Frontiers in immunology
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Frontiers in immunology · Jan 2020
Implications of COVID-19 Outbreak on Immune Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis Patients-Lessons Learned From SARS and MERS.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic keeps the world in suspense. In addition to the fundamental challenges for the health care system, the individual departments must decide how to deal with patients at risk. Neurologists are confronted with the question, how they should advise their patients regarding immunosuppressive treatment. ⋯ However, it has to be differentiated between the depletion phase and the phase of immune reconstitution. In summary, previous coronavirus outbreaks have not shown an increased risk for immunocompromised patients. Patients with severe neuroimmunological diseases should be kept from hasty discontinuation of immunotherapy.
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Frontiers in immunology · Jan 2020
Reduction and Functional Exhaustion of T Cells in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has posed great threat to human health. T cells play a critical role in antiviral immunity but their numbers and functional state in COVID-19 patients remain largely unclear. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the counts of T cells and serum cytokine concentration from data of 522 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and 40 healthy controls. ⋯ Increasing PD-1 and Tim-3 expression on T cells was seen as patients progressed from prodromal to overtly symptomatic stages. Conclusions: T cell counts are reduced significantly in COVID-19 patients, and the surviving T cells appear functionally exhausted. Non-ICU patients with total T cells counts lower than 800/μL may still require urgent intervention, even in the immediate absence of more severe symptoms due to a high risk for further deterioration in condition.
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Frontiers in immunology · Jan 2020
Can Beta-2-Adrenergic Pathway Be a New Target to Combat SARS-CoV-2 Hyperinflammatory Syndrome?-Lessons Learned From Cancer.
SARS-CoV-2 infection is a new threat to global public health in the 21st century (2020), which has now rapidly spread around the globe causing severe pneumonia often linked to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and hyperinflammatory syndrome. SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious through saliva droplets. The structural analysis suggests that the virus enters human cells through the ligation of the spike protein to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). ⋯ Blocking (B2AR) has been proven, also in clinical settings, to reduce Th-17 response and negatively modulate inflammatory cytokines including IL-6 while increasing IFNγ. Non-selective beta-blockers are currently used to treat several diseases and have been proven to reduce stress-induced inflammation and reduce anxiety. For these reasons, we speculate that targeting B2AR in the early phase of Covid-19 might be beneficial to prevent hyperinflammation.
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Frontiers in immunology · Jan 2020
Development and Validation of a Contrast-Enhanced CT-Based Radiomics Nomogram for Prediction of Therapeutic Efficacy of Anti-PD-1 Antibodies in Advanced HCC Patients.
There is no study accessible now assessing the prognostic aspect of radiomics for anti-PD-1 therapy for patients with HCC. ⋯ This study has developed and validated a radiomics nomogram by incorporating the pretreatment CECT images and clinical factors to predict the anti-PD-1 treatment efficacy in patients with advanced HCC.
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Frontiers in immunology · Jan 2020
Cytotoxicity of Donor Natural Killer Cells to Allo-Reactive T Cells Are Related With Acute Graft-vs.-Host-Disease Following Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.
Objectives: The mechanism and immunoregulatory role of human natural killer (NK) cells in acute graft-vs.-host-disease (aGVHD) remains unclear. This study quantitatively analyzed the cytotoxicity of donor NK cells toward allo-reactive T cells, and investigated their relationship with acute GVHD (aGVHD). Methods: We evaluated NK dose, subgroup, and receptor expression in allografts from 98 patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). ⋯ Multivariate analyses showed that higher NK degranulation activities (CD107ahigh) in allografts were independent risk factors for grades, I-IV aGVHD (HR = 0.357; P = 0.002), and grades III-IV aGVHD (HR = 0.13; P = 0.009). Conclusions: These findings reveal that the degranulation activity of NK in allografts toward allo-activated T cells was associated with the occurrence and the severity of aGVHD, after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. This suggested that cytotoxicity of donor NK cells to allo-reactive T cells have important roles in aGVHD regulation.