ERS International Congress 2023: highlights from the Basic and Translational Sciences Assembly.

Early career members of Assembly 3 (Basic and Translational Sciences) of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) summarise the key messages discussed during six selected sessions that took place at the ERS International Congress 2023 in Milan, Italy. Aligned with the theme of the congress, the first session covered is "Micro- and macro-environments and respiratory health", which is followed by a summary of the "Scientific year in review" session. Next, recent advances in experimental methodologies and new technologies are discussed from the "Tissue modelling and remodelling" session and a summary provided of the translational science session, "What did you always want to know about omics analyses for clinical practice?", which was organised as part of the ERS Translational Science initiative's aims.

Cytokine-armed dendritic cell progenitors for antigen-agnostic cancer immunotherapy.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting myeloid cells that regulate T cell activation, trafficking and function. Monocyte-derived DCs pulsed with tumor antigens have been tested extensively for therapeutic vaccination in cancer, with mixed clinical results. Here, we present a cell-therapy platform based on mouse or human DC progenitors (DCPs) engineered to produce two immunostimulatory cytokines, IL-12 and FLT3L.

Impact of COVID-19 on long-term lung function in lung transplant recipients: A single-center retrospective cohort study.

Available data are limited concerning long-term lung function (LF) evolution after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in lung transplant (LT) recipients. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of first SARS-CoV-2 infection on long-term LF in LT recipients. We analyzed spirometry results of LT recipients followed at our institution (March 2020 to July 2022) at 3, 6, and 12 months after first SARS-CoV-2 infection.

ERS International Congress 2022: highlights from the Basic and Translational Science Assembly.

In this review, the Basic and Translational Science Assembly of the European Respiratory Society provides an overview of the 2022 International Congress highlights. We discuss the consequences of respiratory events from birth until old age regarding climate change related alterations in air quality due to pollution caused by increased ozone, pollen, wildfires and fuel combustion as well as the increasing presence of microplastic and microfibres. Early life events such as the effect of hyperoxia in the context of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and crucial effects of the intrauterine environment in the context of pre-eclampsia were discussed.

Personalized predictions of adverse side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Background: Misconceptions about adverse side effects are thought to influence public acceptance of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines negatively. To address such perceived disadvantages of vaccines, a novel machine learning (ML) approach was designed to generate personalized predictions of the most common adverse side effects following injection of six different COVID-19 vaccines based on personal and health-related characteristics.

Methods: Prospective data of adverse side effects following COVID-19 vaccination in 19943 participants from Iran and Switzerland was utilized.

[Pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer: between complementarities and specificities].

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the developed world. Diffuse fibrosing interstitial lung disease (ILD) consist of a heterogeneous group that includes idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Diffuse ILD is a risk factor for the development of lung cancer which on its own is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality.

Delayed Diagnosis of Chronic Necrotizing Granulomatous Skin Lesions due to TAP2 Deficiency.

Major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) deficiency, also known as bare lymphocyte syndrome type 1 (BLS-1), is a rare autosomal recessively inherited immunodeficiency disorder with remarkable clinical and biological heterogeneity. Transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) is a member of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily of transporters and consists of two subunits, TAP1 or TAP2. Any defect resulting from a mutation or deletion of these two subunits may adversely affect the peptide translocation in the endoplasmic reticulum, which is an important process for properly assembling MHC-I molecules.

Longevity of immunity following COVID-19 vaccination: a comprehensive review of the currently approved vaccines.

It is unknown how long the immunity following COVID-19 vaccination lasts. The current systematic review provides a perspective on the persistence of various antibodies for available vaccines.Both the BNT162b2 and the mRNA-1273 induce the production of IgA antibodies, reflecting the possible prevention of the asymptomatic spread.

Using Machine Learning to Predict Mortality for COVID-19 Patients on Day 0 in the ICU.

Given the expanding number of COVID-19 cases and the potential for new waves of infection, there is an urgent need for early prediction of the severity of the disease in intensive care unit (ICU) patients to optimize treatment strategies. Early prediction of mortality using machine learning based on typical laboratory results and clinical data registered on the day of ICU admission. We retrospectively studied 797 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Iran and the United Kingdom (U.

Symptom Prediction and Mortality Risk Calculation for COVID-19 Using Machine Learning.

Early prediction of symptoms and mortality risks for COVID-19 patients would improve healthcare outcomes, allow for the appropriate distribution of healthcare resources, reduce healthcare costs, aid in vaccine prioritization and self-isolation strategies, and thus reduce the prevalence of the disease. Such publicly accessible prediction models are lacking, however. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of existing machine learning (ML) methods, we created two models based solely on the age, gender, and medical histories of 23,749 hospital-confirmed COVID-19 patients from February to September 2020: a symptom prediction model (SPM) and a mortality prediction model (MPM).

Successful Treatment of Covid-19 Associated Cytokine Release Syndrome with Colchicine. A Case Report and Review of Literature.

We describe the case of a 42 year old, healthy patient with Covid-19 who despite improvement in his respiratory symptoms developed a mild to moderate cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and an associated monoarticular gout flare. Since the patient refused admission to the hospital and had stable vital signs, we chose to treat him with a safe anti-inflammatory and non-immunosuppressive therapy. To hit two birds with one stone, we considered colchicine, as it has systemic anti-inflammatory effects and is also effective in gout flare.

Fatal Cytomegalovirus Infection in an Adult with Inherited NOS2 Deficiency.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) can cause severe disease in children and adults with a variety of inherited or acquired T-cell immunodeficiencies, who are prone to multiple infections. It can also rarely cause disease in otherwise healthy persons. The pathogenesis of idiopathic CMV disease is unknown.

Mesenchymal stromal cell exosomes prevent and revert experimental pulmonary fibrosis through modulation of monocyte phenotypes.

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cell (MSC) therapy has shown promise in experimental models of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The aim of this study was to test the therapeutic effects of extracellular vesicles produced by human BM MSCs (MEx) in a bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model and investigate mechanisms of action. Adult C57BL/6 mice were challenged with endotracheal instillation of bleomycin and treated with MEx concurrently, or for reversal models, at day 7 or 21.

Oscillatory stimuli differentiate adapting circuit topologies.

Biology emerges from interactions between molecules, which are challenging to elucidate with current techniques. An orthogonal approach is to probe for 'response signatures' that identify specific circuit motifs. For example, bistability, hysteresis, or irreversibility are used to detect positive feedback loops.

ISG15 deficiency and increased viral resistance in humans but not mice.

ISG15 is an interferon (IFN)-α/β-induced ubiquitin-like protein. It exists as a free molecule, intracellularly and extracellularly, and conjugated to target proteins. Studies in mice have demonstrated a role for Isg15 in antiviral immunity.

Inherited CARD9 deficiency in 2 unrelated patients with invasive Exophiala infection.

Background: Exophiala species are mostly responsible for skin infections. Invasive Exophiala dermatitidis disease is a rare and frequently fatal infection, with 42 cases reported. About half of these cases had no known risk factors.

Inherited IL-12p40 deficiency: genetic, immunologic, and clinical features of 49 patients from 30 kindreds.

Autosomal recessive interleukin (IL)-12 p40 (IL-12p40) deficiency is a rare genetic etiology of mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease (MSMD). We report the genetic, immunologic, and clinical features of 49 patients from 30 kindreds originating from 5 countries (India, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia). There are only 9 different mutant alleles of the IL12B gene: 2 small insertions, 3 small deletions, 2 splice site mutations, and 1 large deletion, each causing a frameshift and leading to a premature stop codon, and 1 nonsense mutation.

Mycobacterial disease and impaired IFN-γ immunity in humans with inherited ISG15 deficiency.

ISG15 is an interferon (IFN)-α/β-inducible, ubiquitin-like intracellular protein. Its conjugation to various proteins (ISGylation) contributes to antiviral immunity in mice. Here, we describe human patients with inherited ISG15 deficiency and mycobacterial, but not viral, diseases.

Clinical and radiological deterioration due to Mycobacterium szulgai in an asthmatic patient.

We report the case of a 23-year-old asthmatic woman who had clinical and radiological deterioration due to Mycobacterium szulgai infection and good response to anti-mycobacterial treatment without any structural abnormalities in previous lung imaging studies. M. szulgai may be considered a pathogen able to cause deterioration of respiratory health even in patients with previously normal lungs.

Lethal tuberculosis in a previously healthy adult with IL-12 receptor deficiency.

A 33-year-old man was admitted in hospital due to fever, generalized lymphadenopathy, and hepatosplenomegaly. He had a history of anti-tuberculosis treatment in the previous 3 years. Despite normal chest radiograph, a sputum sample was smear-positive for acid-fast bacilli, and polymerase chain reaction was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria among patients who are suspected for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis-need for earlier identification of nontuberculosis mycobacteria.

Background: In this study, we intended to find the prevalence of nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) among patients who are referred as suspected multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases to the only referral center in Iran.

Methods: All patients referred to our center in 2002-2006 as MDR-TB with histories of treatment with standard and CAT II World Health Organization regimens were included in the study. Sputum smear and culture for acid-fast bacilli were performed for all patients 3 times.