Sex-Based Differences in Thyroid Plasma B Cell Infiltration: Implications for Autoimmune Disease Susceptibility.

Thyroid autoimmune diseases, such as Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves disease, are significantly more prevalent in women than in men, suggesting underlying biological differences in immune system function and regulation between sexes. Plasma B cells are crucial in autoimmunity due to their role in producing antibodies targeting self-antigens, but their presence in the thyroids of women without clinical autoimmune diseases remains largely unexplored. This study investigates the infiltration of plasma B cells in female thyroids specifically excluding those with any clinical signs of autoimmune diseases.

Tucuxi-BLAST: Enabling fast and accurate record linkage of large-scale health-related administrative databases through a DNA-encoded approach.

Background: Public health research frequently requires the integration of information from different data sources. However, errors in the records and the high computational costs involved make linking large administrative databases using record linkage (RL) methodologies a major challenge.

Methods: We present Tucuxi-BLAST, a versatile tool for probabilistic RL that utilizes a DNA-encoded approach to encrypt, analyze and link massive administrative databases.

HIV infection increases the risk of acquiring Plasmodium vivax malaria: a 4-year cohort study in the Brazilian Amazon HIV and risk of vivax malaria.

Globally, malaria and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are both independently associated with a massive burden of disease and death. While their co-infection has been well studied for Plasmodium falciparum, scarce data exist regarding the association of P. vivax and HIV.

Gene signatures of autopsy lungs from obese patients with COVID-19.

Background & Aims: Obesity is associated with low grade systemic inflammation and insulin resistance. Although metabolic and immunological changes may contribute to the increased risk for COVID-19 mortality in obese, little is known about the impact of obesity in the lungs of patients with COVID-19.

Methods: We analyzed gene expression profiles of autopsy lungs of a cohort of 14 COVID-19 patients and 4 control individuals.

P2x7 Receptor Signaling Blockade Reduces Lung Inflammation and Necrosis During Severe Experimental Tuberculosis.

The risk of developing severe forms of tuberculosis has increased by the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, lack of effective drugs to eliminate latent infection and the emergence of drug-resistant mycobacterial strains. Excessive inflammatory response and tissue damage associated with severe tuberculosis contribute to poor outcome of the disease. Our previous studies using mice deficient in the ATP-gated ionotropic P2X7 receptor suggested this molecule as a promising target for host-directed therapy in severe pulmonary tuberculosis.

Pervasive Inter-Individual Variation in Allele-Specific Expression in Monozygotic Twins.

Despite being developed from one zygote, heterokaryotypic monozygotic (MZ) co-twins exhibit discordant karyotypes. Epigenomic studies in biological samples from heterokaryotypic MZ co-twins are of the most significant value for assessing the effects on gene- and allele-specific expression of an extranumerary chromosomal copy or structural chromosomal disparities in otherwise nearly identical germline genetic contributions. Here, we use RNA-Seq data from existing repositories to establish within-pair correlations for the breadth and magnitude of allele-specific expression (ASE) in heterokaryotypic MZ co-twins discordant for trisomy 21 and maternal 21q inheritance, as well as homokaryotypic co-twins.