Pivotal role of exogenous pyruvate in human natural killer cell metabolism.

Resting natural killer (NK) cells display immediate effector functions after recognizing transformed or infected cells. The environmental nutrients and metabolic requirements to sustain these functions are not fully understood. Here, we show that NK cells rely on the use of extracellular pyruvate to support effector functions, signal transduction and cell viability.

Dacryocystitis: Is Dacryocystorhinostomy Always the Solution?

: The aim of the study was to compare dacryocystectomy (DCT) versus dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) in patients with dacryocystitis in terms of tearing complaints. : We conducted a retrospective and comparative study on 19 patients. The main outcome measure was defined as an improvement by 1 point of the Munk score postoperatively.

Haploinsufficiency in PTPN2 leads to early-onset systemic autoimmunity from Evans syndrome to lupus.

An exome sequencing strategy employed to identify pathogenic variants in patients with pediatric-onset systemic lupus or Evans syndrome resulted in the discovery of six novel monoallelic mutations in PTPN2. PTPN2 is a phosphatase that acts as an essential negative regulator of the JAK/STAT pathways. All mutations led to a loss of PTPN2 regulatory function as evidenced by in vitro assays and by hyperproliferation of patients' T cells.

Resilience after severe critical illness: a prospective, multicentre, observational study (RESIREA).

Background: Critical-illness survivors may experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and quality-of-life impairments. Resilience may protect against psychological trauma but has not been adequately studied after critical illness. We assessed resilience and its associations with PTSD and quality of life, and also identified factors associated with greater resilience.

Real-life experience of chronic hepatitis C treatment in Switzerland: a retrospective analysis.

Background And Aim: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have revolutionised the management of chronic hepatitis C. We analysed the use of different generations of DAAs over time in Switzerland and investigated factors predictive of treatment failure.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted within the framework of the Swiss Association for the Study of the Liver and the Swiss Hepatitis C Cohort Study; it included all patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with DAAs between January 2015 and December 2019 at eight Swiss referral centres.

Mendelian Causes of Autoimmunity: the Lupus Phenotype.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that is characterized by its large heterogeneity in terms of clinical presentation and severity. The pathophysiology of SLE involves an aberrant autoimmune response against various tissues, an excess of apoptotic bodies, and an overproduction of type-I interferon. The genetic contribution to the disease is supported by studies of monozygotic twins, familial clustering, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that have identified numerous risk loci.

DeepAlienorNet: A deep learning model to extract clinical features from colour fundus photography in age-related macular degeneration.

Objective: This study aimed to develop a deep learning (DL) model, named 'DeepAlienorNet', to automatically extract clinical signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) from colour fundus photography (CFP).

Methods And Analysis: The ALIENOR Study is a cohort of French individuals 77 years of age or older. A multi-label DL model was developed to grade the presence of 7 clinical signs: large soft drusen (>125 μm), intermediate soft (63-125 μm), large area of soft drusen (total area >500 μm), presence of central soft drusen (large or intermediate), hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, and advanced AMD (defined as neovascular or atrophic AMD).

Advanced waveform analysis of the photoplethysmogram signal using complementary signal processing techniques for the extraction of biomarkers of cardiovascular function.

Introduction: Photoplethysmogram signals from wearable devices typically measure heart rate and blood oxygen saturation, but contain a wealth of additional information about the cardiovascular system. In this study, we compared two signal-processing techniques: fiducial point analysis and Symmetric Projection Attractor Reconstruction, on their ability to extract new cardiovascular information from a photoplethysmogram signal. The aim was to identify fiducial point analysis and Symmetric Projection Attractor Reconstruction indices that could classify photoplethysmogram signals, according to age, sex and physical activity.

Organ damage is a major determinant of work productivity impairment in Behçet's Syndrome: a post-hoc analysis of the BODI validation study.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence, magnitude, and potential determinants of work productivity impairment in patients with Behçet's Syndrome (BS), focusing on the role of irreversible organ damage.

Methods: A post-hoc analysis of the BS overall damage index (BODI) prospective validation study was performed. Demographics and clinical features were recorded in all patients.

Effect of anti-P ribosomal and anti-NR2 antibodies on depression and cognitive processes in SLE: an integrated clinical and functional MRI study.

Objectives: To explore the effects of anti-ribosomal P protein (anti-P) and anti-N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor subunit 2 (anti-NR2) autoantibodies on depression and cognitive dysfunction and their relationships with functional brain connectivity in SLE.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included adult patients who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology 2019 SLE criteria. Anti-P and anti-NR2 were quantified using ELISA.

Phenotypic Variability in PRKCD: a Review of the Literature.

Purpose: Protein kinase C δ (PKCδ) deficiency is a rare genetic disorder identified as a monogenic cause of systemic lupus erythematosus in 2013. Since the first cases were described, the phenotype has expanded to include children presenting with autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome-related syndromes and infection susceptibility similar to chronic granulomatous disease or combined immunodeficiency. We review the current published data regarding the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, investigation and management of PKCδ deficiency.

Morphological and Molecular Characterizations of (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Larvae Responsible for Wound Myiasis in French Guiana.

Myiasis is an ectoparasitic infection caused by the larvae of true flies (Diptera). We came across a rather rare case of myiasis in an immunocompetent 34-year-old man from French Guiana with advanced wound myiasis masquerading as cavitary myiasis and a history of cholesteatoma surgery in the left ear. The Diptera larvae responsible for the disease were isolated and identified using morphological and molecular approaches as We underline the importance of this parasitosis as the second case of myiasis caused by and the first case of wound myiasis in this overseas department of France and its incidence in pre-urban areas of the capital, Cayenne, in South America.

Brain-reactive autoantibodies in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus.

Introduction: The pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is widely unknown, and the role of autoantibodies is still undetermined.

Methods: To identify brain-reactive autoantibodies possibly related to NPSLE, immunofluorescence (IF) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on rat and human brains were performed. ELISA was used to reveal the presence of known circulating autoantibodies, while western blot (WB) was applied to characterize potential unknown autoantigen(s).

Multi-Omics Data Integration Reveals Key Variables Contributing to Subgingival Microbiome Dysbiosis-Induced Inflammatory Response in a Hyperglycemic Microenvironment.

Subgingival microbiome dysbiosis promotes the development of periodontitis, an irreversible chronic inflammatory disease associated with metabolic diseases. However, studies regarding the effects of a hyperglycemic microenvironment on host-microbiome interactions and host inflammatory response during periodontitis are still scarce. Here, we investigated the impacts of a hyperglycemic microenvironment on the inflammatory response and transcriptome of a gingival coculture model stimulated with dysbiotic subgingival microbiomes.

Distribution of [C]-JNJ-42491293 in the marmoset brain: a positron emission tomography study.

JNJ-42491293 is a metabotropic glutamate 2 (mGlu) positive allosteric modulator (PAM) that was radiolabelled with [C]- to serve as a positron emission tomography (PET) ligand. Indeed, in vitro, the molecule displays high selectivity at mGlu receptors. However, PET experiments performed in rats, macaques and humans, have suggested that [C]-JNJ-42491293 could interact with an unidentified, non-mGlu receptor binding site.