Medium Cut-Off versus Low-Flux Dialyzers in Hemodialysis Patients with COVID-19: Clinical Outcomes and Reduction in Interleukin-6.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused extensive morbidity and mortality worldwide. Hemodialysis (HD) patients are both vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and tend to suffer greater disease severity and mortality. This retrospective study aimed to compare medium cut-off (MCO) and low-flux (LF) membrane dialyzers in terms of interleukin-6 (IL-6) reduction, change in inflammatory state, intradialytic complications, and mortality in chronic HD patients with COVID-19. METHOD: HD patients with a confirmed COVID-19 infection were admitted to the hospital for 10-14 days and underwent HD at the COVID-HD unit. Choice of dialyzer membrane used (MCO vs. LF) depended on the primary nephrologist(s). We collected data on demographics, baseline characteristics, laboratory results, diagnosis, treatments, HD prescription, hemodynamic status during HD, and mortality at 14 and 28 days after. RESULTS: IL-6 reduction ratio (RR) in the MCO group was 9.7 (interquartile range, 71.1) percent, which was significantly higher than that of the LF group (RR, -45.7 [interquartile range, 70.2] percent). The incidence rate of intradialytic hypotension in the MCO group was 3.846 events per 100 dialysis hours (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.954-6.856), which was significantly lower than that of the LF group (9.057; 95% CI, 5.592-13.170). Overall, mortality was not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The MCO membrane was more effective in removing IL-6 and was better tolerated than the LF membrane. Large, randomized controlled trials are required to confirm the relative benefits of the MCO membrane, especially mortality. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our results suggest that the MCO membrane may be beneficial in chronic HD patients with COVID-19.

Integrin α4ß7 Blockade Preferentially Impacts CCR6+ Lymphocyte Subsets in Blood and Mucosal Tissues of Naive Rhesus Macaques.

Infusion of a simianized anti-α4ß7 mAb (Rh-α4ß7) just before and following SIV infection protected rhesus macaques from developing AIDS and partially from vaginal SIV acquisition. Recently, short-term treatment with Rh-α4ß7 in combination with cART was found to lead to prolonged viral suppression after withdrawal of all therapeutic interventions. The humanized form of Rh-α4ß7, vedolizumab, is a highly effective treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. To clarify the mechanism of action of Rh-α4ß7, naive macaques were infused with Rh-α4ß7 and sampled in blood and tissues before and after treatment to monitor several immune cell subsets. In blood, Rh-α4ß7 increased the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell counts, but not B cell counts, and preferentially increased CCR6+ subsets while decreasing CD103+ and CD69+ lymphocytes. In mucosal tissues, surprisingly, Rh-α4ß7 did not impact integrin α4+ cells, but decreased the frequencies of CCR6+ and CD69+ CD4+ T cells and, in the gut, Rh-α4ß7 transiently decreased the frequency of memory and IgA+ B cells. In summary, even in the absence of inflammation, Rh-α4ß7 impacted selected immune cell subsets in different tissues. These data provide new insights into the mechanisms by which Rh-α4ß7 may mediate its effect in SIV-infected macaques with implications for understanding the effect of treatment with vedolizumab in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Differences in activation and tissue homing markers of natural killer cell subsets during acute dengue infection.

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is considered one of the most important mosquito-borne diseases. It causes a spectrum of illness that could be due to qualitative and/or quantitative difference(s) of the natural killer (NK) cell responses during acute DENV infection. This view prompted us to perform a detailed phenotypic comparative characterization of NK cell subsets from DENV-infected patients with dengue fever (DF), patients with dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and healthy controls. The activation/differentiation molecules, CD69 and CD57 and a variety of tissue homing molecules were analysed on the CD56hi CD16- and CD56lo CD16+ NK cells. Although there was no increase in the frequency of the total NK cells during DENV infection compared with the healthy individuals, there was a significant increase in the frequency of the CD56hi CD16- subset and the frequency of CD69 expression by both NK cell subsets during the febrile phase of infection. We also found an increase in the frequencies of cells expressing CD69 and CD57 in the CD56lo CD16+ subset compared with those in the CD56hi CD16- subset. Moreover, although the CD56lo CD16+ subset contained a high frequency of cells expressing skin-homing markers, the CD56hi CD16- subset contained a high frequency of cells expressing bone marrow and lymph node trafficking markers. Interestingly, no differences of these NK cell subsets were noted in samples from patients with DF versus those with DHF. These findings suggest that activation and differentiation and the patterns of tissue homing molecules of the two major NK cell subsets are different and that these might play a critical role in the immune response against acute DENV infection.

Platelet activation and platelet-leukocyte interaction in ß-thalassemia/hemoglobin E patients with marked nucleated erythrocytosis.

Patients with thalassemia, an inherited hemolytic anemia, have increased risk of hypercoagulable complications. A whole blood flow cytometric (FCM) method has been used for studies of platelet activation and platelet-leukocyte aggregation in these patients. However, this FCM method presents technical difficulties because of the high proportion of immature red blood cells (RBCs) in these patients. A protocol for the simultaneous measurement of platelet activation and their aggregation with leukocyte populations in whole blood using four-color FCM which excluded immature RBC was devised, and evaluated for the evaluation of platelet function in patients with ß-thalassemia/hemoglobin E (HbE). Whole blood from these patients and from healthy volunteers was stained for platelet activation and platelet-leukocyte aggregates using anti-CD42a, anti-CD62P, anti-CD45 and glycophorin A (GPA) conjugated with different fluorochromes. Our FCM method is simple, effective and based on the assumption that GPA is present on all immature RBCs, but is not expressed on CD45⁺ leukocytes. Results from the studies showed that blood samples from these patients contained a high frequency of circulating activated platelets (CD42a⁺/CD62P⁺) when compared to samples from healthy individuals. The percentage of platelet-neutrophil, platelet-monocyte-but not platelet-lymphocyte-aggregates were also elevated in both thalassemia genotypes with marked increase in patients who had undergone splenectomy. These findings suggest that platelets adhere to neutrophils and monocytes are activated which support the clinical observation that splenectomized thalassemia patients have an increased risk of arterial or venous thrombotic manifestations.

Enumeration and phenotyping of circulating microvesicles by flow cytometry and nanoparticle tracking analysis: Plasma versus serum.

INTRODUCTION: Microvesicles (MVs) are bioactive, submicron-sized (0.01-1000 nm) membrane vesicles released from various types of cells under normal physiological and pathophysiological conditions. MVs have emerged as important mediators of cell-to-cell communication in a diverse range of normal and pathological processes. MVs have been recognized as potential biomarkers in coagulation, inflammation, and cancer. However, for clinical use, minimizing factors which could affect enumeration and phenotypic characterization of MVs during pre-analytical steps is crucial. In this study, we used flow cytometry and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) to investigate the impact of blood collection using with and without anticoagulant on the number and phenotype of MVs in blood samples. METHODS: Blood from 30 healthy volunteers was collected by venipuncture into 3.2% sodium citrate and clot activator tubes. MV subpopulations and their concentrations were investigated using flow cytometry and NTA. MV morphology was examined by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Results showed that the concentration of MVs was significantly lower in serum than in plasma and that CD41+ MV, CD41+ /CD62P+ MV, CD45+ MV, and CD142+ MV levels from serum were significantly lower than those from plasma, whereas no significant differences in Annexin V (Anx V)+ MV, CD235a+ MV, and CD144+ MV levels were found. Interestingly, serum MVs had a higher proportion of small-sized MVs and lower proportion of large-sized MVs than did plasma MVs. CONCLUSION: Although plasma samples are commonly used, our results suggest that serum can also be used in enumeration of MVs, but care must be taken if coagulation is an aspect of the research.

Kinetic Changes of Peripheral Blood Monocyte Subsets and Expression of Co-Stimulatory Molecules during Acute Dengue Virus Infection.

Monocytes, one of the main target cells for dengue virus (DENV) infection, contribute to the resolution of viremia and to pathogenesis. We performed a longitudinal study by a detailed phenotypic comparison of classical (CD14++CD16-, non-classical (CD14+CD16++) and intermediate (CD14++CD16+) monocyte subsets in blood samples from dengue fever (DF) to the severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and healthy individuals. Various costimulatory molecules of CD40, CD80, CD86 and inducible costimulatory ligand (ICOSL) expressed on these three monocyte subsets were also analyzed. DENV-infected patients showed an increase in the frequency of intermediate monocytes and a decrease in the classical monocytes when compared to healthy individuals. Although these differences did not correlate with disease severity, changes during the early phase of infection gradually returned to normal in the defervescence phase. Moreover, decreased frequency of classical monocytes was associated with a significant up-regulation of co-stimulatory molecules CD40, CD86 and ICOSL. Kinetics of these co-stimulatory molecule-expressing classical monocytes showed different patterns throughout the sampling times of acute DENV infection. Different distribution of monocyte subsets and their co-stimulatory molecules in the peripheral blood during acute infection might exacerbate immune responses like cytokine storms and ADE, and future studies on intracellular molecular pathways utilized by these monocyte linages are warranted.

Altered profile of circulating microparticles in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and it is associated with the prothrombotic state. Circulating microparticles (cMPs) are membrane vesicles that are shed from many cell types in response to cell activation and cell apoptosis. Several studies reported that cMPs may play a role in the hypercoagulable state that can be observed in patients with AF. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of total cMPs and characterize their cellular origins in AF patients. METHODS: Atotal of 66 AF patients and 33 healthy controls were enrolled. This study investigated total cMP levels and their cellular origin in AF patients using polychromatic flow cytometry. RESULTS: AF patients had significantly higher levels of total cMPs (median 36.38, interquartile range [IQR] 21.16-68.50 × 105 counts/mL vs median 15.21, IQR 9.91-30.86 × 105 counts/mL; P = 0.004), platelet-derived MPs (PMPs) (median 10.61, IQR 6.55-18.04 × 105 counts/mL vs median 7.83, IQR 4.44-10.26 × 10/mL; P = 0.009), and endothelial-derived MPs (EMPs CD31+ CD41-) (median 2.94, IQR 1.78-0.60 × 105 counts/mL vs median 1.16, IQR 0.71-2.30 × 105 counts/mL; P = 0.001) than healthy controls after adjusting for potential confounders. Phosphatidylserine positive MP (PS + MP) levels were similar compared between AF patients and healthy controls. CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed a marked increase in total cMP levels, and evidence of elevated endothelial damage and platelet activation, as demonstrated by increased PMP and EMP levels, in AF patients. Additional study is needed to further elucidate the role of cMPs (PMPs and EMPs) in the pathophysiology of and the complications associated with AF.

Identification of changes in dendritic cell subsets that correlate with disease severity in dengue infection.

Dengue virus (DENV) is the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral disease in humans. DENV causes a spectrum of illness ranging from mild to potentially severe complications. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in initiating and regulating highly effective antiviral immune response that include linking innate and adaptive immune responses. This study was conducted to comparatively characterize in detail the relative proportion, phenotypic changes, and maturation profile of subsets of both myeloid DCs (mDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) in children with dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and for purposes of control healthy individuals. The mDCs (Lin-CD11c+CD123lo), the pDCs (Lin-CD11c-CD123+) and the double negative (DN) subset (Lin-/HLA-DR+/CD11c-CD123-) were analyzed by polychromatic flow cytometry. The data were first analyzed on blood samples collected from DENV-infected patients at various times post-infection. Results showed that the relative proportion of mDCs were significantly decreased which was associated with an increase in disease severity in samples from DENV-infected patients. While there was no significant difference in the relative proportion of pDCs between healthy and DENV-infected patients, there was a marked increase in the DN subset. Analysis of the kinetics of changes of pDCs showed that there was an increase but only during the early febrile phase. Additionally, samples from patients during acute disease showed marked decreases in the relative proportion of CD141+ and CD16+ mDC subsets that were the major mDC subsets in healthy individuals. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the level of CD33-expressing mDCs in DENV patients. While the pDCs showed an up-regulation of maturation profile during acute DENV infection, the mDCs showed an alteration of maturation status. This study suggests that different relative proportion and phenotypic changes as well as alteration of maturation profile of DC subsets may play a critical role in the dengue pathogenesis and disease outcome.