Apmis

doi: 10.1111/apm.13148pmid: N/A

delli Muti, Nicola; Finocchi, Federica; Tossetta, Giovanni; Salvio, Gianmaria; Cutini, Melissa; Marzioni, Daniela; Balercia, Giancarlo

doi: 10.1111/apm.13210pmid: 35114008

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is the cause of coronavirus infectious disease (COVID‐19) and has rapidly spread worldwide, causing serious problems to the healthcare systems of many countries and hundreds of thousand deaths. In this review we discuss data from the literature to understand whether the various districts of the male reproductive system may represent another vulnerable target for SARS‐CoV‐2. Studies were searched from electronic databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and COVID‐19 specific databases such as LitCovid, until July 31, 2021. It appears that SARS‐CoV‐2 virus infection not only causes damage to the respiratory system, but could have a serious impact on the reproductive system of male patients modulating many physiological processes. Like some other infections, SARS‐CoV‐2 also leads to a worsening of semen quality and an increase in oxidative stress (OS) levels. However, due to the limited number of studies, it is unclear whether this deterioration in semen parameters is temporary or lasts over time. It is certainly important that patients' reproductive function is monitored after coronavirus infection to avoid problems in reproductive health in the future.

Bystrup, Malte; Login, Frédéric H.; Edamana, Sarannya; Borgquist, Signe; Tramm, Trine; Kwon, Tae‐Hwan; Nejsum, Lene N.

doi: 10.1111/apm.13212pmid: 35114014

The water channel aquaporin‐5 (AQP5) is essential in transepithelial water transport in secretory glands. AQP5 is ectopically overexpressed in breast cancer, where expression is associated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. Besides the role in water transport, AQP5 has been found to play a role in cancer metastasis, migration, and proliferation. AQP5 has also been shown to be involved in the dysregulation of epithelial cell–cell adhesion; frequently observed in cancers. Insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms of how AQP5 contributes to cancer development and progression is essential for potentially implementing AQP5 as a prognostic biomarker and to develop targeted intervention strategies for the treatment of breast cancer patients.

Gutiérrez‐Bautista, Juan Francisco; López‐Nevot, Miguel Ángel; Gómez‐Vicente, Esther; Quesada, Trinidad; Marín, Eva María; Rodríguez, Ana; Rodríguez, Ana Isabel; Rodríguez‐Granger, Javier; Cobo, Fernando; Sampedro, Antonio

doi: 10.1111/apm.13215pmid: 35196403

The new vaccines against SARS‐CoV‐2 have raised a lot of expectations about their ability to induce immunity and the duration of this. This is the case of mRNA vaccines such as Moderna's mRNA‐1273. Therefore, it is necessary to study the humoral and cellular immunity generated by these vaccines. Our objectives are determining what is the normal response of antibody production, and what is the level of protective antibodies and monitoring patients in case of subsequent infection with COVID‐19. We present the first results of a longitudinal study of the humoral response in 601 health workers vaccinated with Moderna. The results show a humoral immunity at 90 days after the second dose of 100%, with a strong decrease between the levels of circulating anti‐S IgG antibodies between days 30 and 90 post‐vaccination. Observing a steeper decline in those who had higher titles at the beginning. In addition, we present a cellular response of 86% at three months after the second dose, which is related to low humoral response.

Gelman, Ram; Potruch, Assaf; Oster, Yonatan; Ishay, Yuval; Gur, Chamutal; Beeri, Ronen; Strahilevitz, Jacob

doi: 10.1111/apm.13217pmid: 35218080

We report a case of Staphylococcus warneri native valve endocarditis in an immunocompetent healthy adult, without known risk factors for infective endocarditis, two months following COVID‐19 infection, who recovered with conservative treatment. Additionally, we reviewed previous cases of native valve endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus warneri and summarized the main clinical implications.

Pakkanen, Emma; Kalfert, David; Ahtiainen, Maarit; Ludvíková, Marie; Kuopio, Teijo; Kholová, Ivana

doi: 10.1111/apm.13218pmid: 35238073

Programmed cell death ligand (PD‐L1)/PD‐1 expression has been studied in a variety of cancers and blockage of PD‐L1/PD‐1 pathway is a cornerstone of immunotherapy. We studied PD‐L1/PD‐1 immunohistochemical expression in 47 thyroid gland specimens in groups of (1) Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) only; (2) HT and follicular epithelial dysplasia (FED); and (3) HT, FED, and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). PD‐1 positivity was found in immune cells, namely in lymphocytes, macrophages, and plasma cells with mean values for lymphocytes and macrophages 9% in HT group, 4% in FED group, and 4% in PTC group. PD‐L1 positivity was identified in both immune cells and in the normal epithelial cells. In the HT group, mean PD‐L1 staining on immune cells was 6%, in FED group 5%, and in PTC group 7%. The mean PD‐L1 staining on the epithelial cells in the inflammatory parenchyma was 11.7% in HT, 13.4% in FED, and 8.3% in PTC group. The mean PD‐L1 staining of FED foci was 47.2% in FED group and 33.6% in PTC group. The mean tumor proportion score (TPS) was 10.4%, and the mean combined positive score (CPS) was 15.5. At the moment, PTC is not a target of immunotherapy. However, understanding the complex issue of concurrent inflammation and autoimmunity can importantly influence the cancer treatment in future.

Warncke, Signe Ravn; Knudsen, Charlotte Rohde

doi: 10.1111/apm.13202pmid: 34939239

The largest group of viruses in the Baltimore classification system comprises viruses with a positive‐sense, single‐stranded RNA genome. Once the viral genome is released into the cytoplasm of a specific host cell following virus entry, it functions directly as an mRNA, and the virus‐encoded proteins that are essential for genome replication are produced by the translation apparatus of the host cell. The positive‐sense genome is replicated in two stages, initially the positive strand is copied to make a negative‐sense RNA, which then functions as the template for transcription of many new positive‐sense genomes. Virus infections can be detected at different stages throughout the infection cycle for diagnostic and scientific purposes. Here, the advantages and disadvantages of some of the relevant methods for genome detection will be briefly reviewed with special emphasis on techniques allowing strand‐specific RNA detection. Furthermore, tools of the future are considered.