Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

• From Preprints
• From Clinical Trials
• From PubMed
• From Patent Search

From Preprints

• Exploration of a Large-Scale Dataset to Understand the Link of Social Interaction with Psychological Problems Amid Mild Lockdown for COVID-19 -
  Background: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted mental health which shows the necessity to explore a supportive medium of interaction. However, to our best knowledge, none of the studies presented the difference in effectiveness of online and offline interactions to overcome the psychological problems for groups such as females, older, health workers or mental health treatment takers. Moreover, the link of psychological problems and behaviors of the social interactors is unexplored which could be insightful for clinical intervention. The aim of this study is to fill these knowledge gaps considering significance of social interactions amid the pandemic. Methods: We explored data of a large-scale cross-sectional study conducted on 11,333 Japanese people amid the mild lockdown for COVID-19. To understand depression, loneliness, and psychological distress, we used Patient Health Questionnaire-9, UCLA Loneliness Scale-3, and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6 scales’ scores respectively. We did either parametric test or non-parametric test depending on the satisfaction of the tests’ assumptions. We also built a Bayesian consensus network by bootstrapping the data 10,000 times and the relations between variables were extracted from the directed acyclic graphs. Results: Our analysis shows lower loneliness, depression, and psychological distress among the social interactors (p<.05). However, the effectiveness of the interaction varies by psychological problem. Compared to the only offline interactors, we find that only online interactors have a lower loneliness, larger social network, more optimism, higher preventive behavior, and higher COVID-19 anxiety (p<.05). On the other hand, the offline interactors have lower depression, psychological distress, and higher healthy sleep (p<.05). It is surprising to see that despite doing both online and offline interaction, 54% of the mental health treatment takers are depressed which is higher than the older, female, health workers, and general people. Apart from these, we find varying interactions of psychological problems and behavior depending on the interaction and groups of people. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that there is no single mode of social interaction which proves to be universally effective for all groups of people supporting every factoring scenario. Therefore, support to overcome psychological problems should be centered around the people’s specific needs and problems.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Exploration of a Large-Scale Dataset to Understand the Link of Social Interaction with Psychological Problems Amid Mild Lockdown for COVID-19
• A longitudinal study on social and emotional competencies, student engagement, and mental health -
  Research has been showing the negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on learning and mental health in youth. The protective factor of socioemotional competencies during lockdown has also been observed. Though, the longitudinal association between these constructs is scarcely documented, especially in research that includes data before and during the lockdown. The present study analysed the relation between socioemotional competencies (SECs), student engagement (SE) and psychological distress in youth to understand how they changed over time during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify correlation patterns across time. A three-wave (2019-2021) prospective study was developed using data collected during two COVID-19 lockdowns with 50 youth students. Data were analysed using a cross-lagged model. Overall, participants reported good SECs, SE, and low distress levels. In 2020, SECs were predicted by previous SECs levels and SE. Conversely, SECs in 2020 predicted SE and mental health in 2021. Also, SE in 2020 predicted psychological distress in 2021. In the face of unprecedented stress, SE seems to protect SECs, though online learning seems to have disturbed its positive impact. SECs promotion must be addressed in youth due to its role in maintaining assets and fostering SE and mental health.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: A longitudinal study on social and emotional competencies, student engagement, and mental health
• Omicron Spike Protein Is Vulnerable to Reduction -
  SARS-CoV-2 virus spike (S) protein is an envelope protein responsible for binding to the ACE2 receptor, driving subsequent entry into host cells. The existence of multiple disulfide bonds in the S protein makes it potentially susceptible to reductive cleavage. Using a tri-part split luciferase-based binding assay, we evaluated the impacts of chemical reduction on S proteins from different virus variants and found that those from the Omicron family are highly vulnerable to reduction. Through manipulation of different Omicron mutations, we found that alterations in the receptor binding module (RBM) are the major determinants of this vulnerability. Specifically we discovered that Omicron mutations facilitate the cleavage of C480-C488 and C379-C432 disulfides, which consequently impairs binding activity and protein stability. The vulnerability of Omicron S proteins suggests a mechanism that can be harnessed to treat specific SARS-CoV-2 strains.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Omicron Spike Protein Is Vulnerable to Reduction
• How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect cooperation and interdependence? -
  Did the COVID-19 pandemic bring people together or push them apart? We asked an international sample (N = 1,006) about their inclinations to cooperate, perceptions of interdependence with others, and perceived risk of COVID-19 infection on fourteen different occasions from March 6, 2020 to August 22, 2020. We found that willingness to cooperate decreased over the first six months of the pandemic. However, perceptions of interdependence towards neighbors and all of humanity tended to increase over time. In addition, people who reported high interdependence with others showed slower or no declines in their willingness to cooperate over time. These results suggest that, even during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, interdependence might allow cooperation to remain relatively stable. Keywords: COVID-19, crises, interdependence, cooperation
  🖺 Full Text HTML: How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect cooperation and interdependence?
• Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors based on ACE2 receptor or engineered Spike-binding peptides -
  With increasing resistance of SARS-CoV-2 variants to antibodies, there is interest in developing entry inhibitors that target essential receptor binding regions of the viral Spike protein and thereby present a high bar for viral resistance. Such inhibitors can be derivatives of the viral receptor, ACE2, or peptides engineered to interact specifically with the receptor-binding pocket. We compared the efficacy of a series of both types of entry inhibitors, constructed as fusions to an antibody Fc domain. Such a design can increase protein stability and act to both neutralize free virus and recruit effector functions to clear infected cells. We tested the reagents against prototype variants of SARS-CoV-2, using both Spike pseudotyped VSV vectors and viral plaque assays. These analyses revealed that an optimized ACE2 derivative could neutralize all variants we tested with high efficacy. In contrast, the Spike-binding peptides had varying activities against different variants, with resistance observed for the Spike proteins from Beta, Gamma and Omicron. The resistance mapped to mutations at Spike residues K417 and N501 and could be overcome for one of the peptides by linking two copies in tandem, effectively creating a tetrameric reagent in the Fc fusion. Finally, both the optimized ACE2 and tetrameric peptide inhibitors provided some protection to human ACE2 transgenic mice challenged with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, which typically causes death in this model within 7-9 days.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors based on ACE2 receptor or engineered Spike-binding peptides
• Oral Azvudine (FNC) Tablets in Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant: A Retrospective Cohort Study -

  Background: There is a lack of data on the efficacy of oral Azvudine in Coronavirus Disease treatment. This study aimed to assess the association between Azvudine treatment and clinical outcomes in a cohort of patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted in two mobile cabin hospitals. All consecutive patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted from August to October 2022 were included in the study. Linear regression models and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between Azvudine treatment and time to obtain the first negative nucleic acid test results. Results: A total of 207 patients were analyzed, of whom 166 patients (80.2%) received Azvudine treatment after hospitalization, and the rest did not. Linear regression models showed that Azvudine treatment was associated with reduced time to obtain the first negative nucleic acid test results after adjusting for age and gender [mean difference = -1.658; 95% CI: -2.772 to -0.544, P = 0.0039]. The multivariable Cox analysis conforms to the results from the linear regression model (hazard ratio = 1.461; 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.11, P = 0.044). Conclusion: Azvudine treatment was associated with reduced virus shedding time. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Oral Azvudine (FNC) Tablets in Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant: A Retrospective Cohort Study
• Direct comparison of clinical diagnostic sensitivity of saliva from buccal swabs versus combined oro-/nasopharyngeal swabs in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 Omicron -

  While current guidelines recommend the use of respiratory tract specimens for the direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection, saliva has recently been suggested as preferred sample type for the sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron). Here, we compare the clinical diagnostic sensitivity of paired buccal saliva swabs and combined oro-/nasopharyngeal swabs from hospitalized, symptomatic COVID-19 patients collected at median six days after symptom onset by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and antigen test. Of the tested SARS-CoV-2 positive sample pairs, 55.8% were identified as Omicron BA.1 and 44.2% as Omicron BA.2. Real-time PCR from buccal swabs generated significantly higher quantification cycle (Cq) values compared to those from matched combined oro-/nasopharyngeal swabs and resulted in an increased number of false-negative PCR results. Reduced diagnostic sensitivity of buccal swabs by real-time PCR was observed already at day one after symptom onset. Similarly, detection rates using the Abbott COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device were reduced in buccal swabs compared to those using combined oro-/nasopharyngeal swabs. Our results suggest reduced clinical diagnostic sensitivity of saliva from buccal swabs in comparison to combined oro-/nasopharyngeal swabs in the detection of Omicron in symptomatic individuals.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Direct comparison of clinical diagnostic sensitivity of saliva from buccal swabs versus combined oro-/nasopharyngeal swabs in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 Omicron
• Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Laboratory-Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Cases Infected with Omicron subvariants and XBB recombinant variant -

  Background: The SARS-CoV-2 has evolved to produce new variants causing successive waves of infection. Currently, six variants are being monitored by the World Health Organization that are replacing BA.5. These include BQ.1, BA.5 with one or several of five mutations (R346X, K444X, V445X, N450D, N460X), BA.2.75, XBB, BA.4.6, and BA.2.30.2. BQ.1 and XBB variants are more immune evasive and have spread quickly throughout the world. With the concern of the potential severity of infections caused by these variants, the present study describes the clinical characteristics and outcomes of these major variants in Maharashtra. Material and Methods: A total of 1039 Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) positive SARS-CoV-2 samples, with a cycle threshold value (Ct) less than 25, were processed for SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing between 10th July 2022 and 10th December 2022. All corresponding demographic and clinical data were recorded and analyzed using MicrosoftTM ExcelTM and Epi InfoTM. Results: Out of 1039 samples sequenced, 829 (79.79%) were assigned Pango lineages, of which BA.2.75 (67.31%) was the predominant Omicron variant, followed by the XBB (17.13%), BA.2.38* (5.43%), BA.2.10* (3.62%) and BA.5* (3.50%). A total of 494 cases were contacted telephonically, of which 455 (92.11%) were symptomatic with mild symptoms. Fever (78.46%) was the most common symptom, followed by rhinorrhoea (46.37%), cough (42.20%), myalgia (19.56%) and fatigue (18.24%). Of the 494 cases, 379 (76.72%) cases recovered at home, and 115 (23.28%) were institutionally quarantined/ hospitalized. Among the home-isolated and hospitalized cases, 378 (99.74%) and 101 (87.83%) recovered with symptomatic treatment, whereas 01 (0.26%) and 14 (12.17%) succumbed to the disease, respectively. Of the 494 cases, 449 (90.89%) were vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 40 (8.10%) were unvaccinated, and for 05 (1.01%) cases, vaccine data was not available. Conclusion: The current study indicates that the XBB* variant is causing mild disease in India. However, as XBB* possess both immune-escape and infectivity-enhancing mutations, it has the potential to spread to other parts of the world rapidly.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Laboratory-Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Cases Infected with Omicron subvariants and XBB recombinant variant
• Doctoral researchers’ mental health and PhD training satisfaction during the German COVID-19 lockdown: results from an international research sample -
  Academia has been facing a mental health crisis particularly affecting early career researchers (ECRs). Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented burden on the mental health of many individuals. Therefore, we cross-sectionally investigated how doctoral researchers (N = 222) evaluate their mental health status and satisfaction with their PhD training before and during the pandemic. As compared to self-reported, retrospective evaluations about the pre-pandemic state, we found decreased satisfaction with PhD training and overall well-being. The whole sample exhibited high levels of personal and work-related burnout, a fifth indicated clinically meaningful levels of depressive symptoms and almost 25% experienced severe loneliness. When exploring predictors of depression, anxiety, and burnout, we identified low satisfaction with PhD training as the most prominent predictor for poor mental health, suggesting a link between the doctoral work and their mental health status. Females vs. males and doctoral researchers in individual doctorate vs. structured PhD programs reported higher symptoms of burnout. Our study replicates previous findings of poor mental health in doctoral researchers and indicates further decreases of mental wellbeing under the influence of the pandemic. Systematic adjustments in academia are required to improve the mental health of ECRs.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Doctoral researchers’ mental health and PhD training satisfaction during the German COVID-19 lockdown: results from an international research sample
• The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein induces long-term transcriptional perturbations of mitochondrial metabolic genes, causes cardiac fibrosis, and reduces myocardial contractile in obese mice -
  Background: As the pandemic evolves, post-acute sequelae of CoV-2 (PACS) including cardiovascular manifestations have emerged as a new health threat. This study aims to study whether the Spike protein plus obesity can exacerbate PACS-related cardiomyopathy. Methods: A Spike protein-pseudotyped (Spp) virus with the proper surface tropism of SARS-CoV-2 was developed for viral entry assay in vitro and administration into high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. The systemic viral loads and cardiac transcriptomes were analyzed at 2 and 24 hrs, 3, 6, and 24 weeks post introducing (wpi) Spp using RNA-seq or real time RT-PCR. Echocardiography was used to monitor cardiac functions. Results: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol enhanced viral uptake in endothelial cells, macrophages, and cardiomyocyte-like H9C2 cells. Selective cardiac and adipose viral depositions were observed in HFD mice but not in normal-chow-fed mice. The cardiac transcriptional signatures in HFD mice at 3, 6, and 24 wpi showed systemic suppression of mitochondria respiratory chain genes including ATP synthases and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide:ubiquinone oxidoreductase gene members, upregulation of stress pathway-related crucial factors such as nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 1 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 5A, and increases in expression of glucose metabolism-associated genes. As compared with the age-matched HFD control mice, cardiac ejection fraction and fractional shortening were significantly decreased, while left ventricular end-systolic diameter and volume were significantly elevated, and cardiac fibrosis was increased in HFD mice at 24 wpi. Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that the Spike protein could induce long-term transcriptional suppression of mitochondria metabolic genes and cause cardiac fibrosis and myocardial contractile impairment, providing mechanistic insights to PACS-related cardiomyopathy.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein induces long-term transcriptional perturbations of mitochondrial metabolic genes, causes cardiac fibrosis, and reduces myocardial contractile in obese mice
• Targets and cross-reactivity of human T cell recognition of Common Cold Coronaviruses -
  The Coronavirus (CoV) family includes a variety of viruses able to infect humans. Endemic CoVs that can cause common cold belong to the alphaCoV and betaCoV genera, with the betaCoV genus also containing subgenera with zoonotic and pandemic concern, including sarbecoCoV (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) and merbecoCoV (MERS-CoV). It is therefore warranted to explore pan-CoV vaccine concepts, to provide adaptive immune protection against new potential CoV outbreaks, particularly in the context of betaCoV sub lineages. To explore the feasibility of eliciting CD4+ T cell responses widely cross-recognizing different CoVs, we utilized samples collected pre-pandemic to systematically analyze T cell reactivity against representative alpha (NL63) and beta (OC43) common cold CoVs (CCC). Similar to previous findings on SARS-CoV-2, the S, N, M, and nsp3 antigens were immunodominant for both viruses while nsp2 and nsp12 were immunodominant for NL63 and OC43, respectively. We next performed a comprehensive T cell epitope screen, identifying 78 OC43 and 87 NL63-specific epitopes. For a selected subset of 18 epitopes, we experimentally assessed the T cell capability to cross-recognize sequences from representative viruses belonging to alphaCoV, sarbecoCoV, and beta-non-sarbecoCoV groups. We found general conservation within the alpha and beta groups, with cross-reactivity experimentally detected in 89% of the instances associated with sequence conservation of >67%. However, despite sequence conservation, limited cross-reactivity was observed in the case of sarbecoCoV (50% of instances), indicating that previous CoV exposure to viruses phylogenetically closer to this subgenera is a contributing factor in determining cross-reactivity. Overall, these results provided critical insights in the development of future pan-CoV vaccines.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Targets and cross-reactivity of human T cell recognition of Common Cold Coronaviruses
• Poor neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BQ.1.1 and XBB in Norway in October 2022 -
  New sub-lineages of the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variants with enhanced ability to evade existing antibody responses continue to evolve. A better understanding how susceptible emerging virus variants are to immunity induced by vaccination or infection could help predict which strains will become dominant going forward. Here we evaluate neutralizing antibodies against several clinical isolates of omicron variants including BQ.1.1 and XBB in sera from 3x mRNA vaccinated individuals and individuals with breakthrough infections with early (BA.1 or 2) or late (BA.5) omicron variants. In addition, we evaluate neutralizing antibodies in serum samples harvested from 32 individuals from the middle of October 2022, to provide a more recent estimate of immunity. As expected, serum samples harvested after breakthrough infections were more efficient at neutralizing all the omicron variants, compared to sera from non-infected individuals. While neutralization remained high against variants such as BA.2.75.2, BR.1 and BF.7, there was a marked reduction in neutralizing titers against BQ.1.1 and XBB. Similarly, most serum samples harvested in October 2022 had very low neutralizing antibodies against BQ.1.1 and XBB, suggesting that these variants and their descendants will dominate infection waves in Norway this winter season.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Poor neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BQ.1.1 and XBB in Norway in October 2022
• Urban birds become less fearful following COVID-19 reopenings -
  Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many people around the world stayed home, drastically altering human activity in cities. This exceptional moment provided researchers the opportunity to test how urban animals respond to human disturbance, in some cases testing fundamental questions on the mechanistic impact of urban behaviors on animal behavior. However, at the end of this ‘anthropause’, human activity returned to cities. How might each of these strong shifts affect wildlife in the short and long term? We focused on fear response, a trait essential to tolerating urban life. We measured flight initiation distance at both individual and population-levels for an urban bird before, during, and after the anthropause to examine if birds experienced longer-term changes after a year of lowered human presence. Dark-eyed juncos did not change fear levels during the anthropause, but they became drastically less fearful afterwards. These surprising and counter-intuitive findings, made possible by following the behavior of individuals over time, has led to a novel understanding that fear response can be driven by plasticity, yet not habituation-like processes. The pandemic-caused changes in human activity have shown that there is great complexity in how humans modify a behavioral trait fundamental to urban tolerance in animals.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Urban birds become less fearful following COVID-19 reopenings
• Challenges in estimating waning effectiveness of two doses of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccines beyond six months: an OpenSAFELY cohort study using linked electronic health records -

  Quantifying the waning effectiveness of second COVID-19 vaccination beyond six months and against the omicron variant is important for scheduling subsequent doses. With the approval of NHS England, we estimated effectiveness up to one year after second dose, but found that bias in such estimates may be substantial.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Challenges in estimating waning effectiveness of two doses of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccines beyond six months: an OpenSAFELY cohort study using linked electronic health records
• Cost & Cost-Effectiveness of Implementing SD Biosensor Antigen Detecting SARs-CoV-2 Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Kenya -

  The COVID-19 pandemic has created a need to rapidly scale-up testing services. In Kenya, services for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplifying test (NAAT) have often been unavailable or delayed, precluding the clinical utility of the results. The introduction of antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDT) has had the potential to fill at least a portion of the ‘testing gap’. We, therefore, evaluated the cost-effectiveness of implementing SD Biosensor Antigen Detecting SARs-CoV-2 Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Kenya. We conducted a cost and cost-effectiveness of implementing SD biosensor antigen-detecting SARS-CoV-2 rapid diagnostic test using a decision tree model following the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Standards (CHEERS) guidelines under two scenarios. In the first scenario, we compared the use of Ag-RDT as a first-line diagnostic followed by using NAAT assay, to the use of NAAT only. In the second scenario, we compared the use of Ag-RDT to clinical judgement. We used a societal perspective and a time horizon of patient care episodes. Cost and outcomes data were obtained from primary and secondary data. We used one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis to assess the robustness of the results. At the point of care, Ag-RDT use for case management in settings with access to delayed confirmatory NAAT testing, the use of Ag-RDT was cost-effective (ICER = US$ 964.63 per DALY averted) when compared to Kenya’s cost-effectiveness threshold (US$ 1003.4). In a scenario with no access to NAAT, comparing the Ag-RDT diagnostic strategy with the no-test approach, the results showed that Ag-RDT was a cost-saving and optimal strategy (ICER = US$ 1490.33 per DALY averted). At a higher prevalence level and resource-limited setting such as Kenya, implementing Ag-RDT to complement NAAT testing will be a cost-effective strategy in a scenario with delayed access to NAAT and a cost-saving strategy in a scenario with no access to NAAT assay.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Cost &amp; Cost-Effectiveness of Implementing SD Biosensor Antigen Detecting SARs-CoV-2 Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Kenya

From Clinical Trials

• Efficacy and Safety of Jaktinib in Patients With COVID-19 Pneumoia - Condition:   COVID-19 Pneumonia
  Interventions:   Drug: Jaktinib;   Drug: Placebo
  Sponsor:   First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University
  Not yet recruiting

• Effect of a Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulation on COVID-19 Infection - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulation;   Other: Placebo Treatment
  Sponsor:   First Affiliated Hospital Xi’an Jiaotong University
  Not yet recruiting

• Efficacy and Safety of SA58 Nasal Spray in Close Contact With COVID-19 People - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: SA58 Nasal Spray;   Drug: Placebo
  Sponsors:   Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.;   Beijing Ditan Hospital
  Recruiting

• Efficacy and Safety of Anti-COVID-19 Antibody SA58 Nasal Spray to Prevent Infection in High-risk Populations - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Drug: SA58 Nasal Spray
  Sponsor:   Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.
  Recruiting

• Immunogenicity and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine as a Booster Vaccination in Population Aged 18 Years and Above - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Biological: Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (CHO Cell) LYB001;   Biological: ZF2001
  Sponsors:   Guangzhou Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.;   Yantai Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.
  Not yet recruiting

• Immunogenicity of Heterologous Versus Homologous Prime Boost Schedule With mRNA and Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Biological: CoronaVac/CoronaVac;   Biological: CoronaVac/BNT162b2
  Sponsor:   Institut Pasteur de Tunis
  Completed

• A Vaccine Booster (GEO-CM04S1) for the Prevention of COVID-19 in Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia - Conditions:   Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia;   COVID-19 Infection
  Interventions:   Procedure: Biospecimen Collection;   Biological: mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine;   Biological: Synthetic MVA-based SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine COH04S1
  Sponsors:   City of Hope Medical Center;   National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  Not yet recruiting

• Sars-COV-2 Immunity in immunoCOmpromised Populations - Conditions:   SARS CoV 2 Infection;   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Diagnostic Test: Humoral immunity
  Sponsors:   Maria Goossens;   Université Libre de Bruxelles;   Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium;   Mensura EDPB;   Erasme hospital
  Not yet recruiting

• Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetic Characteristics Evaluation on GST-HG171 Tablets - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: GST-HG171;   Drug: placebo of GST-HG171
  Sponsor:   Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
  Recruiting

• Benefits of an Aerobic and Strength Rehabilitation Program With Post- SARS-CoV-2 Patients Moderate-severe - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Other: Aerobic plus strength group;   Other: Aerobic group
  Sponsor:   Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de la Fundación Jiménez Díaz
  Not yet recruiting

• The Effect of Amantadine on Post-COVD-19 Fatigue - Condition:   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome
  Intervention:   Drug: Amantadine
  Sponsor:   Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences
  Not yet recruiting

• Enhanced External Counterpulsation to Treat Long COVID Fatigue - Condition:   Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
  Intervention:   Procedure: Enhanced external counterpulsation
  Sponsor:   Sheba Medical Center
  Not yet recruiting

• A Study of the GRIP Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 POC Assays - Conditions:   COVID-19;   Influenza
  Interventions:   Device: GRIP Electronic Diagnostic Chip;   Diagnostic Test: Laboratory-based nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs)
  Sponsors:   Mayo Clinic;   Department of Health and Human Services
  Not yet recruiting

• Oral Vitamin D2 for Prevention of COVID-19 - Condition:   Healthy Volunteers
  Interventions:   Drug: Vitamin D2;   Other: placebo
  Sponsors:   Peking University Third Hospital;   Beijing Haidian Hospital
  Recruiting

• Effectiveness of Rapid Antigen Testing of Students for COVID-19 in Reducing Absences From Schools in Bangladesh - Condition:   School Absenteeism
  Intervention:   Diagnostic Test: Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) for COVID-19
  Sponsors:   International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh;   Columbia University
  Completed

From PubMed

• A vaccine delivery system promotes strong immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants - Global COVID-19 pandemics highlight the need of developing vaccines with universal and durable protection against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Here we developed an extended-release vaccine delivery system (GP-diABZI-RBD), consisting the original SARS-CoV-2 WA1 strain receptor-binding domain (RBD) as the antigen and diABZI STING agonist in conjunction with yeast β-glucan particles (GP-diABZI) as the platform. GP-diABZI-RBD could activate STING pathway and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication. Compared…

• Antiviral role of nanomaterials: a material scientist’s perspective - The present world continues to face unprecedented challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaboration between researchers of multiple disciplines is the need of the hour. There is a need to develop antiviral agents capable of inhibiting viruses and tailoring existing antiviral drugs for efficient delivery to prevent a surge in deaths caused by viruses globally. Biocompatible systems have been designed using nanotechnological principles which showed appreciable results against a wide range…

• Fluorogenic reporter enables identification of compounds that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 - The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 causes the severe disease COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 infection is initiated by interaction of the viral spike protein and host receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). We report an improved bright and reversible fluorogenic reporter, named SURF (split UnaG-based reversible and fluorogenic protein-protein interaction reporter), that we apply to monitor real-time interactions between spike and ACE2 in living cells. SURF has a large dynamic range with a dark-to-bright…

• mascRNA alleviates STING-TBK1 signaling-mediated immune response through promoting ubiquitination of STING - mascRNA (MALAT1-associated small cytoplasmic RNA) is a tRNA-like cytoplasmic small noncoding RNA whose function remains elusive. We previously revealed that this small RNA negatively regulates TLR4/2-triggered proinflammatory response while positively regulates TLR3-induced antiviral response. Here, we investigated whether and how mascRNA influences the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signaling-triggered immune response. We found that overexpression of mascRNA inhibited the expression of…

• Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus nsp13 Protein Downregulates Neonatal Fc Receptor Expression by Causing Promoter Hypermethylation through the NF-κB Signaling Pathway - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly pathogenic porcine enteric coronavirus that causes severe watery diarrhea and even death in piglets. The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is the only transport receptor for IgG. FcRn expressed by intestinal epithelial cells can transport IgG from breast milk to piglets to provide immune protection. Previous studies have shown that viral infection affects FcRn expression. In this study, we showed for the first time, to our knowledge, that FcRn…

• Identification and semisynthesis of (-)-anisomelic acid as oral agent against SARS-CoV-2 in mice - (-)-Anisomelic acid, isolated from Anisomeles indica (L.) Kuntze (Labiatae) leaves, is a macrocyclic cembranolide with a trans-fused α-methylene-γ-lactone motif. Anisomelic acid effectively inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and viral-induced cytopathic effects with an EC(50) of 1.1 and 4.3 μM, respectively. Challenge studies of SARS-CoV-2-infected K18-hACE2 mice showed that oral administration of anisomelic acid and subcutaneous dosing of remdesivir can both reduce the viral titers in the lung…

• Rapid Resolution of Post-COVID-19 Inflammatory Syndrome in an Adult With Targeted Inhibition of Interleukin-1B - Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) is a severe inflammatory response that occurs days to weeks following the infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Initially known in children and named MIS-C, recently several cases of MIS in adults have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leading to the recognition of a new disease MIS in adults (MIS-A). The current…

• Anti-CD73 antibody activates human B cells, enhances humoral responses and induces redistribution of B cells in patients with cancer - CONCLUSIONS: Mupadolimab activates B cells and stimulates the production of antigen specific antibodies. The effects in patients with cancer suggest that activated, CD69^(POS) B cells redistribute to lymphoid tissues. Minor tumor regression was observed in several patients. These results support further investigation of mupadolimab as an immunotherapy for cancer and its potential use as a vaccine adjuvant.

• Spleen tyrosine kinase inhibition restores myeloid homeostasis in COVID-19 - Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) is a previously unidentified therapeutic target that inhibits neutrophil and macrophage activation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Fostamatinib, a SYK inhibitor, was studied in a phase 2 placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial and was associated with improvements in many secondary end points related to efficacy. Here, we used a multiomic approach to evaluate cellular and soluble immune mediator responses of patients enrolled in this trial. We…

• Targeting Spike Glycans to Inhibit SARS-CoV2 Viral Entry - SARS-CoV-2 Spike harbors glycans which function as ligands for lectins. Therefore, it should be possible to exploit lectins to target SARS-CoV-2 and inhibit cellular entry by binding glycans on the Spike protein. Burkholderia oklahomensis agglutinin (BOA) is an antiviral lectin that interacts with viral glycoproteins via N-linked high mannose glycans. Here, we show that BOA binds to the Spike protein and is a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry at nanomolar concentrations. Using a variety…

• Data-driven drug discovery for drug repurposing - To improve the decreased efficiency of drug discovery and development, drug repurposing (also called drug repositioning) has been expected, that it is a strategy for identifying new medical indications for approved, investigational or suspended drugs. Particularly, according to the rapid expansion of medical and life science data and the remarkable technological progress of AI technology in recent years, the approach of computational drug repurposing has been attracted as one of the applications…

• Endogenous G-quadruplex-forming RNAs inhibit the activity of SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase - Replication of RNA viruses is catalysed by virus-specific polymerases, which can be targets of therapeutic strategies. In this study, we used a selection strategy to identify endogenous RNAs from a transcriptome library derived from lung cells that interact with the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV-2. Some of the selected RNAs weakened the activity of RdRp by forming G-quadruplexes. These results suggest that certain endogenous RNAs, which potentially form G-quadruplexes, can…

• Prospective mode of action of Ivermectin: SARS-CoV-2 - The well-known anti-helminthic drug ivermectin (IVM) has been established as an example of drug repurposing for the management of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Various study has been done to understand the inhibitory mechanism of IVM against SARS-CoV-2 targets. Broadly, IVM has been categorized as a host-directed agent and the proposed mechanism involves inhibition of the IMPα/ß1-mediated nuclear import of viral proteins. In addition, in vitro/in vivo and molecular docking/dynamic simulation studies…

• Circulating microRNAs as emerging regulators of COVID-19 - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global pandemic that has high incidence rates, spreads rapidly, and has caused more than 6.5 million deaths globally to date. Currently, several drugs have been used in the clinical treatment of COVID-19, including antivirals (e.g., molnupiravir, baricitinib, and remdesivir), monoclonal antibodies (e.g., etesevimab and tocilizumab), protease inhibitors…

• The ability of low- and High-SES schools to inhibit learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic - The study examined whether the pandemic-induced digital distance learning affected the ability of educational units to inhibit learning losses and whether their SES compositions modified those effects. By applying random-intercept multinomial regression models to educational units’ average test scores comparing the 2019-2021 period to the 2017-2019 period based on data from the National Assessment of Basic Competencies in Hungary, the results indicated that educational units were less likely to…

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