<i>Background and aims</i> - We have previously found increased levels of the cysteine protease legumain in plasma and plaques from patients with carotid atherosclerosis. This study further investigated legumain during acute cardiovascular events.<p><p> <i>Methods</i> - Circulating levels of legumain from patients and legumain released from platelets were assessed by enzyme-linked-immunosorbent ...

Background: The lungs are the organ most likely to sustain serious injury from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the mechanisms for long-term complications are not clear. Patients with severe COVID-19 have shorter telomere lengths and higher levels of cellular senescence, and we hypothesized that circulating levels of the telomere-associated senescence markers chitotriosidase, ...

<i>Background</i> - The immune response during falciparum malaria mediates both harmful and protective effects on the host; however the participating molecules have not been fully defined. Interleukin (IL)-27 is a pleiotropic cytokine exerting both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects, but data on IL-27 in malaria patients are scarce.<p><p> <i>Methods</i> - Clinical data and blood samples ...

<i>Background</i> - Innate and adaptive immune responses are pivotal in atherosclerosis, but their association with early‐stage atherosclerosis in humans is incompletely understood. In this regard, untreated children with familial hypercholesterolaemia may serve as a human model to investigate the effect of elevated low‐density lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol.<p><p> <i>Objectives</i> - We aimed ...

Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients have reduced gut microbial diversity compared to healthy controls. The reduced diversity is associated with gut leakage, increased systemic inflammation and ten “key” bacteria that capture the gut dysbiosis (dysbiosis index) in CVID. Rifaximin is a broad-spectrum non-absorbable antibiotic known to reduce gut leakage (lipopolysaccharides, LPS) in liver ...

Angiogenesis is necessary for tumor growth and has been targeted in breast cancer; however, it is unclear which patients will respond and benefit from antiangiogenic therapy. We report noninvasive monitoring of patient response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy given alone or in combination with anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor (bevacizumab) in a randomized clinical trial. At four time points during ...

The new SARS-CoV-2 pandemic leads to COVID-19 with respiratory failure, substantial morbidity, and significant mortality. Overactivation of the innate immune response is postulated to trigger this detrimental process. The complement system is a key player in innate immunity. Despite a few reports of local complement activation, there is a lack of evidence that the degree of systemic complement ...