Approach to Nutrition in Cancer Patients in the Context of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: Perspectives.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new pandemic that originated in China in December 2019. Cancer patients are immunosuppressed and very susceptive to acquiring infections; thus, they are at greater risk of developing more severe forms of COVID-19. People infected with COVID-19 display increased plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Excessive inflammation may cause damage to the body's tissues, thereby potentially contributing to alveolar damage and the severity of COVID-19. We hypothesize that since a pro-inflammatory state may worsen COVID-19 prognosis, modulating systemic inflammation through dietary modification may be efficacious in improving the clinical sequelae of COVID-19. The aim of this review is to present current nutritional and dietary approaches in the context of inflammation with a specific focus on cancer patients with and without COVID-19. The main topics reviewed include nutrition in inflammation and immunity. A systematic literature search on Google Scholar, Medline, and PubMed databases was performed between March 22, 2020 and May 6, 2020 using the keywords "COVID-19," "coronavirus," "cancer," "inflammation," "probiotics," "vitamin D," and "nutrition prevention." Healthy dietary habits, omega-3-rich diets, probiotics use, and vitamin D supplementation, as well as obesity prevention, are likely the most efficacious preventive approaches to controlling hyperinflammation, improving immune function, and decreasing the severity of inflammatory diseases.

CRISPR-Cas9 Targeting of PCSK9 in Human Hepatocytes In Vivo-Brief Report.

OBJECTIVE: Although early proof-of-concept studies of somatic in vivo genome editing of the mouse ortholog of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (Pcsk9) in mice have established its therapeutic potential for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, the unique nature of genome-editing technology-permanent alteration of genomic DNA sequences-mandates that it be tested in vivo against human genes in normal human cells with human genomes to give reliable preclinical insights into the efficacy (on-target mutagenesis) and safety (lack of off-target mutagenesis) of genome-editing therapy before it can be used in patients. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We used a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated (Cas) 9 genome-editing system to target the human PCSK9 gene in chimeric liver-humanized mice bearing human hepatocytes. We demonstrated high on-target mutagenesis (approaching 50%), greatly reduced blood levels of human PCSK9 protein, and minimal off-target mutagenesis. CONCLUSIONS: This work yields important information on the efficacy and safety of CRISPR-Cas9 therapy targeting the human PCSK9 gene in human hepatocytes in vivo, and it establishes humanized mice as a useful platform for the preclinical assessment of applications of somatic in vivo genome editing.

Type IA endoleak caused by interlocked suprarenal bare-metal stents after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair with successful endovascular rescue.

A physically active 90-year-old man underwent endovascular repair of an asymptomatic but enlarging abdominal aortic aneurysm. Postoperative computed tomography demonstrated entanglement of nonadjacent proximal bare-metal stents. This was associated with graft infolding and a type IA endoleak. The patient underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and placement of a Palmaz stent. Subsequent surveillance imaging showed resolution of the type I endoleak >1 year later. This report demonstrates an uncommon cause of stent graft infolding, an already rare complication of endovascular aneurysm repair, and highlights the need to carefully assess the morphologic appearance of the proximal fixation stents after graft deployment.