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e 2019, and this decrease is correlated with lung damage.
Current guidelines recommend anticoagulation as the mainstay of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) treatment in cirrhosis. However, because of the heterogeneity of PVT, anticoagulation alone does not always achieve satisfactory results. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate an individualized management algorithm using a wait-and-see strategy (i.e., no treatment), anticoagulation, and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) to treat PVT in cirrhosis.
Between February 2014 and June 2018, 396 consecutive patients with cirrhosis with nonmalignant PVT were prospectively included in a tertiary care center, of which 48 patients (12.1%) were untreated, 63 patients (15.9%) underwent anticoagulation, 88 patients (22.2%) underwent TIPS, and 197 patients (49.8%) received TIPS plus post-TIPS anticoagulation. The decision of treatment option mainly depends on the stage of liver disease (symptomatic portal hypertension or not) and degree and extension of thrombus.
During a median 31.7 months of follow-up p with cirrhosis with PVT, the individualized treatment algorithm achieves a high-probability recanalization, with low rates of portal hypertensive complications and adverse events.Complexity of lung microenvironment and changes in cellular composition during disease make it exceptionally hard to understand molecular mechanisms driving development of chronic lung diseases. Although recent advances in cell type-resolved approaches hold great promise for studying complex diseases, their implementation relies on local access to fresh tissue, as traditional tissue storage methods do not allow viable cell isolation. To overcome these hurdles, we developed a versatile workflow that allows storage of lung tissue with high viability, permits thorough sample quality check before cell isolation, and befits sequencing-based profiling. We demonstrate that cryopreservation enables isolation of multiple cell types from both healthy and diseased lungs. Basal cells from cryopreserved airways retain their differentiation ability, indicating that cellular identity is not altered by cryopreservation. Importantly, using RNA sequencing and EPIC Array, we show that gene expression and DNA methylation signatures are preserved upon cryopreservation, emphasizing the suitability of our workflow for omics profiling of lung cells. Moreover, we obtained high-quality single-cell RNA-sequencing data of cells from cryopreserved human lungs, demonstrating that cryopreservation empowers single-cell approaches. Overall, thanks to its simplicity, our workflow is well suited for prospective tissue collection by academic collaborators and biobanks, opening worldwide access to viable human tissue.To define the contribution of CD8+ T cell responses to control of SIV reactivation during and following antiretroviral therapy (ART), we determined the effect of long-term CD8+ T cell depletion using a rhesusized anti-CD8β monoclonal antibody on barcoded SIVmac239 dynamics on stable ART and after ART cessation in rhesus macaques (RMs). Among the RMs with full CD8+ T cell depletion in both blood and tissue, there were no significant differences in the frequency of viral blips in plasma, the number of SIV RNA+ cells and the average number of RNA copies/infected cell in tissue, and levels of cell-associated SIV RNA and DNA in blood and tissue relative to control-treated RMs during ART. Upon ART cessation, both CD8+ T cell-depleted and control RMs rebounded in fewer than 12 days, with no difference in the time to viral rebound or in either the number or growth rate of rebounding SIVmac239M barcode clonotypes. However, effectively CD8+ T cell-depleted RMs showed a stable, approximately 2-log increase in post-ART plasma viremia relative to controls. These results indicate that while potent antiviral CD8+ T cell responses can develop during ART-suppressed SIV infection, these responses effectively intercept post-ART SIV rebound only after systemic viral replication, too late to limit reactivation frequency or the early spread of reactivating SIV reservoirs.Discovering dominant epitopes for T cells, particularly CD4+ T cells, in human immune-mediated diseases remains a significant challenge. Here, we used bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from HLA-DP2-expressing patients with chronic beryllium disease (CBD), a debilitating granulomatous lung disorder characterized by accumulations of beryllium-specific (Be-specific) CD4+ T cells in the lung. We discovered lung-resident CD4+ T cells that expressed a disease-specific public CDR3β T cell receptor motif and were specific to Be-modified self-peptides derived from C-C motif ligand 4 (CCL4) and CCL3. HLA-DP2-CCL/Be tetramer staining confirmed that these chemokine-derived peptides represented major antigenic targets in CBD. Furthermore, Be induced CCL3 and CCL4 secretion in the lungs of mice and humans. In a murine model of CBD, the addition of LPS to Be oxide exposure enhanced CCL4 and CCL3 secretion in the lung and significantly increased the number and percentage of CD4+ T cells specific for the HLA-DP2-CCL/Be epitope. Thus, we demonstrate a direct link between Be-induced innate production of chemokines and the development of a robust adaptive immune response to those same chemokines presented as Be-modified self-peptides, creating a cycle of innate and adaptive immune activation.Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in genes encoding components of the primary cilium and is characterized by hyperphagic obesity. To investigate the molecular basis of obesity in human BBS, we developed a cellular model of BBS using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived (iPSC-derived) hypothalamic arcuate-like neurons. BBS mutations BBS1M390R and BBS10C91fsX95 did not affect neuronal differentiation efficiency but caused morphological defects, including impaired neurite outgrowth and longer primary cilia. Single-cell RNA sequencing of BBS1M390R hypothalamic neurons identified several downregulated pathways, including insulin and cAMP signaling and axon guidance. Additional studies demonstrated that BBS1M390R and BBS10C91fsX95 mutations impaired insulin signaling in both human fibroblasts and iPSC-derived neurons. Overexpression of intact BBS10 fully restored insulin signaling by restoring insulin receptor tyrosine phosphorylation in BBS10C91fsX95 neurons. Moreover, mutations in BBS1 and BBS10 impaired leptin-mediated p-STAT3 activation in iPSC-derived hypothalamic neurons. Correction of the BBS mutation by CRISPR rescued leptin signaling. POMC expression and neuropeptide production were decreased in BBS1M390R and BBS10C91fsX95 iPSC-derived hypothalamic neurons. In the aggregate, these data provide insights into the anatomic and functional mechanisms by which components of the BBSome in CNS primary cilia mediate effects on energy homeostasis.Chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction play a key role in the development of non-AIDS-related comorbidities. The aim of our study was to characterize the functional phenotype of immune cells in people living with HIV (PLHIV). We enrolled a cross-sectional cohort study of PLHIV on stable antiretroviral therapy and healthy controls. We assessed ex vivo cytokine production capacity and transcriptomics of monocytes and T cells upon bacterial, fungal, and viral stimulation. PLHIV exhibited an exacerbated proinflammatory profile in monocyte-derived cytokines, but not in lymphocyte-derived cytokines. Particularly, the production of the IL-1β to imiquimod, E. coli LPS, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis was increased, and this production correlated with plasma concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and soluble CD14. This increase in monocyte responsiveness remained stable over time in subsequent blood sampling after more than 1 year. Transcriptome analyses confirmed priming of the monocyte IL-1β pathway, consistent with a monocyte-trained immunity phenotype. Increased plasma concentrations of β-glucan, a well-known inducer of trained immunity, were associated with increased innate cytokine responses. Monocytes of PLHIV exhibited a sustained proinflammatory immune phenotype with priming of the IL-1β pathway. Training of the innate immune system in PLHIV likely plays a role in long-term HIV complications and provides a promising therapeutic target for inflammation-related comorbidities.BACKGROUNDThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly progressed to a global pandemic. Although some patients totally recover from COVID-19 pneumonia, the disease's long-term effects on the brain still need to be explored.METHODSWe recruited 51 patients with 2 subtypes of COVID-19 (19 mild and 32 severe) with no specific neurological manifestations at the acute stage and no obvious lesions on the conventional MRI 3 months after discharge. Changes in gray matter morphometry, cerebral blood flow (CBF), and white matter (WM) microstructure were investigated using MRI. The relationship between brain imaging measurements and inflammation markers was further analyzed.RESULTSCompared with healthy controls, the decrease in cortical thickness/CBF and the changes in WM microstructure were more severe in patients with severe disease than in those with mild disease, especially in the frontal and limbic systems. Furthermore, changes in brain microstructure, CBF, and tract parameters were significantly correlated (P less then 0.05) with the inflammatory markers C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and interleukin 6.CONCLUSIONIndirect injury related to inflammatory storm may damage the brain, altering cerebral volume, CBF, and WM tracts. COVID-19-related hypoxemia and dysfunction of vascular endothelium may also contribute to neurological changes. The abnormalities in these brain areas need to be monitored during recovery, which could help clinicians understand the potential neurological sequelae of COVID-19.FUNDINGNatural Science Foundation of China.Efferocytosis, the process through which apoptotic cells (ACs) are cleared through actin-mediated engulfment by macrophages, prevents secondary necrosis, suppresses inflammation, and promotes resolution. Impaired efferocytosis drives the formation of clinically dangerous necrotic atherosclerotic plaques, the underlying etiology of coronary artery disease (CAD). An intron of the gene encoding PHACTR1 contains rs9349379 (A>G), a common variant associated with CAD. As PHACTR1 is an actin-binding protein, we reasoned that if the rs9349379 risk allele G causes lower PHACTR1 expression in macrophages, it might link the risk allele to CAD via impaired efferocytosis. We show here that rs9349379-G/G was associated with lower levels of PHACTR1 and impaired efferocytosis in human monocyte-derived macrophages and human atherosclerotic lesional macrophages compared with rs9349379-A/A. Silencing PHACTR1 in human and mouse macrophages compromised AC engulfment, and Western diet-fed Ldlr-/- mice in which hematopoietic Phactr1 was genetically targeted showed impaired lesional efferocytosis, increased plaque necrosis, and thinner fibrous caps - all signs of vulnerable plaques in humans. Selleck SH-4-54 Mechanistically, PHACTR1 prevented dephosphorylation of myosin light chain (MLC), which was necessary for AC engulfment. In summary, rs9349379-G lowered PHACTR1, which, by lowering phospho-MLC, compromised efferocytosis. Thus, rs9349379-G may contribute to CAD risk, at least in part, by impairing atherosclerotic lesional macrophage efferocytosis.