Search

The SARS-CoV‑2 coronavirus has become a major global health concern. Infection with SARS-CoV‑2 has caused millions of deaths worldwide, and the case fatality rate has been found to be largely related to pre-existing clinical conditions. The main clinical manifestation of COVID‑19 is the presence of respiratory symptoms. Severe complications of COVID‑19 are most often observed in people with significant medical histories. The SARS-CoV‑2 virus primarily attacks the respiratory system, causing pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, which can lead to severe systemic inflammation, multiple organ dysfunction, and death, especially in patients with pre-existing comorbidities. A number of meta-analyses strongly suggest that comorbid respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and interstitial lung diseases, are factors in the development of severe forms of COVID‑19, worsening patient outcomes and survival rates. Studies have shown an association between adverse outcomes of COVID‑19 and the expression level of the angiotensin-­converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in these patients. Regarding other respiratory system pathologies, such as bronchial asthma and cystic fibrosis, it is known that the main unfavorable factor is long-term immunosuppressive pharmacotherapy preceding infection. In this article, we highlight the main respiratory comorbidities to better understand the pathogenesis of COVID‑19.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is caused by mutations in various genes, including the LDLR, APOB and PSCK9 genes; however, the spectrum of these mutations in Russian individuals has not been fully investigated. In the present study, mutation screening was performed on the LDLR gene and other FH‑associated genes in patients with definite or possible FH, using next‑generation sequencing. In total, 59 unrelated patients were recruited and sorted into two separate groups depending on their age: Adult (n=31; median age, 49; age range, 23‑70) and children/adolescent (n=28; median age, 11; age range, 2‑21). FH‑associated variants were identified in 18 adults and 25 children, demonstrating mutation detec‑ tion rates of 58 and 89% for the adult and children/adolescent groups, respectively. In the adult group, 13 patients had FH‑associated mutations in the LDLR gene, including two novel variants [NM_000527.4: c.433_434dupG p.(Val145Glyfs*35) and c.1186G>C p.(Gly396Arg)], 3 patients had APOB mutations and two had ABCG5/G8 mutations. In the chil‑ dren/adolescent group, 21 patients had FH‑causing mutations in the LDLR gene, including five novel variants [NM_000527.4: c.325T>G p.(Cys109Gly), c.401G>C p.(Cys134Ser), c.616A>C p.(Ser206Arg), c.1684_1691delTGGCCCAA p.(Pro563Hisfs*14) and c.940+1_c.940+4delGTGA], and 2 patients had APOB mutations, as well as ABCG8 and LIPA mutations, being found in different patients. The present study reported seven novel LDLR variants considered to be patho‑ genic or likely pathogenic. Among them, four missense variants were located in the coding regions, which corresponded to functional protein domains, and two frameshifts were identified that produced truncated proteins. These variants were observed only once in different patients, whereas a splicing variant in intron 6 (c.940+1_c.940+4delGTGA) was detected in four unre‑ lated individuals. Previously reported variants in the LDLR, APOB, ABCG5/8 and LIPA genes were observed in 33 patients. The LDLR p.(Gly592Glu) variant was detected in 6 patients, representing 10% of the FH cases reported in the present study, thus it may be a major variant present in the Russian population. In conclusion, the present study identified seven novel variants of the LDLR gene and broadens the spectrum of mutations in FH‑related genes in the Russian Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reports on the frequency and the spectrum of genetic variants causative of monogenic diabetes in Russian children with non-type 1 diabetes mellitus. The present study included 60 unrelated Russian children with non-type 1 diabetes mellitus diagnosed before the age of 18 years. Genetic variants were screened using whole-exome sequencing (WES) in a panel of 35 genes causative of maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) and transient or permanent neonatal diabetes. Verification of the WES results was performed using PCR-direct sequencing. A total of 38 genetic variants were identified in 33 out of 60 patients (55%). The majority of patients (27/33, 81.8%) had variants in MODY-related genes: GCK (n=19), HNF1A (n=2), PAX4 (n=1), ABCC8 (n=1), KCNJ11 (n=1), GCK+HNF1A (n=1), GCK+BLK (n=1) and GCK+BLK+WFS1 (n=1). A total of 6 patients (6/33, 18.2%) had variants in MODY-unrelated genes: GATA6 (n=1), WFS1 (n=3), EIF2AK3 (n=1) and SLC19A2 (n=1). A total of 15 out of 38 variants were novel, including GCK, HNF1A, BLK, WFS1, EIF2AK3 and SLC19A2. To summarize, the present study demonstrates a high frequency and a wide spectrum of genetic variants causative of monogenic diabetes in Russian children with non-type 1 diabetes mellitus. The spectrum includes previously known and novel variants in MODY-related and unrelated genes, with multiple variants in a number of patients. The prevalence of GCK variants indicates that diagnostics of monogenic diabetes in Russian children may begin with testing for MODY2. However, the remaining variants are present at low frequencies in 9 different genes, altogether amounting to ~50% of the cases and highlighting the efficiency of using WES in non-GCK-MODY cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity are common chronic disorders with multifactorial etiology. In our study, we performed an exome sequencing analysis of 110 patients of Russian ethnicity together with a multi-perspective approach based on biologically meaningful filtering criteria to detect novel candidate variants and loci for T2D and obesity. We have identified several known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as markers for obesity (rs11960429), T2D (rs9379084, rs1126930), and body mass index (BMI) (rs11553746, rs1956549 and rs7195386) (p < 0.05). We show that a method based on scoring of case-specific variants together with selection of protein-altering variants can allow for the interrogation of novel and known candidate markers of T2D and obesity in small samples. Using this method, we identified rs328 in LPL (p = 0.023), rs11863726 in HBQ1 (p = 8 × 10−5), rs112984085 in VAV3 (p = 4.8 × 10−4) for T2D and obesity, rs6271 in DBH (p = 0.043), rs62618693 in QSER1 (p = 0.021), rs61758785 in RAD51B (p = 1.7 × 10−4), rs34042554 in PCDHA1 (p = 1 × 10−4), and rs144183813 in PLEKHA5 (p = 1.7 × 10−4) for obesity; and rs9379084 in RREB1 (p = 0.042), rs2233984 in C6orf15 (p = 0.030), rs61737764 in ITGB6 (p = 0.035), rs17801742 in COL2A1 (p = 8.5 × 10−5), and rs685523 in ADAMTS13 (p = 1 × 10−6) for T2D as important susceptibility loci in Russian population. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of whole exome sequencing (WES) technologies for searching for novel markers of multifactorial diseases in cohorts of limited size in poorly studied populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Candida auris is an emergent yeast pathogen, easily transmissible between patients and with high percent of multidrug resistant strains. Here we present a draft genome sequence of the first known Russian strain of C. auris, isolated from a case of candidemia. The strain clustered within South Asian C. auris clade and seemingly represented an independent event of dissemination from the original species range. Observed fluconazole resistance was probably due to F105L and K143R mutations in ERG11., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.)

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity are common chronic disorders with multifactorial etiology. In our study, we performed an exome sequencing analysis of 110 patients of Russian ethnicity together with a multi-perspective approach based on biologically meaningful filtering criteria to detect novel candidate variants and loci for T2D and obesity. We have identified several known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as markers for obesity (rs11960429), T2D (rs9379084, rs1126930), and body mass index (BMI) (rs11553746, rs1956549 and rs7195386) ( p < 0.05). We show that a method based on scoring of case-specific variants together with selection of protein-altering variants can allow for the interrogation of novel and known candidate markers of T2D and obesity in small samples. Using this method, we identified rs328 in LPL ( p = 0.023), rs11863726 in HBQ1 ( p = 8 × 10 -5 ), rs112984085 in VAV3 ( p = 4.8 × 10 -4 ) for T2D and obesity, rs6271 in DBH ( p = 0.043), rs62618693 in QSER1 ( p = 0.021), rs61758785 in RAD51B ( p = 1.7 × 10 -4 ), rs34042554 in PCDHA1 ( p = 1 × 10 -4 ), and rs144183813 in PLEKHA5 ( p = 1.7 × 10 -4 ) for obesity; and rs9379084 in RREB1 ( p = 0.042), rs2233984 in C6orf15 ( p = 0.030), rs61737764 in ITGB6 ( p = 0.035), rs17801742 in COL2A1 ( p = 8.5 × 10 -5 ), and rs685523 in ADAMTS13 ( p = 1 × 10 -6 ) for T2D as important susceptibility loci in Russian population. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of whole exome sequencing (WES) technologies for searching for novel markers of multifactorial diseases in cohorts of limited size in poorly studied populations.