Introduction: Systemic light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is an infiltrative disorder associated with an underlying plasma cells dyscrasia, in which monoclonal immunoglobulin light chains accumulate in an abnormal misfolded form as amyloid fibrils in the extracellular space. Symptoms and prognosis are governed by which organs are affected, and cardiac involvement is the major determinant of survival. Diagnosis requires demonstration of amyloid deposition and confirmation of the fibril protein type. Areas c overed: This review will focus on the available treatments for systemic AL amyloidosis and on new drug targets and therapeutic approaches. Expert opinion: At present, the choice of upfront treatment lies between autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) and combination chemotherapy. Chemotherapy agents include dexamethasone, melphalan, cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, bortezomib, lenalidomide, bendamustine in various combinations. Few randomized controlled trials have been performed in AL amyloidosis and treatment has been substantially influenced by clinical practice in myeloma. It has become clear that the best prospects of survival and preservation or improvement in amyloid related organ function require as near complete suppression as possible of the underlying hematological disorder. Future directions include therapies designed to target amyloid deposits directly, in particular anti-amyloid antibodies which are now well advanced in development and are showing great potential.

Vaccination against SARS-CoV2 represents a key weapon to prevent COVID-19, but lower response rates to vaccination have frequently been reported in solid organ transplant recipients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the rate of seroconversion to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in a cohort of kidney transplant recipients and the potential role of the different immunosuppressive regimens. We conducted an observational retrospective cohort study in kidney transplant patients vaccinated for COVID-19. For each patient, we evaluated IgG anti-S-RBD SARS-CoV-2 titers immediately before the administration of first COVID-19 vaccination dose, 20 days after the first dose and 40 days after the second dose. Moreover, we evaluated the type of immunosuppressive treatment and the incidence of vaccine breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection. We enrolled 121 kidney transplant patients vaccinated for COVID-19. At the time of administration of the first vaccine dose, all patients had a negative antibody titer; only 4.1% had positive antibody titers 20 days after the first dose. More than half patients 62 (51%) had protective antibody titers 40 days after the second dose. A total of 18 Solid Organ Transplant Recipients (SOTRs) (14.9%) got a SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection during the study period. With regard to immunosuppressive regimen, patients on mycophenolate-based regimen (48.7%) showed the lowest antibody response rates (27.5%) compared to other regimens. Our study confirms that kidney transplant patients show a poor response to two doses of COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, in our study the use of mycophenolate is significantly associated with a non-response to COVID-19 m-RNA vaccines.