Journal of internal medicine
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The clinical presentation of European patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infection is still unknown. ⋯ The clinical presentation of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 substantially varies according to the age and the sex characteristics of patients. Olfactory dysfunction seems to be an important underestimated symptom of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 that needs to be recognized as such by the WHO.
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The interplay between innate and adaptive immunity is central in life-threatening clinical complications of atherosclerosis such as myocardial infarction and stroke. The specific mechanisms involved and their protective versus detrimental effects in the disease process remain poorly understood. We have previously shown that higher levels of Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) expression in human atherosclerotic lesions are correlated with better patient outcome. ⋯ Our findings show that TLR7 stimulation could ameliorate atherosclerotic lesion burden and reduce plasma cholesterol in Apoe-/- mice. TLR7 stimulation was associated with an atheroprotective B-cell and Treg response, which may have systemic and local effects within lesions that could prevent arterial lipid accumulation and inflammation.
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In the present case-control study, we describe the associations between leukocyte subsets in blood and early, screening-detected AAA in men. An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) may result in a life-threatening rupture of the aortic wall. The trigger for AAA formation remains unknown, but the vascular adventitia of advanced AAAs is infiltrated by various leukocytes, indicating that the pathogenesis may involve inflammation. ⋯ Several, but not all, subsets of circulating leukocytes are associated with screening-detected AAA in men, which is insufficiently explained by associations with smoking and other confounders.