COVID-19 caused significant neuron damage and inflammation within a week of infection in rhesus macaque monkeys, according to a new study. The researchers from the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis, also discovered that aged monkeys with Type 2 diabetes experienced worse virus-induced neurological damage. The findings, published in Cell Reports Oct. 12, provide a framework to study the long-term neurological symptoms linked to COVID-19.

“In the aged monkeys in particular, the virus is infecting neurons in regions known to be highly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. John H. Morrison said.

Infants are commonly exposed to and treated with antibiotics during the birthing process. However, new research in nonhuman primates may change the way doctors approach antibiotic treatment. A study conducted by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) provides the first clear evidence in nonhuman primates that early-life antibiotic treatment can affect the gut microbiome, altering the immune system’s response to lung infections.

Antibiotics protect infants from contracting an infection during vaginal birth or secondhand during cesarean delivery. “We give those antibiotics for a reason; we can’t stop giving antibiotics…but we also have to recognize that these antibiotics can cause a change in the babies’ [immune] response,” said Hitesh Deshmukh, attending CCHMC Neonatologist and senior author of the study.

Many previous studies explain how exposure to certain environmental substances during pregnancy may affect your baby’s health. Toxic substances increase the risk for congenital disabilities, low birth weight, prematurity, and miscarriage.

Studying the long-term effects of various environmental changes during pregnancy has occurred for decades from exposure to metals, cigarette smoke, stress, radiation, and more. But, recently, a study from the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis, was published exploring the effects of wildfire smoke exposure during early pregnancy.

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) attacks the body’s immune system and, if not treated, can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

Because of medical advancements, including antiretroviral therapy (ART), many people now live long lives with HIV, but researchers believe long-term viral control in the absence of ART (i.e. remission) might be possible.

In pursuit of an HIV remission, researchers at the Emory National Primate Research Center (EPC) are working to lower HIV persistence. They recently discovered the anti-inflammatory protein, interleukin-10, may be responsible for helping sustain cellular reservoirs, which enable the virus to hide. This breakthrough may lead to treatments that can block the effects of interleukin-10 and, therefore, reduce viral persistence, which is critical to finding alternative therapies to control HIV.

Cases of Lyme disease are rising across the globe, yet there is still no vaccine on the market to protect people against the tick-borne infection.

Researchers at Tulane University recently received $1.3 million from the National Institutes of Health to find out if the same technology behind a successful Lyme disease vaccine for dogs can be formulated with immune-boosting nanoparticles to offer safe and lasting protection for people.

Researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine and Northern Arizona University (NAU), in collaboration with the Washington National Primate Research Center, received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The grant which will fund research that they hope will result in a safe and effective vaccine for Valley Fever, a fungal infection common in hot, dry regions. The infection is spreading as the climate changes and the environment becomes hotter and drier.

This project creates the first U.S. center focused on Valley Fever research, sited in Arizona because its population experiences some of the nation’s highest rates of the illness. The center aims to design an effective vaccine that can protect against Valley Fever before it becomes an epidemic.