Mouse Anti-Human SELE Hybridoma [DM48]

Background Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory disease has been associated with ischemic complications, coagulation disorders, and an endotheliitis. Objectives To explore endothelial damage and activation-related biomarkers in COVID-19 patients with criteria of hospitalization for referral to intensive care unit (ICU) and/or respiratory worsening. Methods Analysis of endothelial and angiogenic soluble markers in plasma from patients at admission. Results Study enrolled 40 consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to emergency department that fulfilled criteria for hospitalization. Half of them were admitted in conventional wards without any ICU transfer during hospitalization; whereas the 20 others were directly transferred to ICU. Patients transferred in ICU were more likely to have lymphopenia, decreased SpO2 and increased D-dimer, CRP and creatinine levels. In those patients, soluble E-selectin and angiopoietin-2 were significantly increased (p value at 0.009 and 0.003, respectively). Increase in SELE gene expression (gene coding for E-selectin protein) was confirmed in an independent cohort of 32 patients using a whole blood gene expression profile analysis. In plasma, we found a strong association between angiopoetin-2 and CRP, creatinine and D-dimers (with p value at 0.001, 0.001 and 0.003, respectively). ROC curve analysis identified an Angiopoietin-2 cut-off of 5000 pg/mL as the best predictor for ICU outcome (Se = 80.1%, Sp = 70%, PPV = 72.7%, NPV = 77%), further confirmed in multivariate analysis after adjustment for creatinine, CRP or D-dimers. Conclusion Angiopoietin-2 is a relevant predictive factor for ICU direct admission in COVID-19 patients. This result showing an endothelial activation reinforces the hypothesis of a COVID-19-associated microvascular dysfunction.

Italy and Spain are Europe's main peach-producing countries. Since the mid-90s, however, peach-growing areas have decreased in Italy thus causing its loss of European leadership. One of the reasons for the decline is the presence of replant disorders in peach orchards. As soil-borne pathogens are one of the biotic components of aetiology, a study was performed in an intensively cultivated area of southern Italy, to investigate the use of soil fungi as indicators of soil health when planting new peach orchards. Soil sampling was carried out in five replanted peach orchards and five horticultural sites in the "Piana del Sele", a peach and vegetable-growing valley in the Campania region. Three different soil fungi communities were recorded: soil-inhabiting filamentous fungi; endophytic root fungi, based on cultural methods; and uncultured soil fungi, based on nucleotide sequences of internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) and rDNA gene fragments. Soil health was evaluated with a greenhouse bioassay, using young plants of peach rootstock GF677. Diversity and composition of fungal communities were compared using PAST, a software which includes several functions commonly used in paleoecology. Each peach tree orchard was characterized by a significantly higher diversity score than horticultural crops. The two cultivation systems differed widely for species composition suggesting that vegetative cover and cultivation practices strongly affected fungal community composition. The bioassay to evaluate soil health showed a significant growth reduction in horticultural sites compared to peach sites. This finding was supported by the high abundance of Cylindrocarpon destructans and Thielviopsis basicola, two aggressive root rot agents, within endophytic fungal communities in horticultural sites. In this survey, greatest fungal diversity corresponds to best plant growth. From a practical point of view, when deciding to replant a new fruit tree orchards in intensively cultivated areas, a greenhouse bioassay with the target crop, combined with a quantitative analysis of endophytic root fungal communities, may help in deciding the best soil use. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.