Insights into microRNA-mediated interaction and regulation of metabolites in tomato

microRNAs direct regulation of various metabolic pathways in plants and animals. miRNAs may be useful in developing novel/elite genotypes, with enhanced metabolites and disease resistance. We examined miRNAs in tomato. In tomato, miRNAs in the carotenoid pathway have not been fully elucidated. We examined the potential role of miRNAs in biosynthesis of carotenoids, transcript profiling of miRNAs and their possible targets (genes and transcription factors) at different development stages of tomato using stem-loop PCR and RT-qPCR. We also identified miRNAs targeting key flavonoid genes, such as chalcone isomerase (CHI), and dihydroflavonol-4-reductase (DFR). Distinct expression profiles of miRNAs and their targets were found in fruits of three tomato accessions, suggesting carotenoid regulation by miRNAs at various stages of fruit development. This was also confirmed using HPLC of the carotenoids. The present study may help in understanding possible regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis. The identified miRNAs can be exploited to enhance biosynthesis of different carotenoids in plants.

A persistent neutrophil-associated immune signature characterizes post-COVID-19 pulmonary sequelae

Interstitial lung disease and associated fibrosis occur in a proportion of individuals who have recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection through unknown mechanisms. We studied individuals with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after recovery from acute illness. Individuals with evidence of interstitial lung changes at 3 to 6 months after recovery had an up-regulated neutrophil-associated immune signature including increased chemokines, proteases, and markers of neutrophil extracellular traps that were detectable in the blood. Similar pathways were enriched in the upper airway with a concomitant increase in antiviral type I interferon signaling. Interaction analysis of the peripheral phosphoproteome identified enriched kinases critical for neutrophil inflammatory pathways. Evaluation of these individuals at 12 months after recovery indicated that a subset of the individuals had not yet achieved full normalization of radiological and functional changes. These data provide insight into mechanisms driving development of pulmonary sequelae during and after COVID-19 and provide a rational basis for development of targeted approaches to prevent long-term complications.

P-054 STANDARDIZATION OF HERNIA REGISTRY IN A HIGH-VOLUME LOW-COMPLEXITY CENTRE

Introduction

Our surgical department performs an average of 350 cases per year, performed by general surgeons of various seniority. These are predominantly in a post-pandemic period, where a backlog of patients are awaiting surgery in the NHS. It is not always possible for the same professional to provide continuity of care. An easy and reproducible classification of hernias is necessary to facilitate universal communication among surgeons.

Methods

We implemented a surgical proforma for the pre-assessment and operation note, based on the European Hernia Society (EHS) for inguinal and ventral hernias. The pre-assessment and operation note proforma were trialled on an elective basis on a week designated for hernia surgery. The proforma was then rolled out to both elective and emergency hernia repair surgery with the collaboration of all surgeons from our department.

Results

The use of designated hernia week was beneficial to learning and led to acceptance of the new proforma amongst all our surgeons. Hence, the reproducibility in non-dedicated elective lists and emergency cases could be achieved.

Conclusion

The adoption of a single classification accepted internationally, as proposed by the EHS, improves the continuity of patients’ care from pre-assessment to post-operative follow-up. The registry will benefit from better planning of theatre lists, improved productivity, understanding of recurrence rates, types of complications, and lead to improved quality of life. Long-term data collection and further studies can be uniformly compared inside the surgical department, and in collaboration with multinational studies with this initiative.

48 Consenting Surgical Patients for the Risk Associated with Contracting COVID-19 During Their Stay at the Hospital

Aim

Literature is suggesting significant perioperative mortality and morbidity associated with COVID-19. Therefore, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has produced guidance detailing additional considerations in consenting for surgery whilst COVID-19 is prevalent within society. Section 3A of this document emphasizes the need to discuss the risk of contracting COVID-19 while patients are in hospital. We conducted a multi-cycle closed-loop audit to examine the adherence to this guidance.

Method

We completed four audit cycles, each comprising data collection and educational intervention to disseminate the guidance. Data was obtained from consent forms for patients who had consented to both emergency and elective surgery over a two-month period at a large NHS Trust in London. The intervention consisted of teaching sessions, regular emails to the general surgical department, and posters displayed in common areas.

Results

Consent forms from 139 patients were reviewed over the four cycles (n = 38, 41, 28, and 32). The proportion of patients consented for the risk of contracting COVID-19 during the perioperative period rose serially between the cycles (37%, 61%, 71%, and 85% respectively), and was significantly increased between the first and last cycle (p < 0.01, two-sided Z-test). The interventions proved most effective for senior house officers who improved from consenting 8% initially to 100% on completion of the audit.

Conclusions

We demonstrate the marked effectiveness of simple interventions combined with serial auditing to disseminate this message. The same practice may help improve consenting practice at other centres whilst COVID-19 is prevalent in society.

Fully automated left ventricular ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain predicts obstructive coronary artery disease in patients undergoing stress echocardiography: a multi-centre study

Background

Assessment of LVEF and myocardial deformation with GLS has shown promise in predicting CAD, which may add prognostic information for patients undergoing SE. However, selection bias precludes an accurate assessment of routine clinical SE workflow due to the exclusion of poor image quality and contrast enhanced studies. We hypothesise that an artificial intelligence (AI) pipeline capable of fully automated contouring of the left ventricle and GLS analysis of both non-contrast and contrast SE images is feasible and can predict CAD.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prediction of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) from fully automated left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) measures in a large multicentre population of patients undergoing stress echocardiography (SE).

Methods

500 patients from five medical centres undergoing SE for the clinical evaluation of ischaemic heart disease were included in this study. LVEF and GLS was automatically calculated using AI in non-contrast and contrast images at rest and peak stress. The primary endpoint was CAD assessed using invasive coronary angiography.

Results

Patients with significant CAD demonstrated significantly reduced LVEF and GLS at rest and peak stress (all p&lt;0.001) compared to those without CAD. Of the 130 patients who exhibited myocardial ischaemia at peak stress, patients without significant CAD (37%) had significantly reduced LVEF and GLS when compared to those who did. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that a peak LVEF (0.93; 95% CI 0.9–0.96) and peak GLS (1.15; 95% CI 1.07–1.24) were significant independent predictors of CAD. The addition of automated LVEF and GLS to basic models significantly improved the C statistic from 0.78 to 0.83 and 0.85 (both p&lt;0.001), respectively.

Conclusions

Fully automated LVEF and GLS in non-contrast and contrast SE images is feasible and independently augment the prediction of obstructive CAD above and beyond traditional SE indexes.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Is the Management of Rectal Cancer Using a Watch and Wait Approach Feasible, Safe and Effective in a Publicly Funded General Hospital?

AIMS

Although there is emerging evidence to suggest equivalent oncological outcomes using a watch and wait approach compared with primary total mesorectal excision surgery, there is a paucity of evidence about the safety and efficacy of this approach in routine clinical practice. Here we report the long-term outcomes and quality of life from patients managed with watch and wait following a clinical complete response (cCR) to neoadjuvant therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients with adenocarcinoma of the rectum with cCR following neoadjuvant therapy managed using watch and wait were retrospectively identified. Demographic data, performance status, pretreatment staging information, oncological and surgical outcomes were obtained from routinely collected clinical data. Quality of life was measured by trained clinicians during telephone interviews.

RESULTS

Over a 7-year period, 506 patients were treated for rectal cancer, 276 had neoadjuvant therapy and 72 had a cCR (26.1%). Sixty-three were managed with watch and wait. Thirteen patients had mucosal regrowth. There was no significant difference in the incidence of metastatic disease between the surgical and watch and wait cohorts (P = 0.38). The 13 patients with mucosal regrowth underwent salvage surgery. Eleven of the patients who underwent surgical resection had R0 resections. There was also a statistically and clinically significant improvement in the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Colorectal (FACT-C) trial outcome index (P = 0.022).

CONCLUSION

This study shows that watch and wait is safe and effective outside of tertiary referral centres. It suggests that an opportunistic cCR is durable and when mucosal regrowth occurs it can be salvaged. Finally, we have shown that quality of life is probably improved if a watch and wait approach is adopted.

Autoptic identification of disseminated mucormycosis in a young male presenting with cerebrovascular event, multi-organ dysfunction and COVID-19 infection

Among the secondary fungal infections in Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infection, Aspergillosis has been reported more often than Mucormycosis. Disseminated mucormycosis is almost always a disease of severely immunosuppressed hosts. We report a young obese Asian male who was admitted with an acute anterior cerebral artery (ACA) territory infarct and severe COVID-19 pneumonitis to the intensive care unit (ICU). He had a complicated stay with recurrent episodes of vasoplegic shock and multi-organ dysfunction. At autopsy, he was confirmed to have disseminated mucormycosis. We believe this to be the first documented case of disseminated mucormycosis in an immunocompetent host with COVID-19 infection. The lack of sensitive non-invasive modalities and biomarkers to diagnose mucormycosis, along with the extremely high mortality in untreated cases, present a unique challenge to clinicians dealing with critically ill patients with COVID-19.

1612. Evaluation of the Use of Ceftolozane/Tazobactam for the Treatment of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales Infections Using International Data from SPECTRA (Study of Prescribing Patterns and Effectiveness of Ceftolozane/Tazobactam Real World Analysis)

Background

There is a paucity of data on outcomes of patients with severe ESBL-producing Enterobacterales infections treated with empiric or directed ceftolozane/tazobactam (C/T). This study looked at the treatment patterns and outcomes associated with C/T use in the treatment of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales.

Methods

Data were collected from an international cohort of 32 hospitals in 6 countries as part of SPECTRA, a retrospective multicenter database of C/T use globally, from 2016 – 2019. All adult patients with an ESBL positive Enterobacterales sterile site culture and treated with ≥ 48 hours of C/T were eligible. Outcomes assessed were clinical success, 30-day mortality from index event and readmission.

Results

There were 59 patients with 121 ESBL positive isolates. Blood and urine were the most common sites of infection at 19.8% each, followed by respiratory (18.2%). E. coli (50%) and K. pneumoniae (30%) were the most common pathogens. On average patients had 2 positive ESBL isolates; median 1; range 1-15. Most patients had the same infection site and ESBL pathogen, however 13 had multi-site ESBL pathogens identified and only 2 had polymicrobial ESBL pathogens. Septic shock was observed in 14 (24%) patients; 29 (49%) were in the ICU at the onset of infection. The most common comorbid conditions were immunocompromised hosts (37%) and cardiac disease (32%). 29% of patients were transplant recipients, and 28% had a CrCl < 50 ml/min. In most patients (71%), C/T was given as directed therapy (i.e., once culture results were available). C/T was given prior to culture results (i.e., as empiric therapy) in 17 (29%) patients, of which 77% had clinical success. C/T dose was 1.5 g in 49%. Only 2 of 10 patients with a respiratory source received the currently licensed 3 g dose. Overall, clinical success was observed in 36 (61%) patients. 30-day mortality was 12%. Readmissions occurred in 5%, of which 2 were infection related.

Conclusion

The role of newer non-carbapenem antibiotics in the treatment of severe ESBL infections is currently undefined. In a multinational patient database, C/T was found to be effective in severe infections caused by ESBL-producing Enterobacterales. Prospective studies are needed to further define the role of C/T in the setting of frequent drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens.

Disclosures

Laura A. Puzniak, PhD, Merck (Employee) Matteo Bassetti, MD, Shionogi Inc. (Advisor or Review Panel member) Pamela Moise, PharmD, Merck & Co., Inc. (Employee, Shareholder) David Paterson, Accelerate (Speaker’s Bureau)BioMerieux (Speaker’s Bureau)BioMerieux (Advisor or Review Panel member)Entasis (Advisor or Review Panel member)Merck (Advisor or Review Panel member)Merck (Grant/Research Support)Merck (Speaker’s Bureau)Pfizer (Speaker’s Bureau)Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Grant/Research Support)VenatoRx (Advisor or Review Panel member)

Levosimendan Efficacy and Safety: 20 years of SIMDAX in Clinical Use

Levosimendan was first approved for clinic use in 2000, when authorisation was granted by Swedish regulatory authorities for the haemodynamic stabilisation of patients with acutely decompensated chronic heart failure. In the ensuing 20 years, this distinctive inodilator, which enhances cardiac contractility through calcium sensitisation and promotes vasodilatation through the opening of adenosine triphosphate-dependent potassium channels on vascular smooth muscle cells, has been approved in more than 60 jurisdictions, including most of the countries of the European Union and Latin America. Areas of clinical application have expanded considerably and now include cardiogenic shock, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, advanced heart failure, right ventricular failure and pulmonary hypertension, cardiac surgery, critical care and emergency medicine. Levosimendan is currently in active clinical evaluation in the US. Levosimendan in IV formulation is being used as a research tool in the exploration of a wide range of cardiac and non-cardiac disease states. A levosimendan oral form is at present under evaluation in the management of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. To mark the 20 years since the advent of levosimendan in clinical use, 51 experts from 23 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and Ukraine) contributed to this essay, which evaluates one of the relatively few drugs to have been successfully introduced into the acute heart failure arena in recent times and charts a possible development trajectory for the next 20 years.

Levosimendan Efficacy and Safety: 20 Years of SIMDAX in Clinical Use

Levosimendan was first approved for clinical use in 2000, when authorization was granted by Swedish regulatory authorities for the hemodynamic stabilization of patients with acutely decompensated chronic heart failure (HF). In the ensuing 20 years, this distinctive inodilator, which enhances cardiac contractility through calcium sensitization and promotes vasodilatation through the opening of adenosine triphosphate-dependent potassium channels on vascular smooth muscle cells, has been approved in more than 60 jurisdictions, including most of the countries of the European Union and Latin America. Areas of clinical application have expanded considerably and now include cardiogenic shock, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, advanced HF, right ventricular failure, pulmonary hypertension, cardiac surgery, critical care, and emergency medicine. Levosimendan is currently in active clinical evaluation in the United States. Levosimendan in IV formulation is being used as a research tool in the exploration of a wide range of cardiac and noncardiac disease states. A levosimendan oral form is at present under evaluation in the management of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. To mark the 20 years since the advent of levosimendan in clinical use, 51 experts from 23 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine) contributed to this essay, which evaluates one of the relatively few drugs to have been successfully introduced into the acute HF arena in recent times and charts a possible development trajectory for the next 20 years.

Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) in children: a vulnerable population with its own rights and legislation - summary of EMA-initiated multi-stakeholder meeting on Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) for children, held at Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Langen, Germany, 16.1.2019

Concerning development of medicinal products, children belong to a so-called "special population" for which additional legislation applies: Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006 on medicinal products for paediatric use sets up a system of requirements, rewards and incentives to ensure that medicinal products are researched, developed and authorized to meet the therapeutic needs of children. Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) is believed to contain a strong potential for immunomodulatory effects inducing sustained clinical efficacy after cessation of treatment (disease modifying effect) and thereby may prevent the progression of the atopic march towards asthma manifestation. However, to this day only few data on long-term effects in general exist and even fewer in children. These are predominantly data from open studies, which are strongly influenced in their validity by the known placebo effect of AIT. Furthermore, there are no studies allowing for the conclusion that efficacy in adults are mirrored by a similar efficacy in children and thus, up to now, it is not possible to extrapolate data from adults to children. The Paediatric Committee (PDCO)-European Medicines Agency's (EMA) scientific committee responsible for activities on medicines for children-initiated a Multi-Stakeholder Meeting on AIT for Children held at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut in Langen, Germany, to provide a platform for discussion and exchange of thoughts to this topic between allergy experts from academia, regulators and AIT-manufacturers. The consented meeting minutes, conclusions and participants are presented.