype. Sequence alignment an...

Introduction: PFAPA is the most common periodic fever syndrome in the pediatric population yet pa... more Introduction: PFAPA is the most common periodic fever syndrome in the pediatric population yet pathogenesis is unknown. PFAPA was believed to be sporadic but family clustering has been widely observed.Objective: To identify demographic and clinical differences between patients with PFAPA and a positive family history (FH+) compared to those with PFAPA with no family history (FH-).Methods: In a database comprising demographic and clinical data of 273 pediatric PFAPA patients treated at two tertiary centers in Israel, 31 (14.3%) of patients were PFAPA FH+. Data from patients with FH+ for PFAPA was compared to data from those with FH- of the disorder. Furthermore, family members (FMs) of those with FH+ were contacted via telephone for more demography and clinical details. Results: FH+ group had more headaches (32% vs.2%; p= 0.016), myalgia (56% vs. 19%; p= 0.001), higher carrier frequency of M694V mutation (54% vs. 25%; p=0.053), greater family history of FMF (30% vs. 15%; p=0.096) and...

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2013

ABSTRACTDrug resistance mutations (DRMs) have been reported for all currently approved anti-HIV d... more ABSTRACTDrug resistance mutations (DRMs) have been reported for all currently approved anti-HIV drugs, including the latest integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs). We previously used the new INSTI dolutegravir (DTG) to select a G118R integrase resistance substitution in tissue culture and also showed that secondary substitutions emerged at positions H51Y and E138K. Now, we have characterized the impact of the G118R substitution, alone or in combination with either H51Y or E138K, on 3′ processing and integrase strand transfer activity. The results show that G118R primarily impacted the strand transfer step of integration by diminishing the ability of integrase-long terminal repeat (LTR) complexes to bind target DNA. The addition of H51Y and E138K to G118R partially restored strand transfer activity by modulating the formation of integrase-LTR complexes through increasing LTR DNA affinity and total DNA binding, respectively. This unique mechanism, in which one function of HIV i...