Penile Calciphylaxis - A Rare, Yet Medically Treatable Disease.

Calciphylaxis or calcific uremic arteriolopathy (CUA) is an infrequent complication in patients with renal failure. Its manifestations range from ischemia to gangrene especially in areas of adiposity. Penile calciphylaxis is very rarely seen. Treatment can be medical or surgical. Sodium thiosulphate has shown to be an efficient treatment. Here were present a case of 74-year-old male who presented with penile calciphylaxis and was treated successfully with oral sodium thiosulphate.

Machine Learning Identifies Ponatinib as a Potent Inhibitor of SARS-CoV2-induced Cytokine Storm

Although 15-20% of COVID-19 patients experience hyper-inflammation induced by massive cytokine production, cellular triggers of this process and strategies to target them remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants B1.1.7 and B.1.351 substantially induces multiple inflammatory molecules in human monocytes and PBMCs. Further, we identified several protein kinases, including JAK1, EPHA7, IRAK1, MAPK12, and MAP3K8, as essential downstream mediators of NTD-induced cytokine release. Additionally, we found that the FDA-approved, multi-kinase inhibitor Ponatinib is a potent inhibitor of the NTD-mediated cytokine storm. Taken together, we propose that agents targeting multiple kinases required for the SARS-CoV-2-mediated cytokine storm, such as Ponatinib, may represent an attractive therapeutic option for treating moderate to severe COVID-19.