[Glioblastoma in adults].

Glioblastoma is the most common form of primary brain cancer in adults, and the disease has a serious prognosis. Although great progress has been made in molecular characteristics, no major breakthroughs in treatment have been achieved for many years. In this article we present a clinical review of current diagnostics and treatment, as well as the challenges and opportunities inherent in developing improved and more personalised treatment.

Rituximab-treated patients with lymphoma develop strong CD8 T-cell responses following COVID-19 vaccination.

B-cell depletion induced by anti-cluster of differentiation 20 (CD20) monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy of patients with lymphoma is expected to impair humoral responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination, but effects on CD8 T-cell responses are unknown. Here, we investigated humoral and CD8 T-cell responses following two vaccinations in patients with lymphoma undergoing anti-CD20-mAb therapy as single agent or in combination with chemotherapy or other anti-neoplastic agents during the last 9 months prior to inclusion, and in healthy age-matched blood donors. Antibody measurements showed that seven of 110 patients had antibodies to the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein 3-6 weeks after the second dose of vaccination.

Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of brain injury, inflammation and synaptic autoimmunity predict long-term neurocognitive outcome in herpes simplex encephalitis.

Objectives: The aim was to investigate the correlation between biomarkers of brain injury and long-term neurocognitive outcome, and the interplay with intrathecal inflammation and neuronal autoimmunity, in patients with herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE).

Methods: A total of 53 adult/adolescent HSE patients were included from a prospective cohort in a randomized placebo-controlled trial investigating the effect of a 3-month follow-up treatment with valaciclovir. Study subjects underwent repeated serum/cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling and brain magnetic resonance imaging in the first 3 months along with cognitive assessment using the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS) at 24 months.

Work at inpatient care units is associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection; a cross-sectional study of 8679 healthcare workers in Sweden.

Background: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the protection of healthcare workers has been in focus throughout the world, but the availability and quality of personal protective equipment has at times and in some settings been suboptimal.

Materials And Methods: A total of 8679 healthcare workers and healthcare support staff in the county of Uppsala, north of Stockholm, were included in this cross-sectional study. All subjects were analysed for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2, and predictors for positive serostatus were analysed in a logistic regression model including demographic parameters and self-reported employment characteristics.

Clinical significance of IgM and IgA class anti-NMDAR antibodies in herpes simplex encephalitis.

Background: Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is a devastating disease, often leaving patients with severe disabilities. It has been shown that IgG anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibodies appear in approximately 25% of HSE patients and could be associated with impaired recovery of cognitive performance.

Objectives: To characterize the prevalence of IgM and IgA anti-NMDAR antibodies in HSE patients, in relation to subsequent development of IgG anti-NMDAR and correlation to cognitive performance.

Efficacy and safety of 12 weeks versus 18 weeks of treatment with grazoprevir (MK-5172) and elbasvir (MK-8742) with or without ribavirin for hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection in previously untreated patients with cirrhosis and patients with previous null response with or without cirrhosis (C-WORTHY): a randomised, open-label phase 2 trial.

Background: There is a high medical need for an interferon-free, all-oral, short-duration therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) that is highly effective across diverse patient populations, including patients with cirrhosis or previous null response to pegylated interferon (peginterferon) plus ribavirin (PR-null responders). We aimed to assess the efficacy, safety, and effective treatment duration of grazoprevir (an HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor) combined with elbasvir (an HCV NS5A inhibitor) with or without ribavirin in patients with HCV genotype 1 infection with baseline characteristics of poor response.

Methods: The C-WORTHY trial is a randomised, open-label phase 2 trial of grazoprevir plus elbasvir with or without ribavirin; here we report findings for two cohorts of previously untreated patients with cirrhosis (cohort 1) and those with previous PR-null response with or without cirrhosis (cohort 2) enrolled in part B of the study.

Clinical outcome with low-dose valacyclovir in high-risk renal transplant recipients: a 10-year experience.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains an important pathogen in transplant patients, and valacyclovir (VACV) prophylaxis 8 g/day has been used in high-risk CMV-seromismatched [D+/R-] renal transplant patients to decrease CMV disease. Neurotoxic adverse effects have limited its use, and the aim of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate low-dose VACV prophylaxis, 3 g/day for 90 days after transplantation, in 102 D+/R- renal transplant patients.

Methods: We compared patient and graft survival rates up to 5 years after transplantation with the data from the Collaborative Transplant Study Group (CTS) database.

CMV-specific T-cell immunity, viral load, and clinical outcome in seropositive renal transplant recipients: a pilot study.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is still the leading opportunistic infection following solid organ transplantation. The aim of this prospective study of renal transplant recipients was to evaluate the dynamics of CMV-specific T-cells, viral load, and clinical symptoms of CMV infection.

Methods: Levels of tetramer-selected CD8(+) T-cells (TetraCD8), CMV-specific interferon-gamma producing CD8(+) T-cells (IFNgammaCD8), and CD4(+) T-cells (IFNgammaCD4), measured using major histocompatibility complex-tetramer and cytokine flow cytometry techniques, and CMV DNA were monitored monthly in 17 CMV-seropositive patients up to one yr (median 12 months, range 3-12) after transplantation and correlated to clinical outcome.

T cell control of primary and latent cytomegalovirus infections in healthy subjects.

The T cell repertoire required to control acute and latent CMV infection in otherwise healthy individuals was examined using both functional analysis and a wide range of MHC I tetramers. Both frequency and function of CMV specific T cells varied considerably between subjects, however, within subjects values remained stable over time. In total 16 +/- 3.

Comparison of a duplex quantitative real-time PCR assay and the COBAS Amplicor CMV Monitor test for detection of cytomegalovirus.

A duplex quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay was designed to detect both the polymerase gene (pol) and the glycoprotein gene (gB) of cytomegalovirus (CMV). The detection limit of the qPCR was determined to be 1 to 3 copies/reaction and the linear measure interval was 10(3) to 10(8) copies/ml. The qPCR system was compared to the COBAS Amplicor CMV Monitor test (COBAS) by an analysis of 138 plasma samples.