SARS-CoV-2-specific nasal IgA wanes 9 months after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and is not induced by subsequent vaccination

BACKGROUND: Most studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 focus on circulating antibody, giving limited insights into mucosal defences that prevent viral replication and onward transmission. We studied nasal and plasma antibody responses one year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, including a period when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was introduced. METHODS: In this follow up study, plasma and nasosorption samples were prospectively collected from 446 adults hospitalised for COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021 via the ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. IgA and IgG responses to NP and S of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Delta and Omicron (BA.1) variants were measured by electrochemiluminescence and compared with plasma neutralisation data. FINDINGS: Strong and consistent nasal anti-NP and anti-S IgA responses were demonstrated, which remained elevated for nine months (p < 0.0001). Nasal and plasma anti-S IgG remained elevated for at least 12 months (p < 0.0001) with plasma neutralising titres that were raised against all variants compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Of 323 with complete data, 307 were vaccinated between 6 and 12 months; coinciding with rises in nasal and plasma IgA and IgG anti-S titres for all SARS-CoV-2 variants, although the change in nasal IgA was minimal (1.46-fold change after 10 months, p = 0.011) and the median remained below the positive threshold determined by pre-pandemic controls. Samples 12 months after admission showed no association between nasal IgA and plasma IgG anti-S responses (R = 0.05, p = 0.18), indicating that nasal IgA responses are distinct from those in plasma and minimally boosted by vaccination. INTERPRETATION: The decline in nasal IgA responses 9 months after infection and minimal impact of subsequent vaccination may explain the lack of long-lasting nasal defence against reinfection and the limited effects of vaccination on transmission. These findings highlight the need to develop vaccines that enhance nasal immunity. FUNDING: This study has been supported by ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. ISARIC4C is supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre provided infrastructure support for this research. The PHOSP-COVD study is jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation and National Institute of Health and Care Research. The funders were not involved in the study design, interpretation of data or the writing of this manuscript

Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease

One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials

A rare case of primary gastric plasmacytoma: An unforeseen surprise

Primary plasmacytoma of the gastrointestinal tract is a rare entity. We report a case of a primary gastric plasmacytoma in a 57-year-old man who presented with upper-gastrointestinal bleeding. Endoscopy showed a nodular gastric mass with central umblication. Histological examination of the gastrectomy specimen revealed a monoclonal lambda-chain extramedullary plasmacytoma. Further staging was found to be negative for multiple myeloma. As other more common pathologic processes at this site may also be endowed with numerous plasma cells, awareness of this entity and distinction using immunohistochemistry are extremely crucial. Because systemic disease ultimately develops in many patients with localized plasmacytoma, such patients should be followed closely for the appearance of clinical, biochemical, and roentgenologic evidence of multiple myeloma

A rare case of primary gastric plasmacytoma: An unforeseen surprise

Primary plasmacytoma of the gastrointestinal tract is a rare entity. We report a case of a primary gastric plasmacytoma in a 57-year-old man who presented with upper-gastrointestinal bleeding. Endoscopy showed a nodular gastric mass with central umblication. Histological examination of the gastrectomy specimen revealed a monoclonal lambda-chain extramedullary plasmacytoma. Further staging was found to be negative for multiple myeloma. As other more common pathologic processes at this site may also be endowed with numerous plasma cells, awareness of this entity and distinction using immunohistochemistry are extremely crucial. Because systemic disease ultimately develops in many patients with localized plasmacytoma, such patients should be followed closely for the appearance of clinical, biochemical, and roentgenologic evidence of multiple myeloma

Is there a role for estrogen and progesterone receptors in gall bladder cancer?

Background/Aims. The concept of metaplastic and non-metaplastic types of gall bladder cancer and the likelihood of hormone receptor expression in the nuclei of tumour cells raised the possibility of a potential role for anti-estrogen therapy in gall bladder cancer. This study was carried out to determine the hormone receptors (ER/PR) expression level in gall bladder cancer using specific immunohistochemical assays and correlate it with patient and tumour histopathological characteristics. Patients and methods. Histopathological tumour specimens of 62 patients who underwent a radical cholecystectomy were analysed. Pronase pretreatment and primary monoclonal antibodies were used to perform immunohistochemical analysis for ER and PR. Results. The histology was adenocarcinoma – predominantly, moderately to poorly differentiated (91%). Gallstones were present in 90% of the individuals. Of the 62 specimens analysed, 62 (100%) and 61 (98%) were negative for ER and PR, respectively. Conclusion. The high incidence of gallstone-related gall bladder cancer in India is associated with metaplasia and a tendency to poorer differentiation in the tumour histology. These tumours are consequently less likely to express hormone receptors. Thus, there does not seem to be a role for anti-hormone therapy in patients with histogenesis similar to that seen in India

Atomistic–continuum model for probing the biomechanical properties of human erythrocyte membrane under extreme conditions

A precise first attempt is performed to quantify the biomechanical properties of human erythrocyte membrane subjects to extreme temperature and loading conditions. An improved three-dimensional (3D) atomistic–continuum model based on the Cauchy–Born rule is proposed to investigate the elastic properties and biomechanical responses of the erythrocyte membrane. A membrane rigidity model is developed to estimate the membrane elastic properties over an extreme temperature range. Our computational results reveal that the membrane is able to sustain large strains up to a certain limit; beyond which, mechanically induced hemolysis may occur as exponential stress increment, fluctuations and multiple peaks were observed in the stress–strain curves. Additionally, we found that the overall deformability of the erythrocyte membrane significantly decreases as temperature increases. It is concluded that the observed increase in membrane rigidity may be attributed to the denaturation, structural remodeling and cross-linking of membrane cytoskeletal proteins

Simultaneous gallbladder and bile duct cancers: revisiting the pathological possibilities

The pathogenesis of gallbladder cancer presenting synchronously with malignancy of the bile duct has not been clearly understood. The possible causes for the simultaneous presence of these tumors could be due to local spread, metastases, de novo multifocal origin, or as part of a field change in the extrahepatic biliary apparatus. In this article, we discuss the cases of four patients with simultaneous gallbladder and bile duct malignancies and analyze their individual pathologies to provide an explanation into the mechanisms that may play a role in such conditions