The importance of neopterin in COVID-19: The prognostic value and relation with the disease severity.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 [COVID-19], caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2], has rapidly evolved into a global health emergency. Neopterin [NPT], produced by macrophages when stimulated with interferon [IFN-]gamma, is an essential cytokine in the antiviral immune response. NPT has been used as a marker for the early assessment of disease severity in different diseases. The leading cause of NPT production is the pro-inflammatory cytokine IFN-. Macrophage activation has also been revealed to be linked with disease severity in SARS-CoV-2 patients. We demonstrate the importance of NPT in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and suggest that targeting NPT in SARS-CoV-2 infection may be critical in the early prediction of disease progression and provision of timely management of infected individuals.

Estimation of annual incidence of lung cancer associated with work place exposure to passive smoking in France.

This study attempted to estimate the number of annual new cases of lung cancer from workplace exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) in France. The number of new lung cancer cases attributable to workplace ETS exposure in France was estimated with regard to the following factors: excess risk of lung cancer from workplace ETS exposure, incidence of lung cancer in non-exposed non-smokers, and number of French workers exposed to passive smoking. The excess risk of lung cancer from workplace ETS exposure was estimated as from 0.12 to 0.39 by different references. The French workforce, regularly exposed to ETS in their workplace is about 3.2 millions. The incidence of lung cancer of non-smokers without exposure to ETS is between 3.7 to 10 per hundred thousand. If these three factors are combined, it is estimated that exposure to workplace passive smoking causes around 14 to 125 new cases of lung cancer each year in France. New lung cancer cases from workplace exposure to ETS represent a few percent of all occupational lung cancers, and a minuscule number in regards to the whole lung cancer annual incidence (14 to 125 for 23,000 lung cancers in France=0.06% to 0.54%).

Effects of environmental tobacco smoke on respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms. During periodic medical examination, 392 French nonsmokers responded to an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Then spirometry was performed to assess pulmonary function. All of the subjects were carefully examined by two occupational physicians. ETS exposure at the workplace was more common than this exposure at home (20% vs. 5%). ETS exposure was significantly associated with forced vital capacity (FVC; -3.16%; 95% CI: -5.67 to -0.64) and forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1; -2.90%; 95% CI: -5.59 to -0.23). Abnormal FVC results were significantly increased in exposed subgroup [odds ratio = 2.71 (95% CI: 1.09 to 6.75)]. We did not find any significant dose-response relationship between ETS exposure and lung function results. The effects of ETS exposure on respiratory symptoms and diseases (asthma, wheezing, chronic bronchitis, and dyspnea) were not significant. Thus, this study showed that there was a significant inverse association between exposure to ETS and pulmonary function. Even pulmonary function results inferior to the lower limit of normal may be possible. A stricter legislation against ETS is proposed.