Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become challenging even for the most durable healthcare systems. It seems that vaccination, one of the most effective public-health interventions, presents a ray of hope to end the pandemic by achieving herd immunity. In this review, we aimed to cover aspects of the current knowledge of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines and vaccine candidates in the light of autoimmune inflammatory diseases (AIIDs) and to analyze their potential in terms of safety and effectiveness in patients with AIIDs. Therefore, a focused narrative review was carried out to predict the possible implications of different types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines which confer distinct immune mechanisms to establish immune response and protection against COVID-19: whole virus (inactivated or weakened), viral vector (replicating and non-replicating), nucleic acid (RNA, DNA), and protein-based (protein subunit, virus-like particle). Still, there is uncertainty among patients with AIIDs and clinicians about the effectiveness and safety of the new vaccines. There are a variety of approaches towards building a protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Only high-quality clinical trials would clarify the underlying immunological mechanisms of the newly implemented vaccines/ adjuvants in patients living with AIIDs.

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The newly emerged coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 SARS-CoV-2) and the disease that it causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have changed the world we know. Yet, the origin and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 remain mostly vague. Many virulence factors and immune mechanisms contribute to the deteriorating effects on the organism during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Both humoral and cellular immune responses are involved in the pathophysiology of the disease, where the principal and effective immune response towards viral infection is the cell-mediated immunity. The clinical picture of COVID-19, which includes immune memory and reinfection, remains unclear and unpredictable. However, many hopes are put in developing an effective vaccine against the virus, and different therapeutic options have been implemented to find effective, even though not specific, treatment to the disease. We can assume that the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the individual's immune system determines the onset and development of the disease significantly.

Summary Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic inflammatory disease which involves multiple organs. Self‐specific B and T cells play a main role in the pathogenesis of lupus and have been defined as a logical target for selective therapy. The protein annexin A1 (ANX A1) is a modulator of the immune system involving many cell types. An abnormal expression of ANX A1 was found on activated B and T cells during autoimmunity, suggesting its importance as a potential therapeutic target. We hypothesize that it may be possible to down‐regulate the activity of autoreactive T and B cells from lupus patients in a humanized immunodeficient mouse model by treating them with an antibody against ANX A1. When cultured in the presence of anti‐ANX A1, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from lupus patients showed a decreased number of immunoglobulin (Ig)G anti‐dsDNA antibody‐secreting plasma cells, decreased T cell proliferation and expression of activation markers and increased B and T cell apoptosis. We employed a humanized model of SLE by transferring PBMCs from lupus patients to immunodeficient non‐obese diabetic‐severe combined immunodeficient (NOD‐SCID) mice. The humanized animals presented autoantibodies, proteinuria and immunoglobulin deposition in the renal glomeruli. Treatment of these NOD‐SCID mice with an anti‐ANX A1 antibody prevented appearance of anti‐DNA antibodies and proteinuria, while the phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS)‐injected animals had high levels after the transfer. The treatment reduced the levels of autoantibodies to several autoantigens, lupus‐associated cytokines and disease symptoms.

Genome-wide association analysis allows the identification of potential candidate genes involved in the development of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Hence, it seems that genetics matters here, as well. Nevertheless, the virus's nature, including its RNA structure, determines the rate of mutations leading to new viral strains with all epidemiological and clinical consequences. Given these observations, we herein comment on the current hypotheses about the possible role of the genes in association with COVID-19 severity. We discuss some of the major candidate genes that have been identified as potential genetic factors associated with the COVID-19 severity and infection susceptibility: HLA, ABO, ACE2, TLR7, ApoE, TYK2, OAS, DPP9, IFNAR2, CCR2 , etc. Further study of genes and genetic variants will be of great benefit for the prevention and assessment of the individual risk and disease severity in different populations. These scientific data will serve as a basis for the development of clinically applicable diagnostic and prognostic tests for patients at high risk of COVID-19.

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In the last two decades, the vision of a unique carcinogenesis model for colorectal carcinoma (CRC) has completely changed. In addition to the adenoma to carcinoma transition, colorectal carcinogenesis can also occur via the serrated pathway. Small non-coding RNA, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), were also shown to be involved in progression towards malignancy. Furthermore, increased expression of certain miRNAs in premalignant sessile serrated lesions (SSLs) was found, emphasizing their role in the serrated pathway progression towards colon cancer. Since miRNAs function as post-transcriptional gene regulators, they have enormous potential to be used as useful biomarkers for CRC and screening in patients with SSLs particularly. In this review, we have summarized the most relevant information about the specific role of miRNAs and their relevant signaling pathways among different serrated lesions and polyps as well as in serrated adenocarcinoma. Additional focus is put on the correlation between gut immunity and miRNA expression in the serrated pathway, which remains unstudied.