Differential sensitivity of the 2020 revised comprehensive diagnostic criteria and the 2019 ACR/EULAR classification criteria across IgG4-related disease phenotypes: results from a Norwegian cohort.

Background: We investigated sensitivity of the 2020 Revised Comprehensive Diagnostic Criteria (RCD) and the 2019 ACR/EULAR classification criteria across the four identified IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) phenotypes: "Pancreato-Hepato-Biliary", "Retroperitoneum and Aorta", "Head and Neck-limited" and "Mikulicz' and Systemic" in a well-characterized patient cohort.

Methods: We included adult patients diagnosed with IgG4-RD after comprehensive clinical assessment at Oslo University Hospital in Norway. We assigned patients to IgG4-RD phenotypes based on pattern of organ involvement and assessed fulfillment of RCD and 2019 ACR/EULAR classification criteria.

Prospective sampling bias in COVID-19 recruitment methods: experimental evidence from a national randomized survey testing recruitment materials.

Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, social science research has required recruiting many prospective participants. Many researchers have explicitly taken advantage of widespread public interest in COVID-19 to advertise their studies. Leveraging this interest, however, risks creating unrepresentative samples due to differential interest in the topic.

Anti-Endothelial Cell Antibodies are not frequently elevated in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

n/a.

Anti-Endothelial Cell Antibodies are not frequently elevated in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

COVID-19 is now established to be associated with a thrombotic phenomenon, now called COVID-19 associated coagulopathy (CAC). Anti-Endothelial Cell Antibodies (AECA) are a heterogenous group of autoantibodies targeting various endothelial cell antigens or antigens adhering to endothelial cells, They are commonly observed in a variety of auto-immune and rheumatologic conditions, and were observed in patients with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2005. We aimed to assess AECA status in patients with COVID-19 and their potential contributing role to endothelial injury and CAC.

Tocilizumab in addition to standard of care in the management of COVID-19: a meta-analysis of RCTs.

Objective: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis for exploring clinical benefits and safety of tocilizumab in addition to standard of care (SOC) in treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: An electronic search was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct, as well as in medRxiv preprint server, to identify eligible studies. Only randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) that compared mortality events and/or adverse events between a tocilizumab + SOC group and a SOC-only control group were included.

"Until I Know It's Safe for Me": The Role of Timing in COVID-19 Vaccine Decision-Making and Vaccine Hesitancy.

Managing the COVID-19 pandemic-and other communicable diseases-involves broad societal uptake of vaccines. As has been demonstrated, however, vaccine uptake is often uneven and incomplete across populations. This is a substantial challenge that must be addressed by public health efforts.

Outcomes of extracorporeal life support for respiratory failure in children with primary immunodeficiencies.

Objective: Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) may serve as a life-saving rescue therapy in critically ill children with respiratory failure. While survival rates of ECMO in children with secondary immunodeficiency is considered relatively poor, survival rates in children with primary immunodeficiencies (PID) has yet to be thoroughly investigated.

Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from children (29 days-18 years old).

Complement levels at admission as a reflection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity state.

Complement system hyperactivation has been proposed as a potential driver of adverse outcomes in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infected patients, given prior research of complement deposits found in tissue and blood samples, as well as evidence of clinical improvement with anticomplement therapy. Its role in augmenting thrombotic microangiopathy mediated organ damage has also been implicated in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to examine associations between complement parameters and progression to severe COVID-19 illness, as well as correlations with other systems.

The anti-inflammatory cytokine response characterized by elevated interleukin-10 is a stronger predictor of severe disease and poor outcomes than the pro-inflammatory cytokine response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Objectives: Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a dysregulated immune state. While research has focused on the hyperinflammation, little research has been performed on the compensatory anti-inflammatory response. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory cytokine response to COVID-19, by assessing interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-10/lymphocyte count ratio and their association with outcomes.

Lymphopenia and neutrophilia at admission predicts severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19: a meta-analysis.

Background: There is a compelling need to identify clinical and laboratory predictors of unfavorable clinical course and death in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A trend towards low lymphocyte count and high neutrophil counts in patients with poor outcomes has been reported by earlier studies. We aim to synthesize existing data evaluating the relationship between clinical outcomes and abnormal neutrophil and lymphocyte counts at admission in COVID-19 patients.

Lactate dehydrogenase levels predict coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity and mortality: A pooled analysis.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has now reached a pandemic state, affecting more than a million patients worldwide. Predictors of disease outcomes in these patients need to be urgently assessed to decrease morbidity and societal burden. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) has been associated with worse outcomes in patients with viral infections.

Do sex-specific immunobiological factors and differences in angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression explain increased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in males?

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), shares similarities with the former SARS outbreak, which was caused by SARS-CoV-1. SARS was characterized by severe lung injury due to virus-induced cytopathic effects and dysregulated hyperinflammatory state. COVID-19 has a higher mortality rate in men both inside and outside China.

Hyperinflammation and derangement of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in COVID-19: A novel hypothesis for clinically suspected hypercoagulopathy and microvascular immunothrombosis.

Early clinical evidence suggests that severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are frequently characterized by hyperinflammation, imbalance of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and a particular form of vasculopathy, thrombotic microangiopathy, and intravascular coagulopathy. In this paper, we present an immunothrombosis model of COVID-19. We discuss the underlying pathogenesis and the interaction between multiple systems, resulting in propagation of immunothrombosis, which through investigation in the coming weeks, may lead to both an improved understanding of COVID-19 pathophysiology and identification of innovative and efficient therapeutic targets to reverse the otherwise unfavorable clinical outcome of many of these patients.

[Tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome].

Background: Uveitis and acute renal failure can be seen in various immune-mediated systemic diseases. Here we present a case of a young man with a rare inflammatory oculorenal syndrome.

Case Report: A man in his thirties was admitted with a constellation of fatigue, flank pain, weight loss and bilateral acute anterior uveitis.

Tolerability and safety of long-term rituximab treatment in systemic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing selective B-cell depletion, is used for various systemic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases (SIADs). Long-term safety data on rituximab are limited. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of rituximab treatment for SIADs.

[Purple urine bag syndrome].

Background: Purple urine bag syndrome (PUBS) can occur in cases of bacteriuria with species expressing enzymes capable of converting tryptophan metabolites to red and blue pigments which are excreted in urine, leaving a characteristic purple colour. Risk factors include urinary catheterisation, constipation and chronic kidney disease. Treatment includes catheter replacement, and antibiotics in case of urinary tract infection.

Fatigue in Mastocytosis: A Case Series.

Purpose: Accumulating evidence suggests that fatigue in chronic inflammatory diseases is generated in the brain by mechanisms involving proinflammatory cytokines. We recently reported a high prevalence of fatigue in patients with mastocytosis, a condition with a constant activation of mast cells and release of a variety of bioactive substances. This observation indicates that mast cells somehow could be involved in the biological mechanisms that generate fatigue.

The prevalence and anatomy of parathyroid glands: a meta-analysis with implications for parathyroid surgery.

Purpose: The anatomy of parathyroid glands (PTG) is highly variable in the population. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic analysis on the prevalence and location of PTG in healthy and hyperparathyroidism (HPT) patients.

Methods: An extensive search of the major electronic databases was conducted to identify all studies that reported relevant data on the number of PTG per patient and location of PTG.