RESUMEN
Background: The mechanisms driving SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility remain poorly understood, especially the factors determining why a subset of unvaccinated individuals remain uninfected despite high-risk exposures. Method(s): We studied an exceptional group of unvaccinated healthcare workers heavily exposed to SARS-CoV-2 ('nonsusceptible') from April to June 2020, who were compared against 'susceptible' individuals to SARS-CoV-2, including uninfected subjects who became infected during the follow-up, and hospitalized patients with different disease severity providing samples at early disease stages. We analyzed plasma samples using different mass spectrometry technique and obtained metabolites and lipids profiles. Result(s): We found that the metabolite profiles were predictive of the selected study groups and identified lipids profiles and metabolites linked to SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 severity. More importantly, we showed that non-susceptible individuals exhibited unique metabolomics and lipidomic patterns characterized by upregulation of most lipids -especially ceramides and sphingomyelin-and amino acids related to tricarboxylic acid cycle and mitochondrial metabolism, which could be interpreted as markers of low susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Lipids and metabolites pathways analysis revealed that metabolites related to energy production, mitochondrial and tissue dysfunction, and lipids involved in membrane structure and virus infectivity were key markers of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility. Conclusion(s): Lipid and metabolic profiles differ in 'nonsusceptible' compared to individuals susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Our study suggests that lipid profiles are relevant actors during SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and highlight certain lipids relevant to understand SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. (Figure Presented).
RESUMEN
A future in which scientific discoveries are valued and trusted by the general public cannot be achieved without greater inclusion and participation of diverse communities. To envision a path towards this future, in January 2019 a diverse group of researchers, educators, students, and administrators gathered to hear and share personal perspectives on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the plant sciences. From these broad perspectives, the group developed strategies and identified tactics to facilitate and support EDI within and beyond the plant science community. The workshop leveraged scenario planning and the richness of its participants to develop recommendations aimed at promoting systemic change at the institutional level through the actions of scientific societies, universities, and individuals and through new funding models to support research and training. While these initiatives were formulated specifically for the plant science community, they can also serve as a model to advance EDI in other disciplines. The proposed actions are thematically broad, integrating into discovery, applied and translational science, requiring and embracing multidisciplinarity, and giving voice to previously unheard perspectives. We offer a vision of barrier-free access to participation in science, and a plant science community that reflects the diversity of our rapidly changing nation, and supports and invests in the training and well-being of all its members. The relevance and robustness of our recommendations has been tested by dramatic and global events since the workshop. The time to act upon them is now.