In Euphorbia lagascae, the storage triacylglycerol in the seed endosperm contains high amounts of the epoxidated fatty acid vernolic acid [(12S,13R)-epoxy-12-octadecenoic acid]. Vernolic acid has potential industrial applications in the production of paints, coatings and lubricants as an alternative to petroleumderived oils [1]. Our research interest was initially to increase our knowledge about the enzymatic reactions involved in mobilization and oxidation of vernolic acid in order to improve our potential to develop valuable new crops [2]. The large size of E. lagascae seeds also makes them attractive for proteomic, biochemical and physiological studies of seed germination. We have previously applied proteomics to E. lagascae endosperm to identify novel components involved in endosperm degradation, nutrient recycling, lipid catabolism and b-oxidation [3].In this report, we show that sterol carrier protein-2 (SCP-2) accumulates in the E. lagascae endosperm during germination. SCP-2 is an intracellular, small, basic Keywords b-oxidation; lipid transfer protein; peroxisome; sterol; sterol carrier protein-2 Correspondence J. Edqvist,

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The distinction between bacterial and viral causes of infections of the respiratory tract is a major but important clinical challenge. We investigated the diagnostic performance of human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL) in respiratory tract infections compared to those of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT). Patients were recruited from the emergency department and from a primary care unit (n = 162). The clinical diagnosis with regard to bacterial or viral cause of infection was complemented with objective microbiological/serological testing. HNL was measured in whole blood after preactivation with the neutrophil activator formyl-methionine-leucine-phenylalanine (fMLP) (B-HNL), and CRP and PCT were measured in plasma. Head-to-head comparisons of the three biomarkers showed that B-HNL was a superior diagnostic means to distinguish between causes of infections, with areas under the concentration-time curve (AUCs) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for HNL of 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83 to 0.96) and 0.92 (95% CI, 0.82 to 0.97) for all respiratory infections and for upper respiratory infections, respectively, compared to 0.72 (95% CI, 0.63 to 0.80) and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.56 to 0.79) for CRP, respectively (P = 0.001). In relation to major clinical symptoms of respiratory tract infections (cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, and signs of sinusitis), AUCs varied between 0.88 and 0.93 in those patients with likely etiology (i.e., etiology is likely determined) of infection, compared to 0.63 and 0.71 for CRP, respectively, and nonsignificant AUCs for PCT. The diagnostic performance of B-HNL is superior to that of plasma CRP (P-CRP) and plasma PCT (P-PCT) in respiratory tract infections, and the activity specifically reflects bacterial challenge in the body. The rapid and accurate analysis of HNL by point-of-care technologies should be a major advancement in the diagnosis and management of respiratory infections with respect to antibiotic treatment.

Neutrophils have been suggested mediators of organ dysfunction in COVID-19. The current study investigated if systemic neutrophil activity, estimated by human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL) concentration in peripheral blood, is associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) development. A total of 103 adult patients admitted to intensive care, with PCR-confirmed SARS -CoV-2 infection, were prospectively included (Clinical Trials ID: NCT04316884). HNL was analyzed in plasma (P-HNL Dimer) and in whole blood (B-HNL). The latter after ex vivo activation with N-formyl-methionine-leucine-phenylalanine. All patients developed respiratory dysfunction and 62 (60%) were treated with invasive ventilation. Sixty-seven patients (65%) developed AKI, 18 (17%) progressed to AKI stage 3, and 14 (14%) were treated with continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). P-HNL Dimer was higher in patients with invasive ventilation, vasopressors, AKI, AKI stage 3, dialysis, and 30-day mortality (p < 0.001–0.046). B-HNL performed similarly with the exception of mild AKI and mortality (p < 0.001–0.004). The cohort was dichotomized by ROC estimated cutoff concentrations of 13.2 µg/L and 190 µg/L for P-HNL Dimer and B-HNL respectively. Increased cumulative risks for AKI, AKI stage 3, and death were observed if above the P-HNL cutoff and for AKI stage 3 if above the B-HNL cutoff. The relative risk of developing AKI stage 3 was nine and 39 times greater if above the cutoffs in plasma and whole blood, respectively, for CRRT eight times greater for both. In conclusion, systemically elevated neutrophil lipocalin, interpreted as increased neutrophil activity, was shown to be associated with an increased risk of severe AKI, renal replacement therapy, and mortality in COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure.

Counting numbers of blood neutrophils is one of the most common laboratory tests in modern clinical medicine. In this report, we have tested the idea that immunoassay of major constituents of mature neutrophils might serve as proxy of cell counting and allow the development of rapid and simple point-of-care tests. The procedure may also allow for the estimate of the state of maturity of the circulating blood cells. Immunoassays for myeloperoxidase (MPO) and lactoferrin (LF) were used to measure the respective protein in whole blood extracts of 275 unselected hospitalized patient and in 51 healthy controls and leukemia patients of which eight were followed before, during and after remission treatment. MPO was correlated to neutrophil counts in the unselected hospitalized population (r ¼ 0.95, p <.0001). Huge variations were seen in whole blood extracts of patients with AML with very high MPO/LF ratios in half of the AML patients and in all three patients with APL. In extracts from patients with ALL no difference was found in the ratio as compared to healthy persons. The monitoring of AML patients during remission treatment showed intriguing patterns one of which suggested the possibility to monitor the myelopoietic activity in the bone marrow during the recovery phase. We show a novel and easy technology to count mature neutrophils in blood and also to monitor myeloid cell maturity in the blood as well as myelopoietic activity in the bone marrow. The technology lends itself to the development of a rapid and simple point-of-care test.