Primary and Recall Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 in Breakthrough Infection.

Breakthrough infections in SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated individuals are an ideal circumstance for the simultaneous exploration of both the vaccine-induced memory reaction to the spike (S) protein and the primary response to the membrane (M) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins generated by natural infection. We monitored 15 healthcare workers who had been vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer BioNTech BNT162b2 and were then later infected with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.

Implications of Atopic Dermatitis on the Quality of Life of 6-11 Years Old Children and Caregivers (PEDI-BURDEN).

Purpose: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing and remitting inflammatory skin disease characterized by intense itch. The disease burden includes physical limitations, psychosocial discomfort, and a reduced quality of life (HRQoL). This study presents the results of a parent-reported survey on the psychosocial impact of AD on Italian pre-adolescent children (6-11 years old), with a specific focus on bullying, self-isolation, absenteeism, and presenteeism.

Patients' and Caregivers' Experiences With Atopic Dermatitis-Related Burden, Medical Care, and Treatments in 8 Countries.

Background: Previous studies have documented the high patient and caregiver burden associated with atopic dermatitis (AD). Less is known about the factors-especially those related to treatment options and the delivery of medical care-that may relate to burden and unmet needs among patients and their caregivers.

Objective: Our primary aim was to characterize and compare health-related quality of life, long-term control of symptoms, satisfaction with treatments, the financial burden, and the prevalence of patient-centered care among adult and pediatric patients with AD in 8 developed nations.

Non-myogenic mesenchymal cells contribute to muscle degeneration in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy patients.

Muscle-resident non-myogenic mesenchymal cells play key roles that drive successful tissue regeneration within the skeletal muscle stem cell niche. These cells have recently emerged as remarkable therapeutic targets for neuromuscular disorders, although to date they have been poorly investigated in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). In this study, we characterised the non-myogenic mesenchymal stromal cell population in FSHD patients' muscles with signs of disease activity, identified by muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and compared them with those obtained from apparently normal muscles of FSHD patients and from muscles of healthy, age-matched controls.

Proinflammatory mucosal-associated invariant CD8+ T cells react to gut flora yeasts and infiltrate multiple sclerosis brain.

The composition of the intestinal microbiota plays a critical role in shaping the immune system. Modern lifestyle, the inappropriate use of antibiotics, and exposure to pollution have significantly affected the composition of commensal microorganisms. The intestinal microbiota has been shown to sustain inappropriate autoimmune responses at distant sites in animal models of disease, and may also have a role in immune-mediated central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 T-stem cell memory persists in ocrelizumab-treated MS patients.

Background: Development of long-lasting anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) T-cell responses in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) treated with ocrelizumab is questioned.

Objective: Investigate antiviral T-cell responses after infection with SARS-CoV-2 in ocrelizumab-treated pwMS. Control groups included ocrelizumab-treated pwMS without SARS-CoV-2 infection, and non-MS individuals with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Genetically Driven CD39 Expression Affects Sezary Cell Viability and IL-2 Production and Detects Two Patient Subsets with Distinct Prognosis.

Sézary syndrome (SS) is a rare and aggressive variant of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. It is characterized by the copresence of CD4+ neoplastic lymphocytes, named Sezary cells, mainly in the blood, lymph nodes, and skin where they induce chronic inflammation that in turn impairs the patient's QOL and fuels neoplastic cells. SS is not readily cured, but immunotherapy is becoming an effective option for this lymphoma.

Assessment of T-cell Reactivity to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant by Immunized Individuals.

Importance: The emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and the findings of a significantly reduced neutralizing potency of sera from individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination highlights the importance of studying cellular immunity to estimate the degree of immune protection to the new SARS-CoV-2 variant.

Objective: To determine T-cell reactivity to the Omicron variant in individuals with established (natural and/or vaccine-induced) immunity to SARS-CoV-2.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a cohort study conducted between December 20 and 21, 2021, at the Santa Lucia Foundation Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rome, Italy, among health care worker and scientist volunteers.

Determinants of epigenetic resistance to HDAC inhibitors in dystrophic fibro-adipogenic progenitors.

Pharmacological treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) with histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) is currently being tested in clinical trials; however, pre-clinical studies indicated that the beneficial effects of HDACi are restricted to early stages of disease. We show that FAPs from late-stage mdx mice exhibit aberrant HDAC activity and genome-wide alterations of histone acetylation that are not fully reversed by HDACi. In particular, combinatorial H3K27 and/or H3K9/14 hypo-acetylation at promoters of genes required for cell cycle activation and progression, as well as glycolysis, are associated with their downregulation in late-stage mdx FAPs.

Long-term management of moderate-to-severe adult atopic dermatitis: a consensus by the Italian Society of Dermatology and Venereology (SIDeMaST), the Association of Italian Territorial and Hospital Allergists and Immunologists (AAIITO), the Italian Association of Hospital Dermatologists (ADOI), the Italian Society of Allergological, Environmental and Occupational Dermatology (SIDAPA), and the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC).

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic-relapsing inflammatory skin disease, burdened by various comorbidities. AD most commonly occurs in children but may persist or present in adulthood becoming a lifelong condition. Therefore, AD requires an effective long-term treatment improving disease signs and symptoms but also of patients' quality of life (QoL).

Microglia and Astrocytes in Alzheimer's Disease in the Context of the Aberrant Copper Homeostasis Hypothesis.

Evidence of copper's (Cu) involvement in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is available, but information on Cu involvement in microglia and astrocytes during the course of AD has yet to be structurally discussed. This review deals with this matter in an attempt to provide an updated discussion on the role of reactive glia challenged by excess labile Cu in a wide picture that embraces all the major processes identified as playing a role in toxicity induced by an imbalance of Cu in AD.

BNT162b2 vaccination induces durable SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells with a stem cell memory phenotype.

Vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is effective in preventing hospitalization from severe COVID-19. However, multiple reports of breakthrough infections and of waning antibody titers have raised concerns on the durability of the vaccine, and current vaccination strategies now propose administration of a third dose. Here, we monitored T cell responses to the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in 71 healthy donors vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2) for up to 6 months after vaccination.

Case Report: Sars-CoV-2 Infection in a Vaccinated Individual: Evaluation of the Immunological Profile and Virus Transmission Risk.

During the COVID19 pandemic, a range of vaccines displayed high efficacy in preventing disease, severe outcomes of infection, and mortality. However, the immunological correlates of protection, the duration of immune response, the transmission risk over time from vaccinated individuals are currently under active investigation. In this brief report, we describe the case of a vaccinated Healthcare Professional infected with a variant of Sars-CoV-2, who has been extensively investigated in order to draw a complete trajectory of infection.

The Nucleolar Protein Nucleophosmin Is Physiologically Secreted by Endothelial Cells in Response to Stress Exerting Proangiogenic Activity Both In Vitro and In Vivo.

Nucleophosmin (NPM), a nucleolar multifunctional phosphoprotein, acts as a stress sensor in different cell types. NPM can be actively secreted by inflammatory cells, however its biology on endothelium remains unexplored. In this study, we show for the first time that NPM is secreted by human vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in the early response to serum deprivation and that NPM acts as a pro-inflammatory and angiogenic molecule both in vitro and in vivo.

Influence of different lipid emulsions on specific immune cell functions in head and neck cancer patients receiving supplemental parenteral nutrition: An exploratory analysis.

Objectives: The effect of diet on immune responses is an area of intense investigation. Dietary lipids have been shown to differently influence and fine-tune the reactivity of immune cell subsets, thus potentially affecting clinical outcomes. Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma face malnutrition, due to swallowing impairment related to the tumor site or to treatment sequalae, and may need supplemental parenteral nutrition (SPN) in addition to oral feeding when enteral nutrition is not feasible.

Zinc and COVID-19: Basis of Current Clinical Trials.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to threaten patients, societies, and economic and healthcare systems around the world. Like many other diseases, the host immune system determines the progress of COVID-19 and fatality. Modulation of inflammatory response and cytokine production using immunonutrition is a novel concept that has been applied to other diseases as well.

Reduction of T Lymphoma Cells and Immunological Invigoration in a Patient Concurrently Affected by Melanoma and Sezary Syndrome Treated With Nivolumab.

Despite the recent availability of several new drugs in hemato-oncology, T-cell lymphomas are still incurable and PD-1 blockade could represent a therapeutic chance for selected patients affected by these malignancies, although further studies are required to understand the biological effects of anti-PD-1 mAbs on neoplastic T-cells and to identify biomarkers for predicting and/or monitoring patients' response to therapy. Sezary Syndrome (SS) represents a rare and aggressive variant of cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) with a life expectancy of less than 5 years, characterized by the co-presence of neoplastic lymphocytes mainly in the blood, lymph nodes and skin. In this study we analyzed longitudinal blood samples and lesional skin biopsies of a patient concurrently affected by SS and melanoma who underwent 22 nivolumab administrations.

EBV-specific CD8 T lymphocytes and B cells during glatiramer acetate therapy in patients with MS.

Objective: Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with clinical activity and risk of developing MS. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of glatiramer acetate (GA) therapy on EBV-specific immune responses and disease course.

Methods: We characterized EBV-specific CD8 T lymphocytes and B cells during disease-modifying treatments in 2 groups of patients with MS.

Zinc Therapy in Early Alzheimer's Disease: Safety and Potential Therapeutic Efficacy.

Zinc therapy is normally utilized for treatment of Wilson disease (WD), an inherited condition that is characterized by increased levels of non-ceruloplasmin bound ('free') copper in serum and urine. A subset of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or its prodromal form, known as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), fail to maintain a normal copper metabolic balance and exhibit higher than normal values of non-ceruloplasmin copper. Zinc's action mechanism involves the induction of intestinal cell metallothionein, which blocks copper absorption from the intestinal tract, thus restoring physiological levels of non-ceruloplasmin copper in the body.

Extracellular Vesicles-Encapsulated MicroRNA-125b Produced in Genetically Modified Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Inhibits Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent type of primary liver cancer and one of the prominent causes of cancer mortality, leading to approximately 780,000 deaths per year worldwide. Down-regulation of microRNA-125b (miR-125b) is a prognostic indicator in HCC patients. Conversely, over-expression of miR-125b in HCC cells induces cell cycle arrest, inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion.

Blood and skin-derived Sezary cells: differences in proliferation-index, activation of PI3K/AKT/mTORC1 pathway and its prognostic relevance.

Sézary syndrome (SS) is a rare and aggressive variant of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma characterized by neoplastic distribution mainly involving blood, skin, and lymph-node. Although a role of the skin microenvironment in SS pathogenesis has long been hypothesized, its function in vivo is poorly characterized. To deepen this aspect, here we compared skin to blood-derived SS cells concurrently obtained from SS patients highlighting a greater proliferation-index and a PI3K/AKT/mTORC1 pathway activation level, particularly of mTOR protein, in skin-derived-SS cells.

FoxP3 isoforms and PD-1 expression by T regulatory cells in multiple sclerosis.

Forkhead box P3 (FoxP3)+ regulatory T cells (Treg) are powerful mediators of immune regulation and immune homeostasis. In humans, Tregs are a heterogeneous population expressing surface markers which define phenotypically and functionally distinct subsets. Moreover, it is now clear that intracellular staining for FoxP3 does not unequivocally identify "true" suppressor cells, since several FoxP3 isoforms exist, and different reagents for FoxP3 detection are available.

Central role of the p53 pathway in the noncoding-RNA response to oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress plays a fundamental role in many conditions. Specifically, redox imbalance inhibits endothelial cell (EC) growth, inducing cell death and senescence. We used global transcriptome profiling to investigate the involvement of noncoding-RNAs in these phenotypes.