Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with critical influenza pneumonia

In an international cohort of 279 patients with hypoxemic influenza pneumonia, we identified 13 patients (4.6%) with autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-alpha and/or -omega, which were previously reported to underlie 15% cases of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia and one third of severe adverse reactions to live-attenuated yellow fever vaccine. 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-alpha 2 alone (five patients) or with IFN-omega (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-alpha 2, and six and two patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-omega. 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 (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-alpha 2 and IFN-omega (OR = 11.7, P = 1.3 x 10(-5)), especially those <70 yr old (OR = 139.9, P = 3.1 x 10(-10)). We also identified 10 patients in additional influenza patient cohorts. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs account for similar to 5% of cases of life-threatening influenza pneumonia in patients <70 yr old

Surfaces of a Colloidal Iron Nanoparticle in Its Chemical Environment: A DFT Description

International audienceDescribing and understanding surface chemistry on the atomic scale is of primary importance in predicting and rationalize nanoparticle morphology as well as their physical and chemical properties. Here we present the results of comprehensive density functional theory studies on the adsorption of several small organic species, representing the major species (H2, Cl2, HCl, NH3, NH4Cl, and CH3COOH), present in the reaction medium during colloidal iron nanoparticle synthesis on various low-index iron surface models, namely, (100), (110), (111), (211), and (310). All of the tested ligands strongly interact with the proposed surfaces. Surface energies are calculated and ligand effects on the morphologies are presented, including temperature effects, based on a thermodynamic approach combined with the Wulff construction scheme. The importance of taking into account vibrational contributions during the calculation of surface energies after adsorption is clearly demonstrated. More importantly, we find that thermodynamic ligand effects can be ruled out as the unique driving force in the formation of recently experimentally observed iron cubic nanoparticles

Iron Nanoparticle Growth in Organic Superstructures

A tunable synthesis of iron nanoparticles (NIPS) based on the decomposition of {Fe[N(SiMe(3))(2)](2)}(2) in the presence of organic superstructures composed of palmitic acid and hexadlecylamine is reported. Control of the size (from 1.5 to 27 nm) and shape (spheres, cubes, or stars) of the NIPS has been achieved. An environment-dependent growth model is proposed on the basis of results obtained for the NP morphology under various conditions and a complete Mossbauer study of the colloid composition at different reacting stages. It involves (i) an anisotropic growth process inside organic superstructures, leading to monocrystalline cubic NIPS, and (ii) isotropic growth outside these superstructures, yielding polycrystalline spherical NPs

A Simple Chemical Route toward Monodisperse Iron Carbide Nanoparticles Displaying Tunable Magnetic and Unprecedented Hyperthermia Properties

We report a tunable organometallic synthesis of monodisperse iron carbide and core/shell iron/iron carbide nanoparticles displaying a high magnetization and good air-stability. This process based on the decomposition of Fe­(CO)₅ on Fe(0) seeds allows the control of the amount of carbon diffused and therefore the tuning of nanoparticles magnetic anisotropy. This results in unprecedented hyperthermia properties at moderate magnetic fields, in the range of medical treatments