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In recent years, dysbiosis, abnormalities in the gut microbiota, has been reported to be associated with the development of many diseases, and improving the gut microbiota is important for health maintenance. It has been shown that the host recognizes and regulates intestinal bacteria by means of IgA antibodies secreted into the gut, but the precise nature of the commensal gut bacteria recognized by each IgA antibody is unclear. We have cloned monoclonal IgA antibodies from mouse intestinal IgA-producing cells and are searching for bacterial molecules recognized by each IgA clone. Although the interaction of IgA antibodies with intestinal bacteria is still largely unknown and requires further basic research, we discuss the potential use of orally ingestible IgA antibodies as agents to improve intestinal microbiota., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.)

The incidence and the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the metabolic syndrome are greatly increasing in our societies. Together, they account for 31% of all deaths worldwide. This chapter focuses on the role of two revolutionary discoveries that are changing the future of medicine, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and CRISPR/Cas9 technology, in the study, and the cure of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.We summarize the state-of-the-art knowledge about the possibility of editing iPSC genome for therapeutic applications without hampering their pluripotency and differentiation, using CRISPR/Cas technology, in the field of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.)

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global public health emergency, and the disease it causes is highly variable in its clinical presentation. Host genetic factors are increasingly recognised as a determinant of infection susceptibility and disease severity. Several initiatives and groups have been established to analyse and review host genetic epidemiology associated with COVID-19 outcomes. Here, we review the genetic loci associated with COVID-19 susceptibility and severity focusing on the common variants identified in genome-wide association studies., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Recurrent respiratory tract infections (RTI) are one of the most common diseases in childhood. Frequent infections adversely affect the development of a child and may lead to suspicion of immunodeficiency. An additional allergy component is thought conducive to infection occurrence. In this study, we retrospectively assessed medical records of 524 children hospitalized with RTI. Patients were divided into two groups: RTI-alone (n = 394) and RTI with a history of allergy (n = 130). Overall, we found that a great majority of children with RTI had the immunoglobulin G within the normal limit, irrespective of allergy. A variable IgG deficiency, most often affecting IgG1, IgG3, and IgG4 subclass, was present in less than one-third of children. Proportions of specific IgG subclass deficiency, varying from about 10% to 40%, were similar in both RTI-alone and RTI-allergy groups. The only significant effect was a modestly smaller proportion of children with IgG4 deficiency in the RTI-allergy group when compared with the RTI-alone group. We also found that IgG deficiencies were age-dependent as their number significantly increased with children's age, irrespective of allergy. The results demonstrate a lack of distinct abnormalities in the immunoglobulin G profile which would be characteristic to a clinical history of allergy accompanying recurrent RTI in children. Thus, we conclude that the assessment of IgGs could hardly be of help in the differential diagnostics of the allergic background of RTI.