Stem-cell transplantation for children with primary immune deficiencies: A retrospective study of 19 patients from one centre in Mexico.

INTRODUCTION: For many patients with primary immune deficiency (PID), stem-cell transplantation (SCT) may be life-saving. OBJECTIVE: To review our experience of 11 years transplanting children with PID in Mexico. METHODS: Chart review of patients who underwent SCT from 2008 to 2018, to describe their diagnoses, time to transplant, conditioning regime, survival rate and outcomes. All patients received post-transplant cyclophosphamide as graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. RESULTS: 19 patients with combined, phagocytic or syndromic PID from 5 states. Twelve of them were male (58%) and 14 survive (79%). Mean age at HSCT was 41.9 months; mean time from diagnosis was 31.2 months. Seven grafts were umbilical cord and 12 haploidentical. The conditioning regime was myeloablative, with five primary graft failures. Two patients had partial and 10 full chimerism. Five patients died within 2 months after transplant. Immune reconstitution was complete in 11 of 19 patients. We found a prevalence of 21% GVHD. DISCUSSION: We describe 19 patients from Mexico with 8 PID diagnoses who underwent allogenic HSCT over a period of 11 years. Survival rate and other outcomes compare well with industrialized countries. We recommend the use of post-transplant cyclophosphamide to prevent GVHD in scenarios of resource scarcity and a lack of HLA-identical donors.

COVID-19 in the Context of Inborn Errors of Immunity: a Case Series of 31 Patients from Mexico.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with inborn errors of immunity (IEI) have a compromised or inappropriate immune response. Although they might be considered a high-risk group for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, the reported impact of COVID-19 in these patients has been reassuring, while the differential susceptibility of distinct types of IEI remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe the findings and outcomes of our known patients with IEI who were diagnosed with COVID-19. METHODS: In a retrospective study from March 2020 to February 2021, four centers in Mexico collected clinical, laboratory, and genetic data from pediatric and adult patients with known diagnoses of IEI who presented with COVID-19, based on compatible symptoms and positive SARS-CoV-2 testing or known household exposure. RESULTS: We report 31 patients with known IEI from Mexico who presented with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Seventy-four percent were male, 52% were pediatric, and 81% survived. Their ages ranged from 5 months to 56 years, with a median of 17 years. Sixty-five percent had predominant antibody deficiencies, 48% were hospitalized, and 26% required ICU. Pediatric patients had a higher hospital admission rate than adults. Inpatient mortality was 40%, and ICU mortality rate was 63%. Forty-eight percent developed pneumonia, while 36% had evidence of hyperinflammation (4 adults and 7 children). Predominant laboratory features were lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia, seen in 70 and 44% of patients, respectively. The serum D-dimer median value was 2.6 (0.5-20.6) µg/mL, and the median highest ferritin value was 1015 (32-10,303) ng/mL. Intravenous immunoglobulin was used in 80% of patients. Other treatments included macrolides (39%) and corticosteroids (29%). Six patients died from secondary infection or uncontrolled systemic inflammation. DISCUSSION: Although impaired immunity due to IEI may be a predisposing factor for severe COVID-19, most of our patients with IEI who acquired the SARS-CoV-2 infection developed a well-tolerated infection and survived, as have more than 80% of worldwide reported patients to date. An impaired immune or inflammatory response may be a predisposing factor for some and a protective factor for others. A systematic review of the literature could help identify those patients at risk of severe disease and complications. Healthcare-associated infections should be aggressively prevented.

Latin American consensus on the supportive management of patients with severe combined immunodeficiency.

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) represents the most lethal form of primary immunodeficiency, with mortality rates of greater than 90% within the first year of life without treatment. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy are the only curative treatments available, and the best-known prognostic factors for success are age at diagnosis, age at hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and the comorbidities that develop in between. There are no evidence-based guidelines for standardized clinical care for patients with SCID during the time between diagnosis and definitive treatment, and we aim to generate a consensus management strategy on the supportive care of patients with SCID. First, we gathered available information about SCID diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines, then we developed a document including diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, and finally we submitted the interventions for expert consensus through a modified Delphi technique. Interventions are grouped in 10 topic domains, including 123 "agreed" and 38 "nonagreed" statements. This document intends to standardize supportive clinical care of patients with SCID from diagnosis to definitive treatment, reduce disease burden, and ultimately improve prognosis, particularly in countries where newborn screening for SCID is not universally available and delayed diagnosis is the rule. Our work intends to provide a tool not only for immunologists but also for primary care physicians and other specialists involved in the care of patients with SCID.

A multimorphic mutation in IRF4 causes human autosomal dominant combined immunodeficiency.

Interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) is a transcription factor (TF) and key regulator of immune cell development and function. We report a recurrent heterozygous mutation in IRF4, p.T95R, causing an autosomal dominant combined immunodeficiency (CID) in seven patients from six unrelated families. The patients exhibited profound susceptibility to opportunistic infections, notably Pneumocystis jirovecii, and presented with agammaglobulinemia. Patients' B cells showed impaired maturation, decreased immunoglobulin isotype switching, and defective plasma cell differentiation, whereas their T cells contained reduced TH17 and TFH populations and exhibited decreased cytokine production. A knock-in mouse model of heterozygous T95R showed a severe defect in antibody production both at the steady state and after immunization with different types of antigens, consistent with the CID observed in these patients. The IRF4T95R variant maps to the TF's DNA binding domain, alters its canonical DNA binding specificities, and results in a simultaneous multimorphic combination of loss, gain, and new functions for IRF4. IRF4T95R behaved as a gain-of-function hypermorph by binding to DNA with higher affinity than IRF4WT. Despite this increased affinity for DNA, the transcriptional activity on IRF4 canonical genes was reduced, showcasing a hypomorphic activity of IRF4T95R. Simultaneously, IRF4T95R functions as a neomorph by binding to noncanonical DNA sites to alter the gene expression profile, including the transcription of genes exclusively induced by IRF4T95R but not by IRF4WT. This previously undescribed multimorphic IRF4 pathophysiology disrupts normal lymphocyte biology, causing human disease.

Case Report: DOCK8 Deficiency Without Hyper-IgE in a Child With a Large Deletion.

Autosomal recessive (AR) DOCK8 deficiency is a well-known actinopathy, a combined primary immune deficiency with impaired actin polymerization that results in altered cell mobility and immune synapse. DOCK8-deficient patients present early in life with eczema, viral cutaneous infections, chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, bacterial pneumonia, and abscesses, together with eosinophilia, thrombocytosis, lymphopenia, and variable dysgammaglobulinemia that usually includes Hyper-IgE. In fact, before its genetic etiology was known, patients were described as having a form of Hyper-IgE syndrome, a name now deprecated in favor of genetic defects. We describe a school-age male patient with a clinical picture suggestive of DOCK8 deficiency, except for high serum IgE or a family history: early onset, failure to thrive, eczema, warts, condyloma, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, recurrent otitis media, bronchiectasis, candidiasis, leukocytosis, eosinophilia, high IgA, low IgG, and low CD4+ T cells. We were able to confirm the diagnosis through protein expression and whole-exome sequencing. We review the clinical, laboratory, and genetic features of 200 DOCK8-deficient patients; at least 4 other patients have had no elevated IgE, and about 40% do not have Hyper-IgE (above 1,000 IU/mL). Despite this, the constellation of signs, symptoms, and findings allow the suspicion of DOCK8 deficiency and other actinopathies.

Multifocal Recurrent Osteomyelitis and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis in a Boy with Partial Dominant IFN-γR1 Deficiency: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Mutations in the genes coding for cytokines, receptors, second messengers, and transcription factors of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) immunity cause Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease (MSMD). We report the case of a 7-year-old male patient with partial dominant (PD) IFN-γ receptor 1 deficiency who had suffered from multifocal osteomyelitis attributable to bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccination since the age of 18 months. He developed hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a hyper-inflammatory complication, and died with multiorgan dysfunction, despite having been diagnosed and treated relatively early. Patients with PD IFN-γR1 deficiency usually have good prognosis and might respond to human recombinant subcutaneous IFN-γ. Several monogenic congenital defects have been linked to HLH, a catastrophic "cytokine storm" that is usually ascribed to lymphocyte dysfunction and thought to be triggered by interferon gamma. This is the sixth patient with both MSMD and HLH of whom we are aware. The fact that patients with macrophages that cannot respond to IFN-γ still develop HLH, bring these assumptions into question.

Dengue hemorrágico en un lactante después de primoinfección / Dengue hemorrhagic fever in an infant after primoinfection

Introducción. El dengue es una enfermedad infecciosa causada por un flavivirus y transmitida por un vector. Puede originar cuadros febriles inespecíficos, fiebre hemorrágica por dengue (FHD) o, incluso, síndrome de choque. El tratamiento se basa en el control hemodinámico y control del balance hídrico. Caso clínico. Paciente femenino de 4 meses, inicia con fiebre y desarrolla síntomas y signos, primero de FHD y posteriormente síndrome de choque. Se corroboró el diagnóstico serológico de primoinfección por dengue. No existió evidencia de infección previa en la madre. Con tratamiento de soporte mejora y posteriormente se egresa asintomática. Conclusiones. Según algunas teorías, la FHD en lactantes se asocia a anticuerpos no neutralizantes, transmitidos de manera pasiva por una madre previamente infectada, que ocasionan en el lactante una reacción severa ante una primoinfección. En este caso, otros factores independientes del huésped, como virulencia del virus infectante, pudieran ser los responsables.

Background. Dengue fever is an infectious disease caused by a flavivirus and transmitted by a vector. It causes dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). When one of these last two appears, treatment consists of intensive fluid balance control. Case report. A 4-month-old female infant presented fever. She was admitted and later showed signs and symptoms of DHF followed by DSS. Serological diagnosis was confirmed, and appropriate treatment offered. The mother does not have evidence of prior infection. Discussion. One theory proposes that DHF occurs in infants when passively transferred maternal antibodies from a previous infection cause an enhanced immune response when the infant is infected by a different type of dengue virus. This theory does not explain the occurrence of DHF in our report. Factors not dependent on the host, such as virological factors, may be responsible.

Lesiones cutáneas causadas por Pseudomonas aeruginosa en pacientes inmunocomprometidos / Cutaneous lesions caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an immunodeficient patient

Introducción. Las lesiones cutáneas asociadas a Pseudomonas aeruginosa en pacientes son diversas. En pacientes inmunocompetentes las lesiones son benignas y autolimitadas. En pacientes inmunocomprometidos se presentan lesiones dérmicas con o sin bacteriemia e incluyen: ectimas grangrenoso, bulas hemorrágicas, celulitis, placas, pápulas, petequias, equimosis, nódulos subcutáneos eritematosos o violáceos, lesiones erisipeloides y conjuntivitis. Caso clínico. Lactante mayor masculino de 1 año 4 meses de edad con tumor de Wilms que había recibido quimioterapia 18 días previos a su ingreso, motivado por inflamación, aumento de temperatura y eritema escrotal, fisuras perianales y fiebre; con granulocitopenia grave por quimioterapia y con datos de choque, ingresó al servicio de Terapia Intensiva manejándose con ceftazidima, clindamicina, ampicilina y aminas; las lesiones escrotales evolucionaron a necrosis y ulceración. Presentó conjuntivitis purulenta, nódulos violáceos en muslos abdomen, los cultivos reportaron P. aeruginosa. Por mala evolución (progresión de las lesiones, fiebre e inestabilidad hemodinámica) se cambió el manejo a imipenem-amikacina por 14 días de acuerdo a la sensibilidad (método de Kiry-Bauer), apreciándose posteriormente evolución satisfactoria. Conclusión. Es importante reconocer lesiones cutáneas por P. aeruginosa para sospechar infección por este germen y dar un tratamiento oportuno