Background: The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has precipitated the worst global pandemic in a century, which has caused millions of infections and deaths as well as massive economic repercussions. Objective: As with any pathogenic virus, it is crucial to understand its unique interactions with the human immune system so that pharmaceutical and prophylactic interventions can be deployed to effectively control the pandemic. Methods: A literature search by using PubMed was conducted in 2020 with variants of the terms “COVID-19,” “SARS-CoV-2,” and “immunological response.” English language articles that presented original data about the immunologic response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were selected for review. This article reviewed the current understanding of the innate and adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection, including their relationship to current therapeutic and diagnostic strategies. Results: SARS-CoV-2 uses several unique molecular techniques to evade detection by the innate immune system early in the course of infection, and upregulation of these innate immune pathways may possibly accelerate the time to recovery and prevent severe disease. Although the majority of cases results in the patients' recovery, a significant proportion of infections result in deaths prompted by the host's inflammatory overreaction to the infection, a response that can be attenuated with corticosteroids and potentially other immune modulators. Conclusion: Current work by the scientific community to further understand how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with the human immune system will be invaluable to our response and preparedness for future coronavirus pandemics.

Background It has been recently reported that bipolar disorder (BD), as compared to other major adult psychiatric disorders, was associated with an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and dementia in a later life (PMID: 33075191). The similar to BD increased risk of developing dementia was also observed for schizophrenia (SCZ) (PMID: 33075191). Surprisingly, the most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (PMID: 31564456), was absent in elderly BD patients with cognitive impairment when AD was probed by its signature biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid (PMID: 26876913). Altogether, these data question AD contribution to the increased risk for dementia development in elderly patients with BD. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to address the above issue by probing postmortem AD related pathology in two brains of 83‐year‐old individuals. The first subject (D1) was diagnosed with BD, SCZ, and PD, whereas the second (D2) had Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). PD, PD dementia, and LBD constitute Lewy Body Disease (PMID: 30665447). Results Paraffin embedded tissue sections from specific regions of each brain underwent H&E staining, as well as immunohistochemical staining for β‐amyloid and phospho‐tau. Upon examination, Lewy bodies were not observed in D1 and D2 brains and the substantia nigra was well preserved in both brains, thereby not confirming the respective PD and LBD diagnoses. However, D1 brain displayed Alzheimer’s type pathology in the frontal, temporal, and occipital cortices as well as in the hippocampus. The respective pathological features included senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the cortices and hippocampus as well as granulovacuolar degeneration (GVD) in pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus. Interestingly, in the same brain, a strong diffused β‐amyloid staining of potential significance was observed within the cerebellar neurons. Overall, the severity of the respective Alzheimer’s type pathology in D1 brain could be characterized by its clinical stage as mild to moderate. Importantly, there were also vascular changes in D1 brain consistent with hypertensive CVD including hyaline atherosclerosis, microbleeds, and dilated Virchow Robin spaces. Some blood vessels showed β‐amyloid deposits within the vessel wall and lumen which is indicative of amyloid angiopathy. In D2 brain, the AD pathology was also present in the form of NFTs and GVD in the hippocampus and was accompanied by mild neuronal loss in the hippocampus and cortex. Striking vascular pathology including thick‐walled blood vessels with microbleeds was also observed. Conclusions i) AD could be present in elderly BD/SCZ patients and advance to clinical stage associated with cognitive impairment. ii) CVD in conjunction with AD could mimic Lewy Body Disease and contribute to the increased risk of dementia development in older BD/SCZ patients. iii) A proper diagnosis of dementia associated with mixed CVD/AD pathology in elderly patients with BD/SCZ would be impor...

A novel combination of variations involving the quadratus plantae muscle (QP) and its relationship to the flexor hallucis longus (FHL) tendon was observed unilaterally in the right foot of an 88-year-old female cadaver during routine dissection. The medial head of QP was observed inserting onto the tendon of FHL rather than the tendon of flexor digitorum longus (FDL), while also contributing to an anomalous tendinous slip to the second digit in conjunction with the tendon of FHL. The tendon of FHL also gave off a slip to the third digit. Both tendinous slips attached distally to the digital tendons of FDL. Lastly, the lateral head of QP inserted onto the tendinous slip from FHL to the third digit. Ninety-five additional feet were assessed for these variations, but none were observed. This combination of variations expands upon the proposed actions of QP in the literature. Furthermore, connections between the tendons of the midfoot are of clinical significance for harvesting tendon grafts.

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Several thoracic vasculature variations were observed in an 81-year-old male cadaver during routine dissection. These included 5 common trunks of posterior intercostal arteries, a descending branch of the right vertebral artery, and atypical neurovascular relationships within intercostal spaces. On the right side, two common trunks of posterior intercostal arteries were observed supplying the 4th-7th intercostal spaces and 9th-11th intercostal spaces, respectively. There was also a small accessary branch supplying the 9th intercostal space. The first three posterior intercostal spaces on the right were supplied by a descending branch of the vertebral artery. On the left side, three common trunks of posterior intercostal arteries were encountered, supplying intercostal spaces 3-5, 6-7, and 11 plus the subcostal space. An atypical neurovascular relationship was observed in the right 6th intercostal space, as well as the left 2nd, 3rd, and 6th intercostal spaces. This is the first case report that presents 5 common trunks of posterior intercostal arteries, as well as common trunks in conjunction with other arterial variation in the posterior thoracic wall. These variations carry a high level of clinical significance and may be helpful in guiding decision-making related to surgical procedures related to the posterior thoracic cavity and spine.