| 1. |
- Bastard, P, et al.
(author)
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Vaccine breakthrough hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs
- 2022
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In: Science immunology. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2470-9468. ; 78:7490, s. eabp8966-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Life-threatening ‘breakthrough’ cases of critical COVID-19 are attributed to poor or waning antibody response to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in individuals already at risk. Pre-existing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I IFNs underlie at least 15% of critical COVID-19 pneumonia cases in unvaccinated individuals; however, their contribution to hypoxemic breakthrough cases in vaccinated people remains unknown. Here, we studied a cohort of 48 individuals (age 20-86 years) who received 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine and developed a breakthrough infection with hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia 2 weeks to 4 months later. Antibody levels to the vaccine, neutralization of the virus, and auto-Abs to type I IFNs were measured in the plasma. Forty-two individuals had no known deficiency of B cell immunity and a normal antibody response to the vaccine. Among them, ten (24%) had auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs (aged 43-86 years). Eight of these ten patients had auto-Abs neutralizing both IFN-α2 and IFN-ω, while two neutralized IFN-ω only. No patient neutralized IFN-β. Seven neutralized 10 ng/mL of type I IFNs, and three 100 pg/mL only. Seven patients neutralized SARS-CoV-2 D614G and the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) efficiently, while one patient neutralized Delta slightly less efficiently. Two of the three patients neutralizing only 100 pg/mL of type I IFNs neutralized both D61G and Delta less efficiently. Despite two mRNA vaccine inoculations and the presence of circulating antibodies capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs may underlie a significant proportion of hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia cases, highlighting the importance of this particularly vulnerable population.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Matuozzo, D, et al.
(author)
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Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19
- 2022
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In: medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- BackgroundWe previously reported inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity in 1-5% of unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and auto-antibodies against type I IFN in another 15-20% of cases.MethodsWe report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3,269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19 (1,301 previously reported and 1,968 new patients), and 1,373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. A quarter of the patients tested had antibodies against type I IFN (234 of 928) and were excluded from the analysis.ResultsNo gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants wasTLR7, with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI:1.5-528.7,P=1.1×10−4), in analyses restricted to biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR=3.70 [95%CI:1.3-8.2],P=2.1×10−4). Adding the recently reportedTYK2COVID-19 locus strengthened this enrichment, particularly under a recessive model (OR=19.65 [95%CI:2.1-2635.4];P=3.4×10−3). When these 14 loci andTLR7were considered, all individuals hemizygous (n=20) or homozygous (n=5) for pLOF or bLOF variants were patients (OR=39.19 [95%CI:5.2-5037.0],P=4.7×10−7), who also showed an enrichment in heterozygous variants (OR=2.36 [95%CI:1.0-5.9],P=0.02). Finally, the patients with pLOF or bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD]=43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years;P=1.68×10−5).ConclusionsRare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60 years old.
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| 6. |
- Vieira-Silva, S., et al.
(author)
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Statin therapy is associated with lower prevalence of gut microbiota dysbiosis
- 2020
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 581:7808, s. 310-315
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Microbiome community typing analyses have recently identified the Bacteroides2 (Bact2) enterotype, an intestinal microbiota configuration that is associated with systemic inflammation and has a high prevalence in loose stools in humans1,2. Bact2 is characterized by a high proportion of Bacteroides, a low proportion of Faecalibacterium and low microbial cell densities1,2, and its prevalence varies from 13% in a general population cohort to as high as 78% in patients with inflammatory bowel disease2. Reported changes in stool consistency3 and inflammation status4 during the progression towards obesity and metabolic comorbidities led us to propose that these developments might similarly correlate with an increased prevalence of the potentially dysbiotic Bact2 enterotype. Here, by exploring obesity-associated microbiota alterations in the quantitative faecal metagenomes of the cross-sectional MetaCardis Body Mass Index Spectrum cohort (n=888), we identify statin therapy as a key covariate of microbiome diversification. By focusing on a subcohort of participants that are not medicated with statins, we find that the prevalence of Bact2 correlates with body mass index, increasing from 3.90% in lean or overweight participants to 17.73% in obese participants. Systemic inflammation levels in Bact2-enterotyped individuals are higher than predicted on the basis of their obesity status, indicative of Bact2 as a dysbiotic microbiome constellation. We also observe that obesity-associated microbiota dysbiosis is negatively associated with statin treatment, resulting in a lower Bact2 prevalence of 5.88% in statin-medicated obese participants. This finding is validated in both the accompanying MetaCardis cardiovascular disease dataset (n = 282) and the independent Flemish Gut Flora Project population cohort (n=2,345). The potential benefits of statins in this context will require further evaluation in a prospective clinical trial to ascertain whether the effect is reproducible in a randomized population and before considering their application as microbiota-modulating therapeutics. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
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| 7. |
- Zhang, Q, et al.
(author)
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Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with critical influenza pneumonia
- 2022
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In: The Journal of experimental medicine. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 1540-9538 .- 0022-1007. ; 219:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) can underlie critical COVID-19 pneumonia and yellow fever vaccine disease. We report here on 13 patients harboring autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-α2 alone (five patients) or with IFN-ω (eight patients) from a cohort of 279 patients (4.7%) aged 6–73 yr with critical influenza pneumonia. Nine and four patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-α2, and six and two patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-ω. The patients’ autoantibodies increased influenza A virus replication in both A549 cells and reconstituted human airway epithelia. The prevalence of these antibodies was significantly higher than that in the general population for patients <70 yr of age (5.7 vs. 1.1%, P = 2.2 × 10−5), but not >70 yr of age (3.1 vs. 4.4%, P = 0.68). The risk of critical influenza was highest in patients with antibodies neutralizing high concentrations of both IFN-α2 and IFN-ω (OR = 11.7, P = 1.3 × 10−5), especially those <70 yr old (OR = 139.9, P = 3.1 × 10−10). We also identified 10 patients in additional influenza patient cohorts. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs account for ∼5% of cases of life-threatening influenza pneumonia in patients <70 yr old.
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| 8. |
- Bastard, P, et al.
(author)
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Preexisting autoantibodies to type I IFNs underlie critical COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with APS-1
- 2021
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In: The Journal of experimental medicine. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 1540-9538 .- 0022-1007. ; 218:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Patients with biallelic loss-of-function variants of AIRE suffer from autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type-1 (APS-1) and produce a broad range of autoantibodies (auto-Abs), including circulating auto-Abs neutralizing most type I interferons (IFNs). These auto-Abs were recently reported to account for at least 10% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in the general population. We report 22 APS-1 patients from 21 kindreds in seven countries, aged between 8 and 48 yr and infected with SARS-CoV-2 since February 2020. The 21 patients tested had auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-α subtypes and/or IFN-ω; one had anti–IFN-β and another anti–IFN-ε, but none had anti–IFN-κ. Strikingly, 19 patients (86%) were hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia, including 15 (68%) admitted to an intensive care unit, 11 (50%) who required mechanical ventilation, and four (18%) who died. Ambulatory disease in three patients (14%) was possibly accounted for by prior or early specific interventions. Preexisting auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs in APS-1 patients confer a very high risk of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia at any age.
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| 9. |
- Carosella, F., et al.
(author)
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Free-carrier absorption in quantum cascade structures
- 2012
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In: Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics). - 1098-0121. ; 85:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We show that the free-carrier absorption in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) is very small and radically different from the classical Drude result due to the orthogonality between the direction of the carrier free motion and the electric field of the laser emission. A quantum mechanical calculation of the free-carrier absorption and intersubband oblique absorption induced by interface defects, Coulombic impurities, and optical phonon absorption/emission is presented for QCLs with a double-quantum-well design. The interaction between the electrons and the optical phonons dominates at room temperature.
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| 10. |
- Garcia-Garcia, A, et al.
(author)
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Humans with inherited MyD88 and IRAK-4 deficiencies are predisposed to hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia
- 2023
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In: The Journal of experimental medicine. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 1540-9538 .- 0022-1007. ; 220:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-linked recessive deficiency of TLR7, a MyD88- and IRAK-4–dependent endosomal ssRNA sensor, impairs SARS-CoV-2 recognition and type I IFN production in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), thereby underlying hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia with high penetrance. We report 22 unvaccinated patients with autosomal recessive MyD88 or IRAK-4 deficiency infected with SARS-CoV-2 (mean age: 10.9 yr; 2 mo to 24 yr), originating from 17 kindreds from eight countries on three continents. 16 patients were hospitalized: six with moderate, four with severe, and six with critical pneumonia, one of whom died. The risk of hypoxemic pneumonia increased with age. The risk of invasive mechanical ventilation was also much greater than in age-matched controls from the general population (OR: 74.7, 95% CI: 26.8–207.8, P < 0.001). The patients’ susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 can be attributed to impaired TLR7-dependent type I IFN production by pDCs, which do not sense SARS-CoV-2 correctly. Patients with inherited MyD88 or IRAK-4 deficiency were long thought to be selectively vulnerable to pyogenic bacteria, but also have a high risk of hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia.
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