A 75-year-old woman
- After getting the 1st dose of the #Covidvaccine: blurred vision in the right eye
- Diagnosis: subacute progressive optic perineuritis
- Myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (MPO-ANCA) were detected!
Learning Point for Clinicians We report a rare case of MPO-ANCA-positive OPN after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. When a patient develops vision loss after vaccination, we should suspect autoimmunological mechanism and consider an early examination and immunotherapy.
MPO-ANCA are caused by autoimmune reactions:
The biology, pathogenetic role, clinical implications, and open issues of serum anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies
Abstract
Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are a group of autoantibodies, predominantly IgG, involved in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune disorders, detected either through indirect immunofluorescence or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. By means of indirect immunofluorescence, the main patterns are C-ANCA (cytoplasmic) and P-ANCA (perinuclear), while proteinase 3 (PR3) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) represent the main autoantigens in granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis, both belonging to the family of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). While several experiments established the pathogenicity of MPO-ANCA, evidence remains elusive for PR3-ANCA and an additional target antigen, i.e. LAMP2, has been postulated with specific clinical relevance. The presence of a subset of AAV without ANCA may be explained by the presence of further target antigens or the presence of molecules in blood which make ANCA undetectable. A rise in ANCA titers is not necessarily predictive of a flare of disease in AAV if not accompanied by clinical manifestations. ANCA may develop through variable mechanisms, such as autoantigen complementarity, apoptosis impairment, neutrophil extracellular traps dysfunction and molecular mimicry. We will provide herein a comprehensive review of the available evidence on the biological mechanisms, pathogenetic role, and clinical implications of ANCA testing and disease management. Further, we will address the remaining open challenges in the field, including the role of ANCA in inflammatory bowel disease and in cocaine-induced vasculitis.
A human enzyme can biodegrade graphene:
Myeloperoxidase -- an enzyme naturally found in our lungs -- can biodegrade pristine graphene, according to the latest discovery of Graphene Flagship partners in CNRS, University of Strasbourg (France), Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). Among other projects, the Graphene Flagship designs based like flexible biomedical electronic devices that will interfaced with the human body. Such applications require graphene to be biodegradable, so our body can be expelled from the body.
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