Early-stage antibody kinetics after the third dose of BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination measured by a point-of-care fingertip whole blood testing

Amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, we aimed to demonstrate the accuracy of the fingertip whole blood sampling test (FWT) in measuring the antibody titer and uncovering its dynamics shortly after booster vaccination. Mokobio SARS-CoV-2 IgM & IgG Quantum Dot immunoassay (Mokobio Biotechnology R&D Center Inc., MD, USA) was used as a point-of-care FWT in 226 health care workers (HCWs) who had received two doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) at least 8 months prior. Each participant tested their antibody titers before and after the third-dose booster up to 14-days. The effect of the booster was observed as early as the fourth day after vaccination, which exceeded the detection limit (>30,000 U/mL) by 2.3% on the fifth day, 12.2% on the sixth day, and 22.5% after the seventh day. Significant positive correlations were observed between the pre- and post-vaccination (the seventh and eighth days) antibody titers (correlation coefficient, 0.405; p<0.001). FWT is useful for examining antibody titers as a point-of-care test. Rapid response of antibody titer started as early as the fourth day post-vaccination, while the presence of weak responders to BNT162b2 vaccine was indicated

The Wnt agonist R-spondin1 regulates systemic graft-versus-host disease by protecting intestinal stem cells

R-spondin1 stimulates the proliferation of intestinal stem cells through the Wnt signaling pathway and protects against graft-versus-host disease

Synchronous Sporadic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors in the Stomach and Jejunum: Report of a Case

This report describes a patient with synchronous sporadic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) in the stomach and jejunum. A 71-year-old Japanese male presented with a 2-year history of occasional melena and general fatigue. Computed tomography of the abdomen demonstrated an enhanced extramural gastric tumor, 4 cm in diameter. Endoscopic examination revealed a jejunal submucosal tumor. He was referred to the surgical outpatient clinic for surgical treatment of an extramural gastric tumor and a jejunal submucosal tumor. Laparotomy allowed the identification of a nut-sized extramural tumor at the stomach and a thumb's head-sized tumor on the jejunum. Partial resections of the stomach and jejunum were performed. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examination revealed that these tumors were GISTs. Although no molecular analysis was performed, the immunohistochemical staining patterns of these two tumors were different from each other. Therefore, the final diagnosis was synchronous sporadic GISTs in the stomach and jejunum. This patient has survived without recurrence for approximately 12 years since complete resection

A Case of a Malignant Lymphoma Patient Persistently Infected with SARS-CoV-2 for More than 6 Months

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There are many unknowns regarding the handling of long-term SARS-CoV-2 infections in immunocompromised patients. Here, we describe the lethal disease course in a SARS-CoV-2-infected patient during Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. We performed whole-genome analysis using samples obtained during the course of the disease in a 63-year-old woman who was diagnosed with intraocular malignant lymphoma of the right eye in 2012. She had received treatment since the diagnosis. An autologous transplant was performed in 2020, but she experienced a worsening of the primary disease 26 days before she was diagnosed with a positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. Tirabrutinib was administered for the primary disease. A cluster of COVID-19 infections occurred in the hematological ward while the patient was hospitalized, and she became infected on day 0. During the course of the disease, she experienced repeated remission exacerbations of COVID-19 pneumonia and eventually died on day 204. SARS-CoV-2 whole-viral sequencing revealed that the patient shed the virus long-term. Viral infectivity studies confirmed infectious virus on day 189, suggesting that the patient might be still infectious. This case report describes the duration and viral genetic evaluation of a patient with malignant lymphoma who developed SARS-CoV-2 infection during Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy and in whom the infection persisted for over 6 months