Prolonged viral pneumonia and high mortality in COVID-19 patients on anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy.

PURPOSE: In clinical practice, we observed an apparent overrepresentation of COVID-19 patients on anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy. The aim of this study was to characterize the clinical picture of COVID-19 in these patients. METHODS: All adult patients from Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland, with COVID-19 diagnosis and/or positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test result up to March 2023, and with anti-CD20 therapy within 12 months before COVID-19 were included. Data was retrospectively obtained from electronic patient records. RESULTS: Ninety-eight patients were identified. 44/93 patients (47.3%) were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Patients with demyelinating disorder (n = 20) were youngest (median age 36.5 years, interquartile range 33-45 years), had less comorbidities, and were least likely to be hospitalized (2/20; 10.0%) or die (n = 0). COVID-19 mortality was 13.3% in the whole group, with age and male sex as independent risk factors. Persistent symptoms were documented in 33/94 patients (35.1%) alive by day 30, in 21/89 patients (23.6%) after 60 days, and in 15/85 after 90 days (17.6%), mostly in patients with haematological malignancy or connective tissue disease. Prolonged symptoms after 60 days predisposed to persistent radiological findings (odds ratio 64.0; 95% confidence interval 6.3-711; p < 0.0001) and persistently positive PCR (odds ratio 45.5, 95% confidence interval 4.0-535; p < 0.0001). Several patients displayed rapid response to late antiviral therapy. CONCLUSION: Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy is associated with high COVID-19 mortality and with a phenotype consistent with prolonged viral pneumonia. Our study provides rationale for retesting of immunocompromised patients with prolonged COVID-19 symptoms and considering antiviral therapy.

Static or 50 Hz magnetic fields at 100 µT do not modify the clonogenic survival of doxorubicin-treated MCF-7 cancer cells.

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether static or 50 Hz magnetic fields (MFs) modify responses to the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. To this end, cells were exposed to static or 50 Hz MFs at 100 µT with or without doxorubicin for 3 h. Following the exposures, cytosolic and mitochondrial superoxide levels, DNA damage levels, and the clonogenic survival of the cells were evaluated. It was found that static MFs decreased the DNA damage level induced by doxorubicin treatment (p = 0.023), but no effects were observed for either cytosolic and mitochondrial superoxide levels or the clonogenic survival of the cells. On the other hand, 50 Hz MF increased doxorubicin-induced cytosolic superoxide levels (p = 0.016), while the mitochondrial superoxide level, DNA damage level, and clonogenic survival were unaffected. In conclusion, we found that static and 50 Hz MFs may modify responses to doxorubicin treatment, but the subsequent survival of the doxorubicin-treated cancer cells was unaffected by both types of MFs. Therefore, the present results suggest that static or 50 Hz MFs for 3 h do not modify the efficacy of doxorubicin in MCF-7 cancer cells.

Differential interactions of age and sleep deprivation in driving and spatial perception by male drivers in a virtual reality environment.

We determined the effects of age and sleep deprivation on driving and spatial perception in a virtual reality environment. Twenty-two young (mean age: 22 years, range: 18-35) and 23 old (mean age: 71 years, range: 65-79) participants were tested after a normal night of sleep and a night of sleep deprivation. The participants drove a virtual car while responding to uni- and bilateral visual and auditory stimuli. Driving errors (crossing the lane borders), reaction times and accuracy to visual and auditory stimuli, performance in psychological tests, and subjective driving ability and tiredness were measured. Age had no effect on the number of driving errors, whereas sleep deprivation increased significantly especially the number of left lane border crossings. Age increased the number of stimulus detection errors, while sleep deprivation increased the number of errors particularly in the young and in the auditory modality as response omissions. Age and sleep deprivation together increased the number of response omissions in both modalities. Left side stimulus omissions suggest a bias to the right hemispace. The subjective evaluations were consistent with the objective measures. The psychological tests were more sensitive to the effects of age than to those of sleep deprivation. Driving simulation in a virtual reality setting is sensitive in detecting the effects of deteriorating factors on both driving and simultaneous spatial perception.