Dynamics of nasopharyngeal tract phageome and association with disease severity and age of patients during three waves of COVID-19.

In December 2019, several patients were hospitalized and diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, which subsequently led to a global pandemic. To date, there are no studies evaluating the relationship between the respiratory phageome and the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The current study investigated the phageome profiles in the nasopharyngeal swabs collected from 55 patients during the three different waves of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Campania Region (Southern Italy). Data obtained from the taxonomic profiling show that phage families belonging to the order Caudovirales have a high abundance in the patient samples. Moreover, the severity of the COVID-19 infection seems to be correlated with the phage abundance.

Role of Human Leukocyte Antigen System as A Predictive Biomarker for Checkpoint-Based Immunotherapy in Cancer Patients.

Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy have clearly shown that checkpoint-based immunotherapy is effective in a small subgroup of cancer patients. However, no effective predictive biomarker has been identified so far. The major histocompatibility complex, better known in humans as human leukocyte antigen (HLA), is a very polymorphic gene complex consisting of more than 200 genes. It has a crucial role in activating an appropriate host immune response against pathogens and tumor cells by discriminating self and non-self peptides. Several lines of evidence have shown that down-regulation of expression of HLA class I antigen derived peptide complexes by cancer cells is a mechanism of tumor immune escape and is often associated to poor prognosis in cancer patients. In addition, it has also been shown that HLA class I and II antigen expression, as well as defects in the antigen processing machinery complex, may predict tumor responses in cancer immunotherapy. Nevertheless, the role of HLA in predicting tumor responses to checkpoint-based immunotherapy is still debated. In this review, firstly, we will describe the structure and function of the HLA system. Secondly, we will summarize the HLA defects and their clinical significance in cancer patients. Thirdly, we will review the potential role of the HLA as a predictive biomarker for checkpoint-based immunotherapy in cancer patients. Lastly, we will discuss the potential strategies that may restore HLA function to implement novel therapeutic strategies in cancer patients.

Olfactory and gustatory function impairment in COVID-19 patients: Italian objective multicenter-study.

BACKGROUND: Objective data on chemosensitive disorders during COVID-19 are lacking in the Literature. METHODS: Multicenter cohort study that involved four Italian hospitals. Three hundred and forty-five COVID-19 patients underwent objective chemosensitive evaluation. RESULTS: Chemosensitive disorders self-reported by 256 patients (74.2%) but the 30.1% of the 89 patients who did not report dysfunctions proved objectively hyposmic. Twenty-five percentage of patients were seen serious long-lasting complaints. All asymptomatic patients had a slight lowering of the olfactory threshold. No significant correlations were found between the presence and severity of chemosensitive disorders and the severity of the clinical course. On the contrary, there is a significant correlation between the duration of the olfactory and gustatory symptoms and the development of severe COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Patients under-report the frequency of chemosensitive disorders. Contrary to recent reports, such objective testing refutes the proposal that the presence of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction may predict a milder course, but instead suggests that those with more severe disease neglect such symptoms in the setting of severe respiratory disease.

Clinical evaluation of piezoelectric ear surgery.

We evaluated the use of piezoelectricsurgery (Piezosurgery; Mectron Medical Technology; Carasco, Genoa, Italy) as a means of avoiding some complications of osteotomy and osteoplasty in otologic surgery, particularly in classic canal-wall-up mastoidectomy. Piezoelectric surgery is a recently developed system for cutting bone with microvibrations created by the piezoelectric effect. This effect occurs when an electric current is passed through certain ceramics and crystals, causing them to oscillate at ultrasonic frequencies. Our study population was made up of 20 adults with unilateral chronic otitis media. In all patients, piezoelectric surgery allowed for effective, precise, safe, easy, and rapid intraoperative management. In particular, the instrument's precision allowed surgeons to make exact, clean, and smooth cuts without causing any injury to adjacent soft tissue. No complications were noted. We conclude that the piezoelectric device is superior to conventionally rotating instruments for performing classic canal-wall-up mastoidectomy.