COVID-19 vaccination protects infected pregnant women from developing SARS-CoV-2 placentitis and decreases the risk for stillbirth.

INTRODUCTION: The impact of COVID-19 infection in pregnant women remained unclear for a long time. Previous research showed that SARS-CoV-2 virus is able to infect the placenta, potentially causing significant lesions leading to placental insufficiency. The impact of maternal vaccination status on the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 placentitis remains unclear. We characterized placental lesions in SARS-CoV-2 infected pregnant women and studied the impact of vaccination on placental involvement. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 180 placentas sent to the Department of Pathology in UZ Leuven or AZ Turnhout between January 2020 and August 2022, from non-vaccinated and vaccinated mothers suffering a SARS-CoV-2 proven infection during pregnancy. All reports and hematoxylin-eosin stained sections were revised by two pathologists to determine the presence of histopathological lesions that have been described in SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 immunostainings were available for a subgroup of 109 placentas. We gathered clinical data: date of delivery, date of positive serologic test result, vaccination status, SARS-CoV-2 variant and outcome of the pregnancy. RESULTS: Of the 180 placentas, 37,2% showed histopathological lesions and in 12,8% an immunohistochemically proven SARS-CoV-2 placentitis was present. SARS-CoV-2 immunohistochemical positivity was only seen in non-vaccinated mothers. The risk of fetal demise was more than 5 times higher for non-vaccinated mothers and their placentas showed significantly more syncytiotrophoblast necrosis and chronic histiocytic intervillositis compared to vaccinated mothers (both p < 0,001). DISCUSSION: Maternal vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 placentitis and stillbirth. This study provides new evidence of the protective effect of vaccination on the placenta.

Quality control of total carbon dioxide (CO2) in serum or plasma using the Abbott Architect is affected by environmental pCO2 concentrations.

Introduction: Total CO2, or bicarbonate, is a parameter in clinical chemistry often applied to assess the metabolic status of a patient. This article discusses the observations and interventions during an episode of assay instability on an Abbott Architect routine chemistry analyser.Results: The Levey-Jennings plot of QC data showed a circadian pattern, having an overestimation of total CO2 during periods of high personnel attendance. A qualitative analysis revealed a correlation between atmospheric CO2 in the lab environment and the acquired total CO2 value in a quality control sample. Assessment of total CO2 is hence influenced by the equilibrium between atmospheric CO2, dissolved CO2 and bicarbonate. The effect is more pronounced on samples containing low concentrations of total CO2. The bias related to environmental CO2 is also noticeable on patient samples, patient means between periods with high and low atmospheric CO2 levels differed by 2 mmol/L.Discussion: Passive ventilation of the laboratory environment is proven insufficient during weather conditions in which the lab is not exposed to wind. Consistent reduction of atmospheric CO2 could only be guaranteed with an active ventilation infrastructure. Systematic closure of analyser lids also reduced analyser variance.Conclusion: The lab environment is an important source of parameter variance. Both environmental and infrastructural aspects must be considered when assessing the potential cause of the instability.

Carboxypeptidase U (CPU, TAFIa, CPB2) in Thromboembolic Disease: What Do We Know Three Decades after Its Discovery?

Procarboxypeptidase U (proCPU, TAFI, proCPB2) is a basic carboxypeptidase zymogen that is converted by thrombin(-thrombomodulin) or plasmin into the active carboxypeptidase U (CPU, TAFIa, CPB2), a potent attenuator of fibrinolysis. As CPU forms a molecular link between coagulation and fibrinolysis, the development of CPU inhibitors as profibrinolytic agents constitutes an attractive new concept to improve endogenous fibrinolysis or to increase the efficacy of thrombolytic therapy in thromboembolic diseases. Furthermore, extensive research has been conducted on the in vivo role of CPU in (the acute phase of) thromboembolic disease, as well as on the hypothesis that high proCPU levels and the Thr/Ile325 polymorphism may cause a thrombotic predisposition. In this paper, an overview is given of the methods available for measuring proCPU, CPU, and inactivated CPU (CPUi), together with a summary of the clinical data generated so far, ranging from the current knowledge on proCPU concentrations and polymorphisms as potential thromboembolic risk factors to the positioning of different CPU forms (proCPU, CPU, and CPUi) as diagnostic markers for thromboembolic disease, and the potential benefit of pharmacological inhibition of the CPU pathway.

Selective inhibition of carboxypeptidase U may reduce microvascular thrombosis in rat experimental stroke.

BACKGROUND: Carboxypeptidase U (CPU, CPB2, TAFIa) is a potent attenuator of fibrinolysis. The inhibition of CPU is thus an interesting strategy for improving thrombolysis. OBJECTIVES: The time course of CPU generation and proCPU consumption were assessed in an experimental rat model of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). In addition, the effects of the selective CPU inhibitor AZD9684 on CPU kinetics, microvascular thrombosis (MT), and AIS outcome were evaluated. METHODS: Rats were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) and received recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), a specific CPU inhibitor (AZD9684), combination therapy of tPA and AZD9684, or saline for 1 hour using a randomized treatment regime. CPU and proCPU levels were determined at five time points and assessed in light of outcome parameters (a.o.: infarct volume and fibrin[ogen] deposition as a measure for MT). RESULTS: Clear activation of the CPU system was observed after AIS induction, in both saline- and tPA-treated rats. Maximal CPU activities were observed at treatment cessation and were higher in tPA-treated animals compared to the saline group. Concomitant proCPU consumption was more pronounced in tPA-treated rats. AZD9684 suppressed the CPU activity and reduced fibrin(ogen) deposition, suggesting a reduction of MT. Nonetheless, a significant decrease in infarct volume was not observed. CONCLUSIONS: A pronounced activation of the CPU system was observed during tMCAO in rats. Selective inhibition of CPU with AZD9684 was able to reduce fibrin(ogen) deposition and brain edema, suggesting a reduction of MT but without a significant effect on final infarct volume.

Inhibition of the procarboxypeptidase U (proCPU, TAFI, proCPB2) system due to hemolysis.

Essentials Hemolytic influence on the (pro)carboxypeptidase U ((pro)CPU) system is not known. In the current manuscript, this was assessed by spiking pooled normal plasma with hemolysate. CPU activity, proCPU levels, and clot lysis times showed a dose-dependent hemolytic bias. The observed bias in the several CPU related parameters is due to inhibition of CPU activity. INTRODUCTION: Spurious hemolysis of samples is the leading cause of interference in coagulation testing and was described to interfere in fibrinolysis assays. The influence of hemolysis on the procarboxypeptidase U (proCPU) system is not known. METHODS: By means of spiking of hemolysate in pooled normal plasma, the effect of hemolysis on CPU, proCPU, and functional clot lysis assays was assessed. The influence of hemolysis on CPU generation during in vitro clot lysis was also evaluated. Cutoffs corresponding to maximal acceptable bias were determined. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: When active CPU was added to pooled plasma, a severe decrease in activity - up to 97.2% inhibition - was seen with increasing plasma concentrations of oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb) and the 10% cutoff value was found to be 0.3 g/L oxyHb. Using an activity-based assay, proCPU levels appeared to decrease gradually with increased hemolysis (maximal reduction of 19.5%) with a 10% cutoff value of 4.2 g/L oxyHb. The relative clot lysis time (CLT) showed a maximal negative bias of 68.5%. The reduction in CLT paralleled a significant reduction of the first CPU activity peak during clot lysis. The cutoff value for the CLT was 0.4 g/L oxyHb. In presence of thrombomodulin (TM), CLT+TM was not affected up to 8.0 g/L oxyHb. CONCLUSION: These data indicate a clear inhibition of the CPU system because of hemolysis resulting in an increase of lysis in functional fibrinolysis assays. We were able to quantify the inhibitory effect and to propose cutoff values for every parameter.

Plasma carboxypeptidase U (CPU, CPB2, TAFIa) generation during in vitro clot lysis and its interplay between coagulation and fibrinolysis.

Carboxypeptidase U (CPU, CPB2, TAFIa) is a basic carboxypeptidase that is able to attenuate fibrinolysis. The inactive precursor procarboxypeptidase U is converted to its active form by thrombin, the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex or plasmin. The aim of this study was to investigate and characterise the time course of CPU generation in healthy individuals. In plasma of 29 healthy volunteers, CPU generation was monitored during in vitro clot lysis. CPU activity was measured by means of an enzymatic assay that uses the specific substrate Bz-o-cyano-Phe-Arg. An algorithm was written to plot the CPU generation curve and calculate the parameters that define it. In all individuals, CPU generation was biphasic. Marked inter-individual differences were present and a reference range was determined. The endogenous CPU generation potential is the composite effect of multiple factors. With respect to the first CPU activity peak characteristics, we found correlations with baseline proCPU concentration, proCPU Thr325Ile polymorphism, time to clot initiation and the clot lysis time. The second CPU peak related with baseline proCPU levels and with the maximum turbidity of the clot lysis profile. In conclusion, our method offers a technique to determine the endogenous CPU generation potential of an individual. The parameters obtained by the method quantitatively describe the different mechanisms that influence CPU generation during the complex interplay between coagulation and fibrinolysis, which are in line with the threshold hypothesis.