Bispecific therapeutics: a state-of-the-art review on the combination of immune checkpoint ‎inhibition with costimulatory and non-checkpoint targeted therapy.

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the field of cancer immunotherapy and have enhanced the survival of patients with malignant tumors. However, the overall efficacy of ICIs remains unsatisfactory and is faced with two major concerns of resistance development and occurrence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) have emerged as promising strategies with unique mechanisms of action to achieve a better efficacy and safety than monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) or even their combination.

The role of extracellular vesicles in immune cell exhaustion and resistance to immunotherapy.

Introduction: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound nanoparticles for intercellular communication. Subtypes of EVs, namely exosomes and microvesicles transfer diverse, bioactive cargo to their target cells and eventually interfere with immune responses. Despite being a promising approach, cancer immunotherapy currently faces several challenges including immune resistance.

Prediabetes and major adverse cardiac events after acute coronary syndrome: An overestimated concept.

Background: Unlike diabetes, the effect of prediabetes on outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is not much investigated. We investigated the association between fasting glycemic status and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in patients with ACS undergoing PCI and had mid to long-term follow-up after coronary stenting.

Methods: Registry-based retrospective cohort study included ACS patients who underwent PCI at the Tehran Heart Center from 2015 to 2021 with a median follow-up of 378 days.

Whole-exome sequencing to identify undiagnosed primary immunodeficiency disorders in children with community-acquired sepsis, admitted in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Background: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) provides a powerful diagnostic tool for identifying primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs). This study explores the utility of this approach in uncovering previously undiagnosed PIDs in children with community-acquired sepsis (CAS), with a medical history of recurrent infections or a family history of PIDs.

Methods: We performed WES on DNA samples extracted from the blood of the 34 enrolled patients, followed by bioinformatic analysis for variant calling, annotation, and prioritization.