Genomic Characterization of Host Factors Related to SARS-CoV-2 Infection in People with Dementia and Control Populations: The GR@ACE/DEGESCO Study.

Emerging studies have suggested several chromosomal regions as potential host genetic factors involved in the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease outcome. We nested a COVID-19 genome-wide association study using the GR@ACE/DEGESCO study, searching for susceptibility factors associated with COVID-19 disease. To this end, we compared 221 COVID-19 confirmed cases with 17,035 individuals in whom the COVID-19 disease status was unknown. Then, we performed a meta-analysis with the publicly available data from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. Because the APOE locus has been suggested as a potential modifier of COVID-19 disease, we added sensitivity analyses stratifying by dementia status or by disease severity. We confirmed the existence of the 3p21.31 region (LZTFL1, SLC6A20) implicated in the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and TYK2 gene might be involved in COVID-19 severity. Nevertheless, no statistically significant association was observed in the COVID-19 fatal outcome or in the stratified analyses (dementia-only and non-dementia strata) for the APOE locus not supporting its involvement in SARS-CoV-2 pathobiology or COVID-19 prognosis.

Prognostic Significance of Thyroglobulin Antibodies in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether variations in thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAb) are related to the recurrence or persistence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) and may therefore be useful as surrogate tumor markers. Design and Methods. We retrospectively studied 98 subjects (83 women, 47 ± 15 years old) from an initial cohort of 1017 patients treated for DTC in five hospitals, with positive TgAb at any time during the follow-up. Patients presented five different patterns of evolution of serum TgAb concentrations: (1) stable positive TgAb, (2) de novo appearance, (3) an increase of more than 50%, (4) TgAb levels from positive to negative, and (5) a decrease of more than 50%. RESULTS: In the group of 11 patients with stable TgAb, four cases presented persistence of the disease with structural incomplete response. In the group of 22 patients with sustained increasing trend rising more than 50% or de novo detectable TgAb levels, three patients were diagnosed with structural incomplete response. There was no evidence of recurrence or persistence of the disease in any of the 65 patients who showed a significant decrease in (n = 35) or disappearance of (n = 30) TgAb. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that not only the appearance of a significant increase in TgAb but also stable concentrations of TgAb should be regarded as a sufficient risk condition for an active search for recurrent or persistent disease. Conversely, a significant decrease in TgAb levels can represent a good prognostic sign.

HTT gene intermediate alleles in neurodegeneration: evidence for association with Alzheimer's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of CAG repeats in the HTT gene. Intermediate alleles (IAs) are in the range of 27-35 repeats and have been associated to a normal phenotype. The aim of this work was to analyze the association between intermediate huntingtin CAG-repeat alleles (IAs) and neurodegenerative diseases, other than HD. We screened the HTT CAG repeats in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n = 1126), Parkinson's disease (PD) (n = 610), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) (n = 225). We also studied 509 healthy controls (HCs). The relative frequency of IAs for each group was 6.03% in AD, 5.3% in FTLD, 3.5% in PD, and 2.9% in HCs. The frequency of IA was significantly higher among patients with AD when compared to HCs (p = 0.011, OR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.19-3.74); no significant difference was observed in FTLD (p = 0.17; OR = 1.88, 95% CI = 0.85-4.03) and PD (p = 0.69; OR = 1.21; 95% CI (0.61-2.37) versus HCs. No atypical symptoms or clinical features distinctive of HD were found among carriers of IAs. We found 3 cases with CAG expansions within the pathological range, one diagnosed with AD, one with PD, and one with FTD. Results suggest that IAs might have a role in the pathogenesis of AD. In addition, HD patients might be misdiagnosed with other neurodegenerative diseases, particularly when CAG repeats are in the lower pathological range.