A cross-sectional study of olfactory and taste disorders among COVID-19 patients in China.

To determine the prevalence and clinical features of olfactory and taste disorders among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in China. A cross-sectional study was performed in Wuhan from April 3, 2020 to April 15, 2020. A total of 187 patients with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) completed face-to-face interviews or telephone follow-ups. We found that the prevalence of olfactory and taste disorders was significantly lower in the Chinese cohort than in foreign COVID-19 cohorts. Females were more prone to olfactory and taste disorders. In some patients, olfactory and taste disorders precede other symptoms and can be used as early screening and warning signs.

Current and future drug combination strategies based on programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer.

ABSTRACT: In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have made breakthroughs in the field of lung cancer and have become a focal point for research. Programmed death-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor monotherapy was the first to break the treatment pattern for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, owing to the limited benefit of ICI monotherapy at the population level and its hyper-progressive phenomenon, it may not meet clinical needs. To expand the beneficial range of immunotherapy and improve its efficacy, several research strategies have adopted the use of combination immunotherapy. At present, multiple strategies, such as PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with chemotherapy, anti-angiogenic therapy, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 inhibitors, and radiotherapy, as well as combined treatment with new target drugs, have been evaluated for clinical practice. To further understand the current status and future development direction of immunotherapy, herein, we review the recent progress of ICI combination therapies for NSCLC.

A novel mutation of EYA4 in a large Chinese family with autosomal dominant middle-frequency sensorineural hearing loss by targeted exome sequencing.

The middle-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (MFSNHL) is rare among hereditary non-syndromic hearing loss. To date, only three genes are reported to be associated with MFSNHL, including TECTA, EYA4 and COL11A2. In this report, we analyzed and explored the clinical audiological characteristics and the causative gene of a Chinese family named HG-Z087 with non-syndromic autosomal dominant inherited MFSNHL. Clinical audiological characteristics and inheritance pattern of a family were evaluated, and pedigree was drawn based on medical history investigation. Our results showed that the Chinese family was characterized by late onset, progressive, non-sydromic autosomal dominant MFSNHL. Targeted exome sequencing, conducted using DNA samples of an affected member in this family, revealed a novel heterozygous missense mutation c.1643C>G in exon 18 of EYA4, causing amino-acid (aa) substitution Arg for Thr at a conserved position aa-548. The p.T548R mutation related to hearing loss in the selected Chinese family was validated by Sanger sequencing. However, the mutation was absent in control group containing 100 DNA samples from normal Chinese families. In conclusion, we identified the pathogenic gene and found that the novel missense mutation c.1643C>G (p.T548R) in EYA4 might have caused autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing impairment in the selected Chinese family.