4 research outputs found
Factors associated with the humoral response after three doses of COVID-19 vaccination in kidney transplant recipients
Get PDF[Introduction] Kidney transplant recipients showed a weak humoral response to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine despite receiving three cumulative doses of the vaccine. New approaches are still needed to raise protective immunity conferred by the vaccine administration within this group of high-risk patients.[Methods] To analyze the humoral response and identify any predictive factors within these patients, we designed a prospective monocentric longitudinal study of Kidney transplant recipients (KTR) who received three doses of mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine. Specific antibody levels were measured by chemiluminescence. Parameters related to clinical status such as kidney function, immunosuppressive therapy, inflammatory status and thymic function were analyzed as potential predictors of the humoral response.[Results] Seventy-four KTR and sixteen healthy controls were included. One month after the administration of the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 64.8% of KTR showed a positive humoral response. As predictive factors of seroconversion and specific antibody titer, we found that immunosuppressive therapy, worse kidney function, higher inflammatory status and age were related to a lower response in KTR while immune cell counts, thymosin-a1 plasma concentration and thymic output were related to a higher humoral response. Furthermore, baseline thymosin-a1 concentration was independently associated with the seroconversion after three vaccine doses.[Discussion] In addition to the immunosuppression therapy, condition of kidney function and age before vaccination, specific immune factors could also be relevant in light of optimization of the COVID-19 vaccination protocol in KTR. Therefore, thymosin-a1, an immunomodulatory hormone, deserves further research as a potential adjuvant for the next vaccine boosters.This study was supported by a grant from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS/PI21/00357), which is co-founded by Fondos Europeos para el Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) “Una manera de hacer Europa”. VG-R, IO-M and AB-R were supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CD19/00143, FI19/00298 and CM19/00051, respectively). MP-B was supported by the Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades [DOC_01646 to MP-B] and YP was supported by the Consejería de Salud y Familias of Junta de Andalucía through the “Nicolás Monardes” [RC-0006-2021].Peer reviewe
Seismic Performance and Materials Quantities of Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings Designed for Different Energy Dissipation Capacities
No full textLa aplicación del Reglamento Colombiano de Construcción Sismo Resistente implica que se defina la capacidad de disipación de energía (CDE) de la estructura en función de la tipología y la amenaza sísmica del sitio. En esta investigación se determinaron los efectos de elegir una CDE superior a la mínima permitida, en regiones de sismicidad intermedia y baja, sobre las cantidades de materiales y el comportamiento sísmico de edificaciones aporticadas de concreto reforzado. Se diseñaron 20 edificaciones regulares, con variación en altura y longitud de vanos, modificando los parámetros de diseño acorde a la CDE seleccionada. Se seleccionó un subconjunto de estos edificios para evaluar el daño sísmico mediante análisis pushover. Los resultados mostraron que para ambas zonas sísmicas se presenta un menor consumo de acero cuando se diseña con una CDE moderada y que la selección de una CDE mayor a la mínima resultaría en mayores niveles de daño sísmico.The use of the Colombian seismic design and construction code requires the selection of an energy dissipation capacity (EDC) for the building that depends on the structural type and the seismic hazard at the site. This work investigates the effects on the materials quantities and the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete buildings due to the selection of an EDC superior to the minimum required for low and intermediate seismic regions. Twenty regular buildings with variations in bay lengths and height were designed according to the parameters and requirements for each EDC. Pushover analyses were performed to assess the potential seismic damage in a subset of those buildings. The results showed that the lowest amount of reinforcement in both seismic regions is obtained by selecting a moderate CDE, and that higher levels of seismic damage could occur when a CDE superior to the minimum is selected
Computer-Assisted Definition of the Inflammatory Infiltrates in Patients With Different Categories of Banff Kidney Allograft Rejection
Get PDFCopyright © 2019 Aguado-Domínguez, Cabrera-Pérez, Suarez-Benjumea, AbadMolina, Núñez-Roldán and Aguilera.Currently, the diagnosis of kidney allograft rejection relies on individual histological assessments made by expert pathologists according to the Banff classification. In this study, we applied new Computer-Assisted System Technology (newCAST™) by Visiopharm® with the aim of identifying and quantifying the immune cells in inflammatory infiltrates. We searched for distinctive cellular profiles that could be assigned to each rejection category of the Banff schema: antibody-mediated rejection (active and chronic active), borderline, T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR), and mixed rejection. This study was performed with 49 biopsy samples, 42 from patients with rejection and 7 from patients with clinical signs of dysfunction but an absence of histological findings of rejection. Plasma cells, B and T lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and macrophages, with a special focus on the M1 and M2 subsets, were studied. A major difference among the Banff rejection groups was in the total amount of cells/mm2 tissue. Principal component analysis identified some distinctive associations. The borderline category grouped with CD4+ lymphocytes and M1 macrophages, and active antibody-mediated rejection (aAMR) clustered with natural killer cells. Despite these findings, the search for characteristic profiles linked to the rejection types proved to be a very difficult task since the cellular composition varied significantly among individuals within the same diagnostic category. The results of this study will be analyzed from the perspective of reconciling the classic way of diagnosing rejection and the immune situation “in situ” at the time of diagnosis.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Grants 17/1403 and the Andalusian government, Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Proyecto de Excelencia CTS-7846, and was co-funded by FEDER from the Regional Development European Funds (European Union)
