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Camelids are vital to the cultures and economies of the Andes. The animals have also been at the heart of ecological and social catastrophe: Europeans overhunted wild vicuña and guanaco and imposed husbandry and breeding practices that decimated llama and alpaca flocks that had been successfully tended by Indigenous peoples for generations. Yet the colonial encounter with these animals was not limited to the New World. Llamas beyond the Andes tells the five-hundred-year history of animals removed from their native habitats and transported overseas. Initially Europeans prized camelids for the bezoar stones found in their guts: boluses of ingested matter that were thought to have curative powers. Then the animals themselves were shipped abroad as exotica. As Europeans and US Americans came to recognize the economic value of camelids, new questions emerged: What would these novel sources of protein and fiber mean for the sheep industry? And how best to cultivate herds? Andeans had the expertise, but knowledge sharing was rarely easy. Marcia Stephenson explores the myriad scientific, commercial, and cultural interests that have attended camelids globally, making these animals a critical meeting point for diverse groups from the North and South.

Nanobodies are single chain antibodies that are uniquely produced in Camelidae, e.g. camels and llamas. They have the desirable features of small sizes (Mw<14kDa) and high affinities against antigens (Kd~nM), making them ideal as structural probes for biomedically relevant motifs both in vitro and in vivo. We have previously shown that nanobody binding to amyloidogenic human lysozyme variants can effectively inhibit their aggregation, the process that is at the origin of systemic amyloid disease. Here we report the NMR assignments of a new nanobody, termed NbSyn2, which recognises the C-terminus of the intrinsically disordered protein, human alpha -synuclein (aS), whose aberrant self-association is implicated in Parkinson's disease.

The source of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in humans is unclear, although bats and camels are suspected animal reservoirs. In this report, direct transmission of a fatal human case is tightly linked to a camel by epidemiologic, serologic, and virologic data. MERS-CoV is a newly identified human coronavirus that has recently emerged in the Middle East region. 1 – 3 Current epidemiologic data suggest multiple zoonotic transmissions from an animal reservoir leading to human infection, sometimes with secondary transmission events in humans. 4 In this study, we describe reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) detection, isolation, and sequencing of MERS-CoV from a camel and from a patient who died of laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV infection in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Case Report A 43-year-old previously healthy Saudi man who had retired from the military was admitted to the intensive care unit at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, on November 3, 2013, . . .

The Camelidae family comprises the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), and four species of South American camelids: llama (Lama glama), alpaca (Lama pacos) guanaco (Lama guanicoe), and vicuña (Vicugna vicugna). The main characteristic of these species is their ability to cope with either hard climatic conditions like those found in arid regions (Bactrian and dromedary camels) or high-altitude landscapes like those found in South America (South American camelids). Because of such interesting physiological and adaptive traits, the interest for these animals as livestock species has increased considerably over the last years. In general, the main animal products obtained from these animals are meat, milk, and hair fiber, although they are also used for races and work among other activities. In the near future, climate change will likely decrease agricultural areas for animal production worldwide, particularly in the tropics and subtropics where competition with crops for human consumption is a major problem already. In such conditions, extensive animal production could be limited in some extent to semi-arid rangelands, subjected to periodical draughts and erratic patterns of rainfall, severely affecting conventional livestock production, namely cattle and sheep. In the tropics and subtropics, camelids may become an important protein source for humans. This article aims to review some of the recent literature about the meat, milk, and hair fiber production in the six existing camelid species highlighting their benefits and drawbacks, overall contributing to the development of camelid production in the framework of food security.

White blood cell (WBC) ratios are used as diagnostic markers for various inflammatory or tumor diseases as well as stress in a broad range of species. The aim of this work was to provide data on five WBC ratios (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [NLR], band neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [BLR], band neutrophil-to-neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [BNLR], band neutrophil-to-neutrophil ratio [BNR] and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio [LMR]) in South American camelids (SAC) and characterize their association with demographic and important diagnostic parameters. Medical records of 307 SAC (275 alpacas, 32 llamas) that were presented at a veterinary teaching hospital were evaluated retrospectively. WBC ratios were calculated based on hematologic results of the initial blood samples. The influence of species, sex, age, body condition score, WBC count, and anemia on those ratios was investigated using descriptive statistics and generalized linear models. NLR, BLR and LMR were found to be significantly influenced by age and WBC count. Associations of individual WBC ratios with species, nutritional status or an anemic condition could be detected. NLR was 4.32; 2.31–7.81 (median; IQR), BLR 0.24; 0.07–0.87, BNLR 3.66 × 10 –3 ; 1.17 × 10 –3 − 14.20 × 10 –3 , BNR 0.06; 0.02–0.15 and LMR was 7; 3.54–14.67. Our data might serve as a basis for further studies on WBC ratios in SAC. The animals in this study showed a variety of underlying diseases. It should hence be noted that these values are orientation values and provide a representative overview of conditions in a clinic, but are not suitable as reference values for healthy animals.

The economic, socio-political, and cultural significance of camelids in the Andean region is well-recognized, yet an understanding of their management evolution over pre-historical periods remains limited. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting the first cross-regional assessment of camelid pastoralism in Peru from 900 BCE to 1470 CE, using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions from the bone collagen and fibers of 577archaeological camelids across 21 sites. This research investigates the spatio-temporal shifts in camelid dietary habits, focusing on how the rise of intensive agriculture may have influenced change and led to the evolution of distinct roles for camelids in coastal versus non-coastal Andean economies. Our analysis indicates an increase in δ 13 C values over time on the coast, suggesting a shift towards maize-based camelid diets. Conversely, δ 13 C values decrease over time in highland environments, suggesting camelids consumed relatively more wild C3 forage and/or cultivated crops such as tubers. The study also reveals a significant positive relationship between latitude and δ 15 N values, suggesting increasing environmental aridity enriches δ 15 N in bone collagen. After controlling for this latitudinal effect, we observe a rise in δ 15 N values in both coastal and non-coastal camelids, suggesting that in later periods camelids may have been foddered in agricultural fields that were enriched with guano or dung fertilizer used to intensify production. Importantly, this research uncovers a distinct dietary divergence between coastal and inland camelids. The observed divergence in diets suggests contrasting socio-economic uses of camelids, where coastal camelids were predominantly involved in ceremonial and political activities, while those in non-coastal areas were crucial to the subsistence economy.

Salmonella-related foodborne infections are commonly caused by the serovars of S. Typhimurium, which can be detected using antibody-based immunoassays. The monovalent variable domain of the camelid heavy chain antibody (VHH) performs excellently in constructing multivalent VHH variants, which generally exhibit higher affinities with antigens and consequently enhance the assay sensitivity. In this study, the divalent variants of VHHs (diVHHs) targeting S. Typhimurium were generated by encoding the monovalent VHH genes assembled in tandem with a flexible linker peptide (G4S)2. Soluble diVHHs were produced in a prokaryotic expression system and purified with a yield of 4.22 mg/L. Benefiting from their stability and antigen-binding abilities towards tested Salmonella serovars, diVHH-based immunoassays were developed. The diVHH-based sandwich immunoassay, using diVHH as capture antibody, exhibited a detection limit of 1.04×102 CFU/mL and enabled as low as 10 CFU/mL S. Typhimurium to be detected after 6 h of enrichment in lettuce. Furthermore, this assay can be applied to spiked lettuce, chicken, and pork samples, showing acceptable recoveries ranging from 83 to 106%. This study presented feasible strategies for VHH multivalence and established a superior sensitivity VHH-based immunoassay for monitoring and analyzing Salmonella contamination in food.

•New production platforms for VHH and VHH-Fc antibodies were recently explored.•VHHs have distinct properties and often outperform conventional antibodies.•Several VHHs for protein purification and localisation are commercially available. Since the serendipitous discovery 20 years ago of bona fide camelid heavy-chain antibodies, their single-domain antigen-binding fragments, known as VHHs or nanobodies, have received a progressively growing interest. As a result of the beneficial properties of these stable recombinant entities, they are currently highly valued proteins for multiple applications, including fundamental research, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Today, with the original patents expiring, even more academic and industrial groups are expected to explore innovative VHH applications. Here, we provide a thorough overview of novel implementations of VHHs as research and diagnostic tools, and of the recently evaluated production platforms for several VHHs and VHH-derived antibody formats.

Sonelokimab (also known as M1095) is a novel trivalent nanobody comprised of monovalent camelid-derived (ie, from the Camelidae family of mammals, such as camels, llamas, and alpacas) nanobodies specific to human interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-17F, and human serum albumin. Nanobodies are a novel class of proprietary therapeutic proteins based on single-domain, camelid, heavy-chain-only antibodies. We assessed the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of sonelokimab across four dosage regimens compared with placebo in patients with plaque-type psoriasis. Secukinumab served as an active control. This multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial was done at 41 clinics and research sites in Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the USA. Participants (aged 18–75 years) with stable moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis (defined as an Investigator's Global Assessment [IGA] score of ≥3, a body surface area involvement of ≥10%, and a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score of ≥12) for more than 6 months before randomisation, who were candidates for systemic biological therapy were included. Participants previously treated with more than two biologics or any therapy targeting IL-17 were excluded. Randomisation was stratified by weight (≤90 kg or >90 kg) and previous use of biologics. Investigators, participants, and vendors remained masked for the duration of the study, with the exception of each site's study drug administrator (who did not complete any other assessments in the study) and a study monitor who only assessed drug preparation, administration, and accountability. The study sponsor remained masked until all week 24 data were clean and locked. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1:1:1) using a centralised interactive response technology system to one of six parallel treatment groups: placebo group, sonelokimab 30 mg group, sonelokimab 60 mg group, sonelokimab 120 mg normal load group, sonelokimab 120 mg augmented load group, or secukinumab 300 mg group. All participants underwent a 4-week screening period, a 12-week placebo-controlled induction period, a 12-week dose maintenance or escalation period, and a 24-week response assessment or dose-holding period. During the placebo-controlled induction period (weeks 0–12), participants received either placebo (at weeks 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10), sonelokimab 30 mg, 60 mg, or 120 mg normal load (at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 8), sonelokimab 120 mg augmented load (at weeks 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10), or secukinumab 300 mg (at weeks 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8), with placebo given at weeks 1, 3, 6, and 10 in the sonelokimab 30 mg, 60 mg, and 120 mg normal load groups, at weeks 1 and 3 in the sonelokimab 120 mg augmented load group, and at weeks 6 and 10 in the secukinumab 300 mg group. During the dose maintenance or escalation period (weeks 12–24), participants assigned to the placebo group received sonelokimab 120 mg (at weeks 12, 14, 16, and then every 4 weeks); those assigned to sonelokimab 30 mg or 60 mg groups with an IGA score of more than 1 were escalated to 120 mg and then every 4 weeks, and those with an IGA score of 1 or less stayed on the assigned dose at week 12 and then every 4 weeks; those assigned to the sonelokimab 120 mg groups received sonelokimab 120 mg at week 12 and then every 8 weeks (normal load group) or every 4 weeks (augmented load); and those assigned to the secukinumab 300 mg group received secukinumab 300 mg at week 12 and then every 4 weeks. During this period, placebo was given at week 14 in all groups, except in participants who initially received placebo, and at week 16 in the sonelokimab 120 mg normal load group. In the response assessment with dose-holding period (weeks 24–48), participants in the sonelokimab 30 mg or 60 mg groups who had dose escalation to 120 mg remained on the same regimen regardless of the IGA score at week 24. Participants in the secukinumab 300 mg group also remained on the same regimen regardless of IGA score at week 24. Participants in the sonelokimab 30 mg and 60 mg groups without dose escalation, and all participants in the two sonelokimab 120 mg groups (including placebo rollover patients) were eligible to stop the study drug at week 24. Those participants with an IGA score of 0 at week 24 received placebo; these participants resumed the previous dose of sonelokimab every 4 weeks when they had an IGA score of 1 or more (assessed every 4 weeks). Participants in these groups with an IGA score of 1 or more at week 24 continued on the same dosage. All study treatments were administered as subcutaneous injections. The final dose in all groups was given at week 44. The primary outcome was the proportion of participants in the sonelokimab groups with an IGA of clear or almost clear (score 0 or 1) at week 12 compared with the placebo group. The primary outcome and safety outcomes were assessed on an intention-to-treat basis. The study was not powered for formal comparisons between sonelokimab and secukinumab groups. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03384745. Between Aug 15, 2018, and March 27, 2019, 383 patients were assessed for eligibility, 313 of whom were enrolled and randomly assigned to the placebo group (n=52), the sonelokimab 30 mg group (n=52), the sonelokimab 60 mg group (n=52), the sonelokimab 120 mg normal load group (n=53), the sonelokimab 120 mg augmented load group (n=51), or the secukinumab 300 mg group (n=53). Baseline characteristics of participants were similar among the groups. At week 12, none (0·0% [95% CI 0·0–6·8]) of the 52 participants in the placebo group had an IGA score of 0 or 1 versus 25 (48·1% [34·0–62·4], p<0·0001) of 52 participants in the sonelokimab 30 mg group, 44 (84·6% [71·9–93·1], p<0·0001) of 52 participants in the sonelokimab 60 mg group, 41 (77·4% [63·8–87·7], p<0·0001) of 53 participants in the sonelokimab 120 mg normal load group, 45 (88·2% [76·1–95·6], p<0·0001) of 51 participants in the sonelokimab 120 mg augmented load group, and 41 (77·4% [63·8–87·7], p<0·0001) of 53 participants in the secukinumab 300 mg group. During the placebo-controlled induction period, 155 (49·5%) of 313 participants had one or more mostly mild to moderate adverse event; the most frequent adverse events in all participants on sonelokimab during weeks 0–12 were nasopharyngitis (28 [13·5%] of 208 participants), pruritus (14 [6·7%] participants), and upper respiratory tract infection (nine [4·3%] participants). One patient from all sonelokimab-containing groups had Crohn's disease that developed during weeks 12–52. Over 52 weeks, sonelokimab safety was similar to secukinumab, with the possible exception of manageable Candida infections (one [1·9%] of 53 participants in the secukinumab group had a Candida infection vs 19 [7·4%] of 257 participants in all sonelokimab-containing groups). Treatment with sonelokimab doses of 120 mg or less showed significant clinical benefit over placebo, with rapid onset of treatment effect, durable improvements, and an acceptable safety profile. Avillion.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes a zoonotic respiratory disease of global public health concern, and dromedary camels are the only proven source of zoonotic infection. Although MERS-CoV infection is ubiquitous in dromedaries across Africa as well as in the Arabian Peninsula, zoonotic disease appears confined to the Arabian Peninsula. MERS-CoVs from Africa have hitherto been poorly studied. We genetically and phenotypically characterized MERS-CoV from dromedaries sampled in Morocco, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. Viruses from Africa (clade C) are phylogenetically distinct from contemporary viruses from the Arabian Peninsula (clades A and B) but remain antigenically similar in microneutralization tests. Viruses from West (Nigeria, Burkina Faso) and North (Morocco) Africa form a subclade, C1, that shares clade-defining genetic signatures including deletions in the accessory gene ORF4b. Compared with human and camel MERS-CoV from Saudi Arabia, virus isolates from Burkina Faso (BF785) and Nigeria (Nig1657) had lower virus replication competence in Calu-3 cells and in ex vivo cultures of human bronchus and lung. BF785 replicated to lower titer in lungs of human DPP4-transduced mice. A reverse genetics-derived recombinant MERS-CoV (EMC) lacking ORF4b elicited higher type I and III IFN responses than the isogenic EMC virus in Calu-3 cells. However, ORF4b deletions may not be the major determinant of the reduced replication competence of BF785 and Nig1657. Genetic and phenotypic differences in West African viruses may be relevant to zoonotic potential. There is an urgent need for studies of MERS-CoV at the animal–human interface.