The Dysregulation of the Monocyte-Dendritic Cell Interplay Is Associated with In-Hospital Mortality in COVID-19 Pneumonia.

The monocyte-phagocyte system (MPS), including monocytes/macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs), plays a key role in anti-viral immunity. We aimed to analyze the prognostic value of the MPS components on in-hospital mortality in a cohort of 58 patients (M/F; mean age ± SD years) with COVID-19 pneumonia and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We measured frequencies and absolute numbers of peripheral blood CD169 monocytes, conventional CD1c and CD141 (namely cDC2 and cDC1), and plasmacytoid CD303 DCs by means of multi-parametric flow cytometry.

Pseudo-NRBC in the Mindray BC-6800Plus analyzer: A clue for diagnostic anticipation of fungemia. Experimental and preliminary clinical reports.

Introduction: Candidemia can be a significant cause of death in immunosuppressed or debilitated patients particularly. Abnormalities of the instrumental cytograms of some hematological analyzers, such as Mindray BC-6800Plus, can be related to circulating Candida. We studied the possible diagnostic usefulness of this information.

New Insights into the Identification of Metabolites and Cytokines Predictive of Outcome for Patients with Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection Showed Similarity with Cancer.

SARS-CoV-2 infection is characterized by several clinical manifestations, ranging from the absence of symptoms to severe forms that necessitate intensive care treatment. It is known that the patients with the highest rate of mortality develop increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines, called the "cytokine storm", which is similar to inflammatory processes that occur in cancer. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 infection induces modifications in host metabolism leading to metabolic reprogramming, which is closely linked to metabolic changes in cancer.

Immune profiling of SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in asymptomatic and symptomatic pediatric and adult patients.

Background: The infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has unpredictable manifestations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and variable clinical course with some patients being asymptomatic whereas others experiencing severe respiratory distress, or even death. We aimed to evaluate the immunoglobulin G (IgG) response towards linear peptides on a peptide array containing sequences from SARS-CoV-2, Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS) and common-cold coronaviruses 229E, OC43, NL63 and HKU1 antigens, in order to identify immunological indicators of disease outcome in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.

Methods: We included in the study 79 subjects, comprising 19 pediatric and 30 adult SARS-CoV-2 infected patients with increasing disease severity, from mild to critical illness, and 30 uninfected subjects who were vaccinated with one dose of SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccination in adults with congenital heart disease: Real-world data from an Italian tertiary centre.

Background: real-world data on COVID-19 vaccine safety, immunogenicity and acceptance in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) are lacking.

Methods: ACHD patients who were offered COVID-19 vaccination from January to June 2021 were included. Data on adverse events, on patients' attitude towards vaccination and antispike IgG titre were retrospectively collected.