ABSTRACT
The genus Placospongia Gray, 1867 is a group of sponges widely distributed in the world. It currently has 11 valid species, where five of those, Placospongia caribica Rützler et al., 2014, P. cristata Boury-Esnault, 1973, P. intermedia Sollas, 1888, P. ruetzleri van Soest, 2017 and P. giseleae Mácola & Menegola, 2021, are distributed in the Central Western Atlantic. The Colombian Caribbean has the records of P. intermedia and P. ruetzleri. In this research, the taxonomy of the genus Placospongia in Colombia was reviewed, describing four species, two of which are new to science: P. colombiensis sp. nov. and P. soesti sp. nov.; and P. cristata is a new record for the Colombian Caribbean. Therefore, the number of species of the genus is expanded to 13 for the world, to eight for the Western Atlantic, and to five for Colombia, ranking it as the country with the most species of the genus for the Western Atlantic. Some of the misassigned records for IndoâPacific species are relocated to species present in the Caribbean. Finally, a taxonomic key is given to identify the species of the Caribbean Sea.
Subject(s)
Porifera , Animals , Colombia , Caribbean Region , West IndiesABSTRACT
Severe COVID-19 patients develop acute respiratory distress syndrome that may progress to respiratory failure. These patients also develop cytokine storm syndrome, and organ dysfunctions, which is a clinical picture that resembles sepsis. Considering that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have been described as an important factors of tissue damage in sepsis, we investigated whether NETs would be produced in COVID-19 patients and participate in the lung tissue damage. A cohort of 32 hospitalized patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 and respective healthy controls were enrolled. NETs concentration was assessed by MPO-DNA PicoGreen assay or by confocal immunofluorescence. The cytotoxic effect of SARS-CoV-2-induced NETs was analyzed in human epithelial lung cells (A549 cells). The concentration of NETs was augmented in plasma and tracheal aspirate from COVID-19 patients and their neutrophils spontaneously released higher levels of NETs. NETs were also found in the lung tissue specimens from autopsies of COVID-19 patients. Notably, viable SARS-CoV-2 can directly induce in vitro release of NETs by healthy neutrophils in a PAD-4-dependent manner. Finally, NETs released by SARS-CoV-2-activated neutrophils promote lung epithelial cell death in vitro. These results unravel a possible detrimental role of NETs in the pathophysiology of COVID-19. Therefore, the inhibition of NETs represent a potential therapeutic target for COVID-19.
