Oncolytic effect of SARS-CoV2 in a patient with NK lymphoma.

Covid-19 infection was a possible causal factor in the exhaustion and decrease number of NK clonal cells, resulting in a evident improvement of signs, symptoms and clinical features related to NK lymphoma refractory to previous immuno-chemiotherapy. It has been shown that SARS-CoV2 binds to ACE2. Covid-19 may infect NK cells to suppress their functions, as NK cells express angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines in Covid-19 infection may have played a crucial role in lymphodepletion. Although not published in Covid-19, other RNA viruses that cause acute pulmonary infections promote NK cell apoptosis. In NK/T-cell lymphoma plasma EBV-DNA is a sensitive surrogate biomarker of lymphoma load. In this case, we also notice a dramatic transient reduction in plasmatic EBV-DNA viral copies during Covid-19 pneumonia other than NK clonal cells reduction, and after the infection resolution we described a lymphoma relapse as well as EBV-DNA increase and the rising in NK clonal cells count. Although the mechanism leading to spontaneous remission remain uncharacterized, we hypothezised that a favorable adaptive immunity against concurrent viral infection could render an enhanced anti-tumor effect. We suppose COVID-19 infection have induced a transient remission in this patient affected with NK neoplasm.

Performance and antrhropometric characteristics of Elite Rugby Players.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Physical performance is the result of a complex combination of several factors such as genetic and anthropometric aspects, nutrition and hormonal status. In the past few years many studies have considered the impact of vitamin D on muscular strength and athletic performance.The aim of the present study was to assess the anthropometric measures impacting on physical performance in a group of professional rugby athletes.  As a secondary aim we investigated a possible relationship between baseline vitamin D status and athletic performance status in these subjects. METHODS: All rugby players completed a test-retest reliability study on performance measures, as 70kg jump squat and body weight (BW) jump squat to assess musculoskeletal performance. Additionally at the time point we collected a blood sample of every athletes for the assessment of serum vitamin D. RESULTS: We found that lean mass was an important independent predictor of performance score in 70kg jump squat (p=0.007, R2=0.74) and BW jump squat (p=0.010, R2=0.66) in these well trained athletes. No statistically significant association was present between performance score and serum vitamin D in this specific setting. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate a positive interaction between lower limb lean mass and performance score, but we have not been able to identify any statistically significant association between worsening in performance measures and decrease of serum 25 OH Vitamin D.

[Haemostatic abnormalities and thyroid disorders: the prospective observational MITH study]. / Alterazioni emostatiche e patologia tiroidea: lo studio prospettico osservazionale MITH.

Haemostatic abnormalities are a common phenomenon in patients with thyroid diseases. On one hand the condition of hyperthyroidism is associated with an increased risk of thrombotic events, on the other in severe hypothyroidism can be found a haemorrhagic tendency, as opposed to the subclinical hypothyroidism seems to correlate with increased thrombotic risk. The prospective, single center, observational MITH study (Mantua Investigation on Thyroid and Haemostasis), whose results are presented, aims to evaluate coagulation parameters in patients with thyroid disease, to establish the prevalence of haemostatic abnormalities in various conditions, to analyse the implications and clinical response to therapy established.

Naïve and memory CD8 T cell pool homeostasis in advanced aging: impact of age and of antigen-specific responses to cytomegalovirus.

Alterations in the circulating CD8+ T cell pool, with a loss of naïve and accumulation of effector/effector memory cells, are pronounced in older adults. However, homeostatic forces that dictate such changes remain incompletely understood. This observational cross-sectional study explored the basis for variability of CD8+ T cell number and composition of its main subsets: naïve, central memory and effector memory T cells, in 131 cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositive subjects aged over 60 years. We found great heterogeneity of CD8+ T cell numbers, which was mainly due to variability of the CD8 + CD28- T cell subset regardless of age. Analysis, by multiple regression, of distinct factors revealed that age was a predictor for the loss in absolute number of naïve T cells, but was not associated with changes in central or effector memory CD8+ T cell subsets. By contrast, the size of CD8+ T cells specific to pp65 and IE-1 antigens of CMV, predicted CD28 - CD8+ T cell, antigen-experienced CD8+ T cell, and even total CD8+ T cell numbers, but not naïve CD8+ T cell loss. These results indicate a clear dichotomy between the homeostasis of naïve and antigen-experienced subsets of CD8+ T cells which are independently affected, in human later life, by age and antigen-specific responses to CMV, respectively.