Background:To investigate the incidence and risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in two Neonatal Intensive Care Units in North and South of China, respectively.Methods:We studied data concerning 472 infants with gestational age (GA) ≤34 weeks or birth weight (BW) ≤2000 g who were admitted to the Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University and the Fourth Hospital of Shijiazhuang between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Clinical information about perinatal neonates was collected and was confirmed by reviewing medical charts. The incidence and severity of ROP were assessed in the screened population. Main outcome measures are the incidence and severity of ROP. The relationship of clinical risk factors and the development of ROP were analyzed.Results:The overall incidence of ROP was 12.7%, and the overall incidence of type 1 ROP was 2.3%; 9.4% of infants in Zhujiang Hospital had ROP compared to 15.0% infants in the Fourth Hospital of Shijiazhuang developed ROP, and the difference is statistically significant. ROP was significantly associated with GA (odds ratio [OR]: 0.77 [0.62–0.95], P = 0.015), BW (OR: 0.998 [0.996–0.999], P = 0.008), maternal supplemental oxygen administration before and during delivery (OR: 4.27 [1.21–15.10], P = 0.024) and preeclampsia (OR: 6.07 [1.73–21.36] P = 0.005). The risk factors for ROP are different in two hospitals. In Zhujiang Hospital, BW is the independent risk factors for ROP while GA, BW and preeclampsia in the Fourth Hospital in ShijiazhuangConclusions:Retinopathy of prematurity incidence is different based on area. Incidence of ROP is still high in China. More efforts need to prevent ROP.

The development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is of paramount importance to terminate the current pandemic. An adjuvant is crucial for improving the efficacy of the subunit COVID19 vaccine. α-Galactosylceramide (αGC) is a classical iNKT cell agonist which causes the rapid production of Th1- and Th2-associated cytokines; we, therefore, expect that the Th1- or Th2-skewing analogues of αGC can better enhance the immunogenicity of the receptor-binding domain in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 fused with the Fc region of human IgG (RBD-Fc). Herein, we developed a universal synthetic route to the Th1-biasing (α-C-GC) and Th2-biasing (OCH and C20:2) analogues. Immunization of mice demonstrated that αGC-adjuvanted RBD-Fc elicited a more potent humoral response than that observed with Alum and enabled the sparing of antigens. Remarkably, at a low dose of the RBD-Fc protein (2 μg), the Th2-biasing agonist C20:2 induced a significantly higher titer of the neutralizing antibody than that of Alum.

Peptides are generally needed as T-helper epitopes in nicotine vaccines to induce effective antibody responses, but the highly polymorphic property of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules may limit opportunities of B cell to receive CD4+ T-cell help. Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells recognize lipid antigens presented by the nonpolymorphic CD1d molecule that is conserved in mammals to a great extent. iNKT cells also display some similar functions to conventional CD4+ T-helper cells, especially they license dendritic cells stimulate antibody isotype switching by B cells. Herein, α-galactosylceramide (αGalCer), a classical iNKT cell agonist, serves as an adjuvant in synthetic nicotine vaccine candidates absent of peptide or protein. Our study reveals that αGalCer displays better adjuvant activity than Pam3CSK4 (a commonly used lipopeptide TLR agonist). Remarkably, the covalent linker between the nicotine hapten and αGalCer is not critical. Self-assembly of the lipid-tailed nicotine and αGalCer into the liposome represents a structurally simple but immunologically effective way to develop nicotine vaccines. This is the first time to introduce the iNKT cell agonist as an adjuvant to an antidrug vaccine. This discovery may contribute to improving the efficacy of clinical candidate nicotine vaccines in the future.

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Rationale: Primary splenic angiosarcoma (PSA) is a rare mesenchymal malignancy of the splenic vascular origin often with a dismal prognosis. Genomic profile may provide evidence for the solution of therapy. Patient concerns: We reported a case of a 51-year-old woman with splenectomy 4 years ago and the postoperative histopathology diagnosis revealed “splenic hemangioma” with spontaneous rupture. Two years after the operation, the patient's rechecked abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed multiple hepatic occupations. Diagnoses: Pathological test suggested PSA hepatic metastasis. Interventions: The patient was treated with trans-catheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and a pathological diagnosis of PSA was highly suspected in the hepatic biopsy. Four somatic alterations, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA), Fos proto-oncogene, AP-1 transcription factor subunit (FOS), MCL1 apoptosis regulator (MCL1), and phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 (PIK3R1) were detected in the tumor tissue using a Next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The results prompted that the patient may get clinical benefit from using some agents for targeted therapy, Everolimus, Temsirolimus, or Copanlisib. Outcomes: The patient refused targeted therapy. As a result, the patient passed away within 51 months after splenectomy. Lessons: PSA is an aggressive disease that often presented with a high propensity for metastasis and rupture hemorrhage. Some of these mutations were first discovered in PSA and these findings added new contents to the genomic mutation profile of PSA.