Breakage and Disappearance of a Part of the Midline Catheter Tip During Insertion

Midline catheters have been proposed as alternatives to central venous catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters. Midline catheters reduce the incidence of overall needle stick injuries during hospitalization, have lower complication rates than central venous catheters or peripherally inserted central catheters, and provide potential cost benefits for hospitals. Complications with midline catheters are similar to those of other intravenous catheters, and intravenous catheter breakage is very rare and invasive. We report a case wherein a midline catheter tip was broken during insertion and removed by open surgery. For the safe use of midline catheters, accurate and delicate insertion techniques should be practiced. More case studies are warranted to verify the usefulness and convenience of various types of midline catheters for their universal use.

COVID-19 spike polypeptide vaccine reduces the pathogenesis and viral infection in a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease called COVID-19, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is still ongoing. Vaccination is the most important strategy to end the pandemic. Several vaccines have been approved, as evidenced by the ongoing global pandemic, but the pandemic is far from over and no fully effective vaccine is yet available. One of the most critical steps in vaccine development is the selection of appropriate antigens and their proper introduction into the immune system. Therefore, in this study, we developed and evaluated two proposed vaccines composed of single and multiple SARS-CoV-2 polypeptides derived from the spike protein, namely, vaccine A and vaccine B, respectively. The polypeptides were validated by the sera of COVID-19-vaccinated individuals and/or naturally infected COVID-19 patients to shortlist the starting pool of antigens followed by in vivo vaccination to hACE2 transgenic mice. The spike multiple polypeptide vaccine (vaccine B) was more potent to reduce the pathogenesis of organs, resulting in higher protection against the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A Paradoxical Effect of Interleukin-32 Isoforms on Cancer

IL-32 plays a contradictory role such as tumor proliferation or suppressor in cancer development depending on the cancer type. In most cancers, it was found that the high expression of IL-32 was associated with more proliferative and progression of cancer. However, studying the isoforms of IL-32 cytokine has placed its paradoxical role into a wide range of functions based on its dominant isoform and surrounding environment. IL-32β, for example, was found mostly in different types of cancer and associated with cancer expansion. This observation is legitimate since cancer exhibits some hypoxic environment and IL-32β was known to be induced under hypoxic conditions. However, IL-32θ interacts directly with protein kinase C-δ reducing NF-κB and STAT3 levels to inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This effect could explain the different functions of IL-32 isoforms in cancer. However, pro- or antitumor activity which is dependant on obesity, gender, and age as it relates to IL-32 has yet to be studied. Obesity-related IL-32 regulation indicated the role of IL-32 in cancer metabolism and inflammation. IL-32-specific direction in cancer therapy is difficult to conclude. In this review, we address that the paradoxical effect of IL-32 on cancer is attributed to the dominant isoform, cancer type, tumor microenvironment, and genetic background. IL-32 seems to have a contradictory role in cancer. However, investigating multiple IL-32 isoforms could explain this doubt and bring us closer to using them in therapy.

Comparison of the Seven Interleukin-32 Isoforms’ Biological Activities: IL-32θ Possesses the Most Dominant Biological Activity

Cytokines are significantly associated with the homeostasis of immune responses in health and disease. Interleukin-32 (IL-32) is a cytokine originally discovered in natural killer cell transcript 4. IL-32 with different disorders has been described in terms of pathogenesis and the progression of diseases. Clinical studies have investigated IL-32 under various conditions, such as viral infection, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, certain types of cancer, vascular disease, and pulmonary diseases. The high expression of IL-32 was identified in different tissues with various diseases and found to have multiple transcripts of up to seven isoforms. However, the purification and biological activities of these isoforms have not been investigated yet. Therefore, in this study, we purified and compared the biological activity of recombinant IL-32 (rIL-32) isoforms. This is the first time for seven rIL-32 isoforms (α, β, δ, γ, ϵ, ζ, and θ) to be cloned and purified using an Escherichia coli expression system. Next, we evaluate the biological activities of these seven rIL-32 isoforms, which were used to treat different types of cells by assessing the levels of inflammatory cytokine production. The results revealed that rIL-32θ possessed the most dominant biological activity in both immune and non-immune cells.

Dynamic interactions of lactic acid bacteria in Korean sourdough during back-slopping process

AIMS

This study aimed to clarify the cause of quality reduction in Korean sourdough after successive back-slopping.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We investigated the dynamic changes in lactic acid bacteria during the back-slopping process using genetic fingerprinting techniques. During the initial propagation phases, the dominant lactic acid bacteria were Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis (<5 log CFU per g sourdough), Latilactobacillus curvatus (9·5 log CFU per g sourdough) and Levilactobacillus brevis (6·5 log CFU per g sourdough). However, after the 11th propagation, F. sanfranciscensis became more prominent (>9·0 log CFU per g sourdough), whereas L. curvatus and L. brevis rapidly decreased. Monitoring these bacteria in the co-culture system revealed that acid-tolerant F. sanfranciscensis rapidly utilized maltose (1·65 g l^-1  h^-1 ) and produced large amounts of lactic acid, whereas L. brevis and L. curvatus consumed maltose slowly and L. curvatus was poorly tolerant to lactic acid.

CONCLUSION

The results indicate that competition exists between the lactic acid bacteria in sourdough during the back-slopping process, and microbial succession by acid-tolerant species results in quality reduction of sourdough.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This study uncovered the cause of microbial changes during the propagation of Korean sourdough and proposed a strategy to develop starters to produce high-quality bakery products.

The Progression of SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2): Mutation in the Receptor Binding Domain of Spike Gene

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The viral genome encodes twelve genes for viral replication and infection. The third open reading frame is the spike (S) gene that encodes for the spike glycoprotein interacting with specific cell surface receptor – angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) – on the host cell membrane. Most recent studies identified a single point mutation in S gene. A single point mutation in S gene leading to an amino acid substitution at codon 614 from an aspartic acid 614 into glycine (D614G) resulted in greater infectivity compared to the wild type SARS-CoV2. We were interested in investigating the mutation region of S gene of SARS-CoV2 from Korean COVID-19 patients. New mutation sites were found in the critical receptor binding domain (RBD) of S gene, which is adjacent to the aforementioned D614G mutation residue. This specific sequence data demonstrated the active progression of SARS-CoV2 by mutations in the RBD of S gene. The sequence information of new mutations is critical to the development of recombinant SARS-CoV2 spike antigens, which may be required to improve and advance the strategy against a wide range of possible SARS-CoV2 mutations.

Structural Characteristics of Seven IL-32 Variants

IL-32 exists as seven mRNA transcripts that can translate into distinct individual IL-32 variants with specific protein domains. These translated protein domains of IL-32 variants code for specific functions that allow for interaction with different molecules intracellularly or extracellularly. The longest variant is IL-32γ possessing 234 amino acid residues with all 11 protein domains, while the shortest variant is IL-32α possessing 131 amino acid residues with three of the protein domains. The first domain exists in 6 variants except IL-32δ variant, which has a distinct translation initiation codon due to mRNA splicing. The last eleventh domain is common domain for all seven IL-32 variants. Numerous studies in different fields, such as inflammation, autoimmunity, pathogen infection, and cancer biology, have claimed the specific biological activity of individual IL-32 variant despite the absence of sufficient data. There are 4 additional IL-32 variants without proper transcripts. In this review, the structural characteristics of seven IL-32 transcripts are described based on the specific protein domains.

Pemetrexed versus gefitinib versus erlotinib in previously treated non-small cell lung cancer by retrospective analysis

e19103

Background: The standards in 2nd-line therapy with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were erlotinib or pemetrexed as well as docetaxel. To evaluate the efficacies and safeties of pemetrexed, gefitinib, and erlotinib in previously treated NSCLC we analyzed the datas retrospectively. Methods: Eligible patents were 1) histologically confirmed pretreated advanced (stage IIIB or IV) NSCLC, 2) with at least one measurable lesion, 3) age over 18 years, 4) performance status (PS) 0–2, and 5) should never experience other two drugs as previous therapy. Patients of pemetrexed group received IV infusion of 500mg/m2 pemetrexed mixed with normal saline every 3 weeks with vitamin B12 and folate supplementation. Patients of gefitinib group received gefitinib 250mg PO daily and of erlotinib took erlotinib 150mg PO daily. Cycles of IV pemetrexed or taking PO drugs were continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Results: we analyzed 57 patients (pemetrexed; 20, gefitnib; 20, and erlotinib; 17). The response rates were 5.3%, 25.0%, and 12.5% (P=0.22), and the disease control rate were 5.3%, 40.0%, and 50.0% respectively (P<0.01). Median progression-free survival (PFS) of pemetrexed, gefitinib, and erlotinib were 1.7, 3.5 and 4.4 months (P<0.01) and median overall survival (OS) were 5.6, 21.8 and 21.5 months respectively (P=0.04). In subgroup analysis, patients with non-squamous carcinoma, smokers and good PS (0 or 1) showed longer PFS and OS in gefitinib and erlotinib compared with in pemetrexed. All of these agents showed mild and tolerable toxicity. Conclusions: In retrospective analysis, the patients with gefitinib or erlotinib had longer PFS and OS than pemetrexed, eventhough there was no significant difference for response rate in three group. These results have to confirm by large randomized prospective study because the sample size was small and it was not randomized.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.