Omicron neutralization character in patients with breast cancer and liver cancer after the nationwide omicron outbreak.

BACKGROUND: The surge in omicron variants has caused nationwide breakthrough infections in mainland China since the December 2022. In this study, we report the neutralization profiles of serum samples from the patients with breast cancer and the patients with liver cancer who had contracted subvariant breakthrough infections. METHODS: In this real-world study, we enrolled 143 COVID-19-vaccinated (81 and 62 patients with breast and liver cancers) and 105 unvaccinated patients with cancer (58 and 47 patients with breast and liver cancers) after omicron infection. Anti-spike receptor binding domain (RBD) IgGs and 50% pseudovirus neutralization titer (pVNT50) for the preceding (wild type), circulating omicron (BA.4-BA.5, and BF.7), and new subvariants (XBB.1.5) were comprehensively analyzed. RESULTS: Patients with liver cancer receiving booster doses had higher levels of anti-spike RBD IgG against circulating omicron (BA.4-BA.5, and BF.7) and a novel subvariant (XBB.1.5) compared to patients with breast cancer after breakthrough infection. Additionally, all vaccinated patients produced higher neutralizing antibody titers against circulating omicron (BA.4-BA.5, and BF.7) compared to unvaccinated patients. However, the unvaccinated patients produced higher neutralizing antibody against XBB.1.5 than vaccinated patients after Omicron infection, with this trend being more pronounced in breast cancer than in liver cancer patients. Moreover, we found that there was no correlation between anti-spike RBD IgG against wildtype virus and the neutralizing antibody titer, but a positive correlation between anti-spike RBD IgG and the neutralizing antibody against XBB.1.5 was found in unvaccinated patients. CONCLUSION: Our study found that there may be differences in vaccine response and protective effect against COVID-19 infection in patients with liver and breast cancer. Therefore, we recommend that COVID-19 vaccine strategies should be optimized based on vaccine components and immunology profiles of different patients with cancer.

Fascinating polyphenol lignin extracted from sawdust via a green and recyclable solvent route.

Due to the complexity, heterogeneity and recalcitrant structure of lignin, the extraction of multifunctional lignin directly from lignocellulose is still a challenge. Here, a green and recyclable route was proposed to separate high-quality lignin and tailor its functionalities. Through tuning the components of deep eutectic solvent (DES) and separation procedures, DES extracted lignin (DESL) exhibited high purity of 99.6 %, yield of 83.2 % and phenolic hydroxyl content of 8.33 wt%. The results of FTIR and 13C NMR demonstrated that DESL possessed more oxygen-containing reactive groups compared with commercial lignin (CL), enabling DESL with more superior functional activities. DESL exhibited higher antioxidant activity with the DPPH capture rate of 73.2 %. Meanwhile, DESL showed strong bactericidal effects against E. coli (100 %) and S. aureus (100 %) due to higher phenolic hydroxyl content, which could destroy bacterial cell membranes and inhibit bacterial metabolism by interacting with phospholipid layer and protein. Additionally, DESL displayed strong UV absorption and could be blended with polyurethane to enhance UV shielding property of polyurethane composite film with >50 of UPF value. In summary, DES treatment is a suitable strategy for high-quality lignin separation, which opens a broad spectrum of possibilities for lignin valorization.