Association Between Time-of-Day of Immune Checkpoint Blockade Administration and Outcomes in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Preclinical evidence demonstrating circadian rhythmicity within the immune system provides a rationale for hypothesis that immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) infusion time-of-day may serve as an actionable mechanism to improve outcomes. Herein, we explore the association between ICI time of infusion (TOI) and outcomes in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Methods: Data from patients with mRCC who received nivolumab or nivolumab/ipilimumab, in first- or second-line were retrospectively collected.

Postoperative Complications of Appendectomy in Gynecologic Laparoscopic Surgery for Benign Indications.

Objective: To assess whether concomitant appendectomy in patients who undergo laparoscopic surgery for benign gynecologic indications is associated with increased rates of complications in the 30-day postoperative period.

Methods: The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was used to identify patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery by a gynecologist. Patients were excluded if they underwent open abdominal surgeries, bowel resections, urogynecologic surgeries, or if diagnoses of cancer or appendicitis were present.

Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Attention, Memory, and Sensorimotor Performance.

Background: Recovery after SARS-CoV-2 infection is extremely variable, with some individuals recovering quickly, and others experiencing persistent long-term symptoms or developing new symptoms after the acute phase of infection, including fatigue, poor concentration, impaired attention, or memory deficits. Many existing studies reporting cognitive deficits associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection are limited by the exclusive use of self-reported measures or a lack of adequate comparison groups.

Methods: Forty-five participants, ages 18-70, (11 Long-COVID, 14 COVID, and 20 No-COVID) underwent behavioral testing with the NIH Toolbox Neuro-Quality of Life survey and selected psychometric tests, including a flanker interference task and the d2 Test of Attention.

In vitro evaluation of current and novel antivirals in combination against human cytomegalovirus.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can cause severe disease in patients with compromised or immature immune systems. Currently approved pharmacotherapies for the treatment of systemic HCMV infections [ganciclovir (GCV), cidofovir (CDV), foscarnet] are limited by a high incidence of adverse effects and/or the development of drug resistance. Given that many of these drugs have the same viral target (HCMV-encoded DNA polymerase), cross-resistance is relatively common.

Tim-3 is an inducible human natural killer cell receptor that enhances interferon gamma production in response to galectin-9.

NK-cell function is regulated by the integration of signals received from activating and inhibitory receptors. Here we show that a novel immune receptor, T-cell Ig and mucin-containing domain-3 (Tim-3), is expressed on resting human NK cells and is up-regulated on activation. The NK92 NK-cell line engineered to overexpress Tim-3 showed a marked increase in IFN-γ production in the presence of soluble rhGal-9 or Raji tumor cells engineered to express Gal-9.