Drug Therapy for Hypertriglyceridemia and Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome: Focus on Volnesorsen.

Volanesorsen is a new medication that may soon be used in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS). Volanesorsen works via binding to Apo C-III mRNA and degrading that mRNA, thus decreasing the synthesis of Apo C-III. This decreased synthesis of Apo C-III will increase the binding of triglycerides to LDL receptors and decrease triglyceride plasma levels.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Clinical Syndromes and Predictors of Disease Severity in Hospitalized Children and Youth.

Objective: To characterize the demographic and clinical features of pediatric severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) syndromes and identify admission variables predictive of disease severity.

Study Design: We conducted a multicenter, retrospective, and prospective study of pediatric patients hospitalized with acute SARS-CoV-2 infections and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) at 8 sites in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Results: We identified 281 hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections and divided them into 3 groups based on clinical features.

Fluorescence-linked Antigen Quantification (FLAQ) Assay for Fast Quantification of HIV-1 p24.

The fluorescence-linked antigen quantification (FLAQ) assay allows a fast quantification of HIV-1 p24 antigen. Viral supernatant are lysed and incubated with polystyrene microspheres coated with polyclonal antibodies against HIV-1 p24 and detector antibodies conjugated to fluorochromes (Figure 1). After washes, the fluorescence of microspheres is measured by flow cytometry and reflects the abundance of the antigen in the lysate.

Negative regulation of TLR9-mediated IFN-alpha induction by a small-molecule, synthetic TLR7 ligand.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of molecules that function as sensors for the detection of foreign pathogens through the recognition of nonvariable microbial motifs. Although numerous studies have focused on singular TLRs, less attention has been focused on how simultaneous signaling of multiple TLRs may result in counter-regulation of the effects of each. Here, we examine the counter-regulation that occurs during simultaneous stimulation of TLR7 and TLR9 on human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) and B cells.