Crystalline silica on the lung-environment interface: Impact on immunity, epithelial cells, and therapeutic perspectives for autoimmunity.

Crystalline silica (the most abundant form of silicon dioxide) is a natural element that is ubiquitous in the Earth's crust. Chronic personal or professional exposure has been implicated in various pathologies, including silicosis and autoimmune diseases since the early 20th century. More recently, a specific pathogenic role for crystalline silica has been identified through its impact on lung epithelial cells as well as immune cells present at this organism barrier.

Systematic Aetiological Assessment of Myocarditis: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Myocarditis is commonly diagnosed in the intensive care cardiology unit (ICCU). No current recommendation nor guideline aids exist for aetiological assessments.

Methods: From September 2021 to October 2023, 84 patients with acute myocarditis underwent thorough and systematic serum and blood cell panel evaluations to determine the most common causes of myocarditis.

Occupational quantitative exposure to crystalline silica, solvents, pesticides, and risk of clinical forms of systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: To estimate the association between SSc clinical phenotypes and quantitative occupational exposure to crystalline silica, chlorinated solvents, trichloroethylene, and pesticides using job-exposure matrices.

Methods: In the VISS-EXPOSITION transversal study, data on declarative occupational exposure to crystalline silica, solvents, and pesticides were retrieved. In parallel, the Lifetime Occupational History was evaluated using a questionnaire and cursus laboris for SSc patients followed at Bordeaux University Hospital (France).

Short-range interactions between fibrocytes and CD8 T cells in COPD bronchial inflammatory response.

Bronchi of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are the site of extensive cell infiltration, allowing persistent contact between resident cells and immune cells. Tissue fibrocytes interaction with CD8 T cells and its consequences were investigated using a combination of , experiments and mathematical modeling. We show that fibrocytes and CD8 T cells are found in the vicinity of distal airways and that potential interactions are more frequent in tissues from COPD patients compared to those of control subjects.

Correction: The Naturally Processed CD95L Elicits a c-Yes/Calcium/PI3K-Driven Cell Migration Pathway.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.

[CD8 T cells and fibrocytes: dangerous interplay in the distal bronchi of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?].

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by chronic inflammation and bronchial remodeling, resulting in airflow limitation. Several studies indicate a detrimental role of CD8 T cells in the evolution of the disease, however the mechanisms of CD8T cell activation in the lungs of COPD patients are still not understood. Fibrocytes, whose density is associated with bronchial remodeling and bronchial obstruction, have immunomodulatory properties.

Urine Protein/Creatinine Ratio in Thrombotic Microangiopathies: A Simple Test to Facilitate Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura and Hemolytic and Uremic Syndrome Diagnosis.

Background: Early diagnosis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) versus hemolytic and uremic syndrome (HUS) is critical for the prompt initiation of specific therapies.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the proteinuria/creatininuria ratio (PU/CU) for TTP versus HUS.

Patients/methods: In a retrospective study, in association with the "French Score" (FS) (platelets < 30 G/L and serum creatinine level < 200 µmol/L), we assessed PU/CU for the diagnosis of TTP in patients above the age of 15 with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA).

Erosive arthritis autoantibodies in systemic sclerosis.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate in two large SSc French cohorts the prevalence and associated factors with the autoantibodies linked to erosive arthritis.

Methods: 448 SSc patients were recruited from May 2015 to January 2019. Standardized clinical and laboratory variables were collected in accordance with the EUSTAR database.

Interleukin-1β-Activated Microvascular Endothelial Cells Promote DC-SIGN-Positive Alternatively Activated Macrophages as a Mechanism of Skin Fibrosis in Systemic Sclerosis.

Objective: To characterize the role of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs) in the generation of alternatively activated macrophages in the skin, and to explore their role in the development of skin fibrosis in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma).

Methods: Conditioned medium prepared with MVECs purified from the skin of healthy donors and the skin of SSc patients was used to generate monocyte-derived macrophages. Flow cytometry, multiplex protein assessment, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and tissue immunofluorescence were used to characterize MVEC-induced polarization of alternatively activated macrophages.

Irinotecan and its metabolite SN38 inhibits procollagen I production of dermal fibroblasts from Systemic Sclerosis patients.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune connective tissue disease characterized by a microangiopathy and fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. No treatment has been proved to be efficient in case of early or advanced SSc to prevent or reduce fibrosis. There are strong arguments for a key role of topo-I in the pathogenesis of diffuse SSc.

TGFβ promotes low IL10-producing ILC2 with profibrotic ability involved in skin fibrosis in systemic sclerosis.

Objective: Innate lymphoid cells-2 (ILC2) were shown to be involved in the development of lung or hepatic fibrosis. We sought to explore the functional and phenotypic heterogeneity of ILC2 in skin fibrosis within systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: Blood samples and skin biopsies from healthy donor or patients with SSc were analysed by immunostaining techniques.

Elevated Circulatory Levels of Microparticles Are Associated to Lung Fibrosis and Vasculopathy During Systemic Sclerosis.

Background: Microparticles (MPs) are vesicular structures that derive from multiple cellular sources. MPs play important roles in intercellular communication, regulation of cell signaling or initiation of enzymatic processes. While MPs were characterized in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) patients, their contribution to SSc pathogenesis remains unknown.

Feasibility and safety of tailored dosing schedule for eculizumab based on therapeutic drug monitoring: Lessons from a prospective multicentric study.

Aims: Eculizumab is an anti-C5 monoclonal antibody approved for rare diseases including atypical haemolytic-uraemic syndrome. The maintenance phase dosing regimen is identical for all adult patients: 1200 mg every 2 weeks. Recent studies reported an overexposure in many patients when considering a target trough concentration range of 50-100 mg/L.

[Not Available].

Introduction: Cocaine use is associated with multiple complications, some of which can mimic systemic diseases, especially Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis. We report a case of Cocaine Induced Midline Destructive Lesions (CIMDL) for which a diagnosis of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) was discussed.

Case Report: A 42-year-old male, cocaine consumer, was admitted in our department for a centrofacial destructive process.

No Improvement of Hepatitis B Vaccination Response in Patients Dialysed with a Polymethylmethacrylate Membrane Compared to High-Flux Polysulfone: Results of the HEPADIAL Study.

Background: An altered immune response and decreased vaccine response are observed in patients with chronic renal failure. A preliminary study of 15 non-immunised patients, despite appropriate previous hepatitis B vaccination, showed a 60% seroconversion rate after 3 months of dialysis with a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) membrane. This response was associated with circulating soluble CD40 (CD40s) decrease, a natural inhibitor of the humoral immune response.

Correction: The Naturally Processed CD95L Elicits a c-Yes/Calcium/PI3K-Driven Cell Migration Pathway.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.

Outcome of children with Shiga toxin-associated haemolytic uraemic syndrome treated with eculizumab: a matched cohort study.

Background: Treatment with eculizumab in Shiga toxin-associated haemolytic and uraemic syndrome (STEC-HUS) remains controversial despite its increasing utilization. The aim of our study was to evaluate the outcomes of children treated with eculizumab for STEC-HUS in a single-centre matched cohort study.

Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from medical records of children diagnosed with STEC-HUS.

Trypanosoma brucei gambiense excreted/secreted factors impair lipopolysaccharide-induced maturation and activation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells.

Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, an extracellular eukaryotic flagellate parasite, is the main etiological agent of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a pivotal role at the interface between innate and adaptive immune response and are implicated during HAT. In this study, we investigated the effects of T gambiense and its excreted/secreted factors (ESF) on the phenotype of human monocyte-derived DCs (Mo-DCs).

OX40L/OX40 axis impairs follicular and natural Treg function in human SLE.

Tregs are impaired in human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and contribute to effector T cell activation. However, the mechanisms responsible for the Treg deficiency in SLE remain unclear. We hypothesized that the OX40L/OX40 axis is implicated in Treg and regulatory follicular helper T (Tfr) cell dysfunction in human SLE.

Innate Immunity in Systemic Sclerosis Fibrosis: Recent Advances.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease characterized by three interconnected hallmarks (i) vasculopathy, (ii) aberrant immune activation, and (iii) fibroblast dysfunction leading to extracellular matrix deposition and fibrosis. Blocking or reversing the fibrotic process associated with this devastating disease is still an unmet clinical need. Although various components of innate immunity, including macrophages and type I interferon, have long been implicated in SSc, the precise mechanisms that regulate the global innate immune contribution to SSc pathogenesis remain poorly understood.