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Background: Acne is a multifactorial disease, in the pathogenesis of which one of the leading factors is the excessive effect of androgens on the hair follicles (HFs) and sebaceous glands (SGs), along with hypersecretion of sebum, pathological follicular hyperkeratosis and an inflammatory response. The search for genotypic markers in patients with varying severity of acne is a difficult task due to the multifactorial pathogenesis and the role of trigger factors in the formation of acne. The aim of this study was to determine SNPs within 3 genes involved in steroidogenesis (MVK, ARPC1B, and CA2) in patients with severe acne. Methods and Results: The study included 70 patients (42 men and 28 women) aged between 15 and 46 years (the median age - 22.1 years). The main group (MG) included 50 patients (29 men and 21 women) with severe acne. The control group (CG) consisted of 20 apparently healthy individuals (13 men and 7 women). Molecular-genetic diagnostics was carried out by the method of high-throughput DNA sequencing (next-generation sequencing). Our study showed that severe acne is associated with 12 polymorphic loci of the MVK gene (4 SNPs in exons and 8 SNPs in introns), 7 SNPs of the ARPC1B gene (2 SNPs in exons and 5 SNPs in introns), and 9 SNPs of the CA2 gene (3 SNPs in exons and 6 SNPs in introns). Conclusion: The revealed features of the SNPs within the MVK, ARPC1B, and CA2 genes in patients with severe acne probably indicate a hereditary determination of steroidogenesis in acne.

COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have an immune imbalance when systemic inflammation and dysfunction of circulating T and B cells lead to a more severe disease. Using TREC/KREC analysis, we studied the level of mature naive T and B cells in peripheral blood of COVID-19 patients and its relationship with clinical and laboratory data. TREC/KREC analysis was performed by multiplex real-time quantitative PCR on a sample of 36 patients aged 45 years or younger. The reduced TREC/KREC level was observed in ARDS patients compared with non-ARDS patients, and similar results were found for the deceased patients. During days 6 to 20 of hospitalization, a higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was detected in ARDS patients compared with non-ARDS patients. TREC/KREC negatively correlated with NLR; the highest correlation was recorded for TREC per 100,000 cells with the coefficient of determination R2 = 0.527. Thus, TREC/KREC analysis is a potential prognostic marker for assessing the severity and outcome in COVID-19.

Introduction: Primary immunodeficiencies (PID) are a group of rare genetic disorders with a multitude of clinical symptoms. Characterization of epidemiological and clinical data via national registries has proven to be a valuable tool of studying these diseases. Materials and Methods: The Russian PID registry was set up in 2017, by the National Association of Experts in PID (NAEPID). It is a secure, internet-based database that includes detailed clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic data on PID patients of all ages. Results: The registry contained information on 2,728 patients (60% males, 40% females), from all Federal Districts of the Russian Federation. 1,851/2,728 (68%) were alive, 1,426/1,851 (77%) were children and 425/1,851 (23%) were adults. PID was diagnosed before the age of 18 in 2,192 patients (88%). Antibody defects (699; 26%) and syndromic PID (591; 22%) were the most common groups of PID. The minimum overall PID prevalence in the Russian population was 1.3:100,000 people; the estimated PID birth rate is 5.7 per 100,000 live births. The number of newly diagnosed patients per year increased dramatically, reaching the maximum of 331 patients in 2018. The overall mortality rate was 9.8%. Genetic testing has been performed in 1,740 patients and genetic defects were identified in 1,344 of them (77.2%). The median diagnostic delay was 2 years; this varied from 4 months to 11 years, depending on the PID category. The shortest time to diagnosis was noted in the combined PIDs-in WAS, DGS, and CGD. The longest delay was observed in AT, NBS, and in the most prevalent adult PID: HAE and CVID. Of the patients, 1,622 had symptomatic treatment information: 843 (52%) received IG treatment, mainly IVIG (96%), and 414 (25%) patients were treated with biological drugs. HSCT has been performed in 342/2,728 (16%) patients, of whom 67% are currently alive, 17% deceased, and 16% lost to follow-up. Three patients underwent gene therapy for WAS; all are currently alive. Conclusions: Here, we describe our first analysis of the epidemiological features of PID in Russia, allowing us to highlight the main challenges around PID diagnosis and treatment.