Since December 8, 2019, an epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly.¹ As of February 6, 2020, China reported 31 211 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 637 fatalities.

Pyroptosis is a newly discovered programmed cell death that is associated with tumor progression, prognosis, and treatment response. However, the potential roles of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) remain unclear. We described the alterations of PRGs in 1109 colorectal cancer (CRC) samples from genetic and transcriptional fields and evaluated their expression patterns from four independent datasets. We identified two distinct molecular subtypes and found that multi-layer PRG alterations were correlated with patient clinicopathological features, prognosis, and TME cell-infiltrating characteristics. Then, a PRG_score for predicting recurrence-free survival (RFS) was constructed and its predictive capability in CRC patients was validated. Consequently, we constructed a highly accurate nomogram for improving the clinical applicability of the PRG_score. A low PRG_score, characterized by increased microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H), mutation burden, and immunity activation, indicated favorable odds of RFS. Moreover, the PRG_score was significantly associated with the cancer stem cell (CSC) index and chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity. Our comprehensive analysis of PRGs in CRC demonstrated their potential roles in the tumor-immune-stromal microenvironment, clinicopathological features, and prognosis. These findings may improve our understanding of PRGs in CRC and pave a new path for the assessment of prognosis and the development of more effective immunotherapy strategies.

Previous studies described the clinical features of Covid-19 in adults and infants under 1 year of age. Little is known about features, outcomes and intrauterine transmission potential in newborn babies aged 28 days or less. Through systematical searching, we identified 4 infections in newborn babies in China as of March 13. The age range was 30 h to 17 days old. Three were male. Two newborn babies had fever, 1 had shortness of breath, 1 had cough and 1 had no syndromes. Supportive treatment was provided for all 4 newborn babies. None required intensive unit care or mechanical ventilation. None had any severe complications. Three newborn babies recovered by the end of this study and had been discharged with 16, 23, and 30 days of hospital stay. All 4 mothers were infected by SARS-CoV-2, 3 showing symptoms before and 1 after delivery. Cesarean section was used for all 4 mothers, 3 at level III hospitals and 1 at a level II hospital. Three newborn babies were separated from mothers right after being born and were not breastfed. In summary, newborn babies are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The symptoms in newborn babies were milder and outcomes were less severe as compared to adults. Intrauterine vertical transmission is possible but direct evidence is still lacking.

Mitochondria are key organelles of cellular energy metabolism; both mitochondrial function and metabolism determine the physiological function of cells and serve an essential role in immune responses. Key damage‑associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), such as mitochondrial DNA and N‑formyl peptides, released following severe trauma‑induced mitochondrial damage may affect the respiratory chain, enhance oxidative stress and activate systemic inflammatory responses via a variety of inflammation‑associated signaling pathways. Severe trauma can lead to sepsis, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and death. The present review aimed to summarize the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the effects of human mitochondrial injury‑released DAMPs on triggering systemic inflammatory responses and to determine their potential future clinical applications in preventing and treating sepsis.