Immune Response to Third and Fourth COVID-19 Vaccination in Hemodialysis Patients and Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a serious hazard for hemodialysis (HD) patients and kidney transplant (KTX) recipients as they suffer from an impaired immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. In addition, a definition of SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer that indicates a sufficient immune response, especially against new omicron variants, is urgently needed. In the present study, the immune response to either a third or a fourth dose of a mRNA vaccine was investigated in 309 dialysis and 36 KTX patients. SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer thresholds indicating neutralizing activity against wild type (WT) and the omicron variant BA.1 were quantified. After four vaccine doses, a high-neutralizing activity against WT was evidenced in HD patients, whereas the neutralizing rate against BA.1 was significant lower. Concerning KTX recipients, humoral and cellular immune responses after a third vaccination were still highly impaired. This calls for modified omicron-targeting vaccines.

Caloric restriction reduces the pro-inflammatory eicosanoid 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid to protect from acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury is a frequent complication in the clinical setting and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Preconditioning with short-term caloric restriction is highly protective against kidney injury in rodent ischemia reperfusion injury models. However, the underlying mechanisms are unknown hampering clinical translation. Here, we examined the molecular basis of caloric restriction-mediated protection to elucidate the principles of kidney stress resistance. Analysis of an RNAseq dataset after caloric restriction identified Cyp4a12a, a cytochrome exclusively expressed in male mice, to be strongly downregulated after caloric restriction. Kidney ischemia reperfusion injury robustly induced acute kidney injury in male mice and this damage could be markedly attenuated by pretreatment with caloric restriction. In females, damage was significantly less pronounced and preconditioning with caloric restriction had only little effect. Tissue concentrations of the metabolic product of Cyp4a12a, 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), were found to be significantly reduced by caloric restriction. Conversely, intraperitoneal supplementation of 20-HETE in preconditioned males partly abrogated the protective potential of caloric restriction. Interestingly, this effect was accompanied by a partial reversal of caloric restriction--induced changes in protein but not RNA expression pointing towards inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress and lipid metabolism. Thus, our findings provide an insight into the mechanisms underlying kidney protection by caloric restriction. Hence, understanding the mediators of preconditioning is an important prerequisite for moving towards translation to the clinical setting.

Modulation of Endocannabinoids by Caloric Restriction Is Conserved in Mice but Is Not Required for Protection from Acute Kidney Injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent and critical complication in the clinical setting. In rodents, AKI can be effectively prevented through caloric restriction (CR), which has also been shown to increase lifespan in many species. In Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), longevity studies revealed that a marked CR-induced reduction of endocannabinoids may be a key mechanism. Thus, we hypothesized that regulation of endocannabinoids, particularly arachidonoyl ethanolamide (AEA), might also play a role in CR-mediated protection from renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in mammals including humans. In male C57Bl6J mice, CR significantly reduced renal IRI and led to a significant decrease of AEA. Supplementation of AEA to near-normal serum concentrations by repetitive intraperitoneal administration in CR mice, however, did not abrogate the protective effect of CR. We also analyzed serum samples taken before and after CR from patients of three different pilot trials of dietary interventions. In contrast to mice and C. elegans, we detected an increase of AEA. We conclude that endocannabinoid levels in mice are modulated by CR, but CR-mediated renal protection does not depend on this effect. Moreover, our results indicate that modulation of endocannabinoids by CR in humans may differ fundamentally from the effects in animal models.

Which parameters support disposition decision in suspected COVID-19 cases in the emergency department (ED): a German clinical cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: One major goal of the emergency department (ED) is to decide, whether patients need to be hospitalised or can be sent home safely. We aim at providing criteria for these decisions without knowing the SARS-CoV-2 test result in suspected cases. SETTING: Tertiary emergency medicine. PARTICIPANTS: All patients were treated at the ED of the Charité during the pandemic peak and underwent SARS-CoV-2 testing. Patients with positive test results were characterised in detail and underwent a 14-day-follow-up. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Logistic regression and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses were performed to identify predictors (primary endpoint), which confirm safe discharge. The clinical endpoint was all-cause mortality or need for mechanical ventilation during index stay or after readmission. RESULTS: The primary test population of suspected COVID-19 consisted of n=1255 cases, 45.2% were women (n=567). Of these, n=110 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (8.8%). The median age of SARS-CoV-2-positive cases was 45 years (IQR: 33-66 years), whereas the median age of the group tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 was 42 years (IQR: 30-60 years) (p=0.096). 43.6% were directly admitted to hospital care.CART analysis identified the variables oxygen saturation (<95%), dyspnoea and history of cardiovascular (CV) disease to distinguish between high and low-risk groups. If all three variables were negative, most patients were discharged from ED, and the incidence of the clinical endpoint was 0%. The validation cohort confirmed the safety of discharge using these variables and revealed an incidence of the clinical endpoint from 14.3% in patients with CV disease, 9.4% in patients with dyspnoea and 18.2% in patients with O2 satuaration below 95%. CONCLUSIONS: Based on easily available variables like dyspnoea, oxygen saturation, history of CV disease, approximately 25% of patients subsequently confirmed with COVID-19 can be identified for safe discharge. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: DRKS00023117.

Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Vaccination in Dialysis Patients and Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Dialysis patients and kidney transplant (KTX) recipients suffer from an impaired immune system and show a decreased response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination. We performed a retrospective analysis of 1505 serological SARS-CoV-2 measurements obtained from 887 dialysis patients and 86 KTX recipients. The results were separated by patient subgroups (dialysis/KTX) as well as SARS-CoV-2 status. The latter criterion included SARS-CoV-2-naïve patients with or without COVID-19 vaccination and convalescent patients receiving a booster shot. Serologies of 27 vaccinated healthy individuals served as the reference group. Vaccine-induced cellular immune response was quantified by an interferon-γ release assay in 32 KTX recipients. We determined seroconversion rates of 92.6%, 93.4%, and 71.4% in dialysis patients vaccinated with either BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, or AZD1222, respectively. Vaccination-induced anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers were lower in dialysis patients compared to healthy individuals, and vaccination with mRNA-1273 induced higher titers than BNT162b2. The initial seroconversion rate was 39.5% in KTX recipients vaccinated with BNT162b2. A linear regression model identified medication with mycophenolate-mofetil/mycophenolic acid as an independent risk factor for missing seroconversion. Within a cohort of 32 KTX recipients, cellular and humoral immune reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 was detectable in three patients only. Conclusively, vaccine-induced seroconversion rates were similar in dialysis patients compared to healthy individuals but were strongly impaired in KTX recipients. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG titers elicited by double active immunization were significantly lower in both cohorts compared to healthy individuals, and immune responses to vaccination vanished quickly.

Preconditioning strategies to prevent acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury is a common clinical disorder resulting in significantly increased morbidity and mortality. However, despite extensive research, strategies for prevention or treatment are still lacking in routine clinical practice. Already decades ago, several preconditioning strategies (e. g. ischemic/hypoxic preconditioning and calorie restriction) have been published and their extraordinary effectiveness - especially in rodents - has raised the hope for powerful clinical tools to prevent acute kidney injury. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not completely understood and translation to the clinics has not been successful yet. In this review, the most attractive strategies and the current mechanistic concepts are introduced and discussed. Furthermore, we present clinical trials evaluating the feasibility of preconditioning in the clinical setting.