Clinical characteristics of 17 critically ill children with severe adverse reactions after chimeric antigen receptor T cells therapy / 中国小儿急救医学

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment process and prognosis of children with severe side effects after chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy(CAR-T), so as to provide evidence for timely intervention after CAR-T treatment.Methods:From June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2020, children with cytokine release syndrome(CRS)or immune cell related neurotoxicity syndrome(ICANS)who were treated with CAR-T therapy in our hospital and revealed severe effects transferred to PICU were included in the study, and their clinical course and multiple laboratory examination data were systematically analyzed.Results:Seventeen children showed CRS reaction and entered PICU after CAR-T therapy.The most common clinical symptoms were respiratory distress(13 cases) and circulatory disorder(10 cases), of which 7 cases were complicated with severe ICANS.Serum interferon -γ(IFN-γ)and interleukin-6(IL-6)levels significantly increased after CAR-T cell infusion, reaching the peak at (5.1±1.6)days.The serum levels of IFN-γ and IL-6 in children with severe CRS were significantly higher than those in children with mild CRS(all P<0.05). The level of serum IL-6 in children with high tumor load was significantly higher than that in children with low tumor load( P<0.05). The mortality rate of children with elevated level of serum TNF-α was higher(5/5 vs.3/11, P<0.05). Children with severe CRS were more likely to develop grade 4 ICANS(4/4 vs.0/3, P<0.05). The mortality rate of children with oxygenation index(P/F value)<200 mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) was higher(5/5 vs.2/12, P<0.05). The vasoactive inotropic score[ M( Min, Max)] in the death group was significantly higher than that in survival group[29.5(14.0, 50.0) vs.1.5(0, 25.0), Z=8.000, P=0.027]. Conclusion:Serum IL-6 and IFN-γ are crucial causes of CRS.High tumor load is one of the factors causing high level of serum inflammatory factors.Respiration and circulation systems are the most frequently involved systems.Therefore, the evaluation indexes of these two systems can help us judge the prognosis of children.

A giant step forward: chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for lymphoma / 医学前沿

The combination of the immunotherapy (i.e., the use of monoclonal antibodies) and the conventional chemotherapy increases the long-term survival of patients with lymphoma. However, for patients with relapsed or treatment-resistant lymphoma, a novel treatment approach is urgently needed. Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells were introduced as a treatment for these patients. Based on recent clinical data, approximately 50% of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma achieved complete remission after receiving the CD19 CAR-T cell therapy. Moreover, clinical data revealed that some patients remained in remission for more than two years after the CAR-T cell therapy. Other than the CD19-targeted CAR-T, the novel target antigens, such as CD20, CD22, CD30, and CD37, which were greatly expressed on lymphoma cells, were studied under preclinical and clinical evaluations for use in the treatment of lymphoma. Nonetheless, the CAR-T therapy was usually associated with potentially lethal adverse effects, such as the cytokine release syndrome and the neurotoxicity. Therefore, optimizing the structure of CAR, creating new drugs, and combining CAR-T cell therapy with stem cell transplantation are potential solutions to increase the effectiveness of treatment and reduce the toxicity in patients with lymphoma after the CAR-T cell therapy.

Intoxicación por litio / Lithium poisoning

La intoxicación aguda por litio es una entidad poco común en nuestro medio, aunque potencialmente fatal. Alrededor del 75 a 90 % de los pacientes tratados crónicamente con carbonato de litio pueden tener niveles tóxicos durante su tratamiento. Este medicamento es ampliamente usado en Colombia para el tratamiento del trastorno afectivo bipolar. Se caracteriza por tener rangos terapéuticos estrechos lo que favorece que se presente con frecuencia toxicidad. Muchos sistemas pueden estar comprometidos, entre ellos el neurológico, el gastrointestinal y el cardiovascular.Presentamos el caso de un paciente que ingresa al Hospital con intoxicación por litio.

Acute lithium intoxication is a rare entity in our environment but serious and potentially fatal. According to world literature about 75-90 % of patients with chronic lithium carbonate therapy can have toxic levels during treatment. This drug is widely use in Colombia as a stabilizer of affection, is effective for the treatment of bipolar disorder among other treatments. It has very narrow therapeutic ranges which favors present acute and chronic toxicity. Most systems are compromised: neurological, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular. It is important for all doctors who work in the emergency room, whether General Practitioner or Emergency Medicine thinking in this situation. In a patient with risk factors and therapy with this drug is essential to guide appropriate therapy, discard differential diagnosis and thus avoid consequences that may become long-term irreversible. We report a case of toxicity with Lithium in a patient arriving at a hospital of high complexity.

Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyls on the Development of Neuronal Cells in Growth Period; Structure-Activity Relationship

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are accumulated in our body through food chain and cause a variety of adverse health effects including neurotoxicities such as cognitive deficits and motor dysfunction. In particular, neonates are considered as a high risk group for the neurotoxicity of PCBs exposure. The present study attempted to analyze the structure-activity relationship among PCB congeners and the mechanism of PCBs-induced neurotoxicity. We measured total protein kinase C (PKC) activities, PKC isoforms, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and induction of neurogranin (RC-3) and growth associated protein-43 (GAP-43) mRNA in cerebellar granule cells of neonatal rats with phorbol 12, 13-dibutyrate ([3H]PDBu) binding assay, western blot, ROS assay, and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) analysis respectively following the different structural PCBs exposure. Only non-coplanar PCBs showed a significant increase of total PKC-alpha and betaII activity as measured with [3H]PDBu binding assay. ROS were more increased with non-coplanar PCBs than coplanar PCBs. The mRNA levels of RC-3 and GAP-43 were more induced with non-coplanar PCBs than coplanar PCBs, indicating that these factors may be useful biomarkers for differentiating non-coplanar PCBs from coplanar PCBs. Non-coplanar PCBs may be more potent neurotoxic congeners than coplanar PCBs. This study provides evidences that non-coplanar PCBs, which have been neglected in the risk assessment processes, should be added in the future to improve the quality and accuracy of risk assessment on the neuroendocrinal adverse effects of PCBs exposures.

A Case of Neurotoxicity Induced by Valaciclovir in a Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis Patient / 영남의대학술지

Valaciclovir is metabolized to acyclovir after ingestion and thereafter exerts its antiviral activity. Because of its superior pharmacokinetic profile, it has quickly replaced acyclovir in the treatment of herpesvirus infection. Neurotoxicity caused by valaciclovir has been reported, however, among patients with pre-existing impaired renal function. This paper reports a case of neurotoxicity of valaciclovir in a patient with end-stage renal disease who was undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). A 67-year-old female on CAPD took 500 mg of valaciclovir twice for herpes zoster. After she took her second dose orally, she developed confusion and disorientation, along with involuntary movements. Her mental confusion progressed to a coma. Discontinuation of valaciclovir showed no rapid improvement. There- fore, hemodialysis was started. After two sessions of hemodialysis, the patient became alert; and after four sessions of hemodialysis, her neurological abnormalities were completely reversed. In conclusion, valaciclovir can induce life-threatening neurotoxicity, especially in CAPD patients, even with appropriate dose reduction, which can be effectively managed by hemodialysis.