Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Colonization and Infections in Large Retrospective Cohort of Mechanically Ventilated COVID-19 Patients.

Few data are available on incidence of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) colonization and infections in mechanically ventilated patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We retrospectively evaluated all patients admitted to the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) of Hub Hospital in Milan, Italy, during October 2020‒May 2021. Microbiologic surveillance was standardized with active screening at admission and weekly during ICU stay.

Distal and proximal hypoxia response elements cooperate to regulate organ-specific erythropoietin gene expression.

While it is well-established that distal hypoxia response elements (HREs) regulate hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) target genes such as erythropoietin (Epo), an interplay between multiple distal and proximal (promoter) HREs has not been described so far. Hepatic Epo expression is regulated by a HRE located downstream of the EPO gene, but this 3' HRE is dispensable for renal EPO gene expression. We previously identified a 5' HRE and could show that both HREs direct exogenous reporter gene expression.

Successful recovery from severe COVID-19 pneumonia after kidney transplantation: The interplay between immunosuppression and novel therapy including tocilizumab.

Although immunosuppressed patients may be more prone to SARS-CoV-2 infection with atypical presentation, long-term immunosuppression therapy may provide some sort of protection for severe clinical complications of COVID-19. The interaction between immunosuppression and new antiviral drugs in the treatment of transplanted patients contracting COVID-19 has not yet been fully investigated. Moreover, data regarding the optimal management of these patients are still very limited.

Generation of renal Epo-producing cell lines by conditional gene tagging reveals rapid HIF-2 driven Epo kinetics, cell autonomous feedback regulation, and a telocyte phenotype.

Erythropoietin (Epo) is essential for erythropoiesis and is mainly produced by the fetal liver and the adult kidney following hypoxic stimulation. Epo regulation is commonly studied in hepatoma cell lines, but differences in Epo regulation between kidney and liver limit the understanding of Epo dysregulation in polycythaemia and anaemia. To overcome this limitation, we have generated a novel transgenic mouse model expressing Cre recombinase specifically in the active fraction of renal Epo-producing (REP) cells.