CD19-CAR T-cell therapy induces deep tissue depletion of B cells.

Objectives: CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy can induce long-term drug-free remission in patients with autoimmune diseases (AIDs). The efficacy of CD19-CAR T-cell therapy is presumably based on deep tissue depletion of B cells; however, such effect has not been proven in humans in vivo.

Methods: Sequential ultrasound-guided inguinal lymph node biopsies were performed at baseline and after CD19-CAR T-cell therapy in patients with AIDs.

Alcohol drinking leads to sex-dependent differentiation of T cells.

Objective: Global per capita alcohol consumption is increasing, posing significant socioeconomic and medical challenges also due to alcohol-related traumatic injuries but also its biological effects. Trauma as a leading cause of death in young adults, is often associated with an increased risk of complications, such as sepsis and multiple organ failure, due to immunological imbalances. Regulatory T cells play a crucial role in maintaining immune homeostasis by regulating the inflammatory response.

Exploring CAR T-Cell Dynamics: Balancing Potent Cytotoxicity and Controlled Inflammation in CAR T-Cells Derived from Systemic Sclerosis and Myositis Patients.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), and idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM) are autoimmune diseases managed with long-term immunosuppressive therapies. Hu19-CD828Z, a fully human anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) with a CD28 costimulatory domain, is engineered to potently deplete B-cells. In this study, we manufactured Hu19-CD828Z CAR T-cells from peripheral blood of SLE, IIM, and SSc patients and healthy donors (HDs).

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is associated with a more severe interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis in the EUSTAR cohort.

Objectives: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is frequent in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and could predict progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD). We aimed to analyse (1) the prevalence of GERD among SSc-ILD patients, (2) its association with disease characteristics and (3) predictive factors for ILD progression in SSc-ILD patients with GERD.

Methods: SSc patients from the EUSTAR database with ILD were included.

Disturbed spatial WNT activation - a potential driver of the reticularized skin phenotype in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc).

Objectives: Little is known on the mechanisms necessary to maintain the physiological adult human skin integrity. This study aims to quantitatively describe anatomical changes in systemic sclerosis (SSc)-skin compared to controls and investigate the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Skin morphology was histologically assessed in twenty-three SSc-patients, eighteen controls and fifteen patients with hypertrophic scars.