Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

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

From Preprints

• Renal morphophysiology is not a significant correlate of observable body condition in Masked Palm Civets (Paguma larvata) -
  Background Viverrid species such as Masked Palm Civets (Paguma larvata) are commonly hunted and widely trafficked in Southeast Asia. Anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts to intercept trafficked animals are increasing in countries where the wild meat trade is dominant, such as Vietnam, due to concerns of potential animal-human disease transfer which may have caused the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods This study aimed to create a baseline of renal morphology for P. larvata using data collected from 91 individuals seized from wildlife traffickers in Vietnam. Since body condition was also scored and examined for each animal, we explored whether or not healthy or emaciated body condition could be used as a predictor of kidney morphometrics in the species. Results Our results indicate that renal morphology for P larvata is not significantly sexually dimorphic, and do not significantly reflect body conditions in the species. Conclusion Since baseline data for Viverrid average renal structure is deficient, and non-existent for the species, this information can be used to evaluate the species in future seizures, rescues, and release programs to detect kidney size abnormalities and exclude body condition as an associated sign.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Renal morphophysiology is not a significant correlate of observable body condition in Masked Palm Civets (Paguma larvata)
• Association of physical activity and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization: a dose-response meta-analysis -

  Background: Many people have experienced a high burden due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its serious consequences for health and everyday life. Prior studies have reported that physical activity (PA) may lower the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. The present meta-analysis (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022339672) explored the dose–response relationship between PA and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. Methods: Epidemiological observational studies on the relationship between PA and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization were included. Categorical dose–response relationships between PA and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization were assessed using random effect models. Robust error meta-regression models assessed the continuous relationship between PA (metabolic equivalent [MET]–h/week) and COVID-19 hospitalization risk across studies reporting quantitative PA estimates. Results: Seventeen observational studies (cohort–control-section) met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Categorical dose-relationship analysis showed a 40% (risk ratio (RR) 0.60, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.48–0.71) reduction in the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization compared to the lowest dose of PA. The results of the continuous dose–response relationship showed a non-linear inverse relationship (Pnon-linearity < 0.05) between PA and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. When total PA was less than or greater than 10 Met-h/week, an increase of 4 Met-h/week was associated with a 14% (RR = 0.83, 95%CI: 0.85–0.87) and 11% (RR = 0.89, 95%CI: 0.87–0.90) reduction in the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization, respectively. Conclusions: There was an inverse non-linear dose–response relationship between PA level and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. Doses of the guideline-recommended minimum PA levels by WTO may be required for more substantial reductions in the COVID-19 hospitalization risk.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Association of physical activity and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization: a dose-response meta-analysis
• On the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality: Lost years or lost days? -

  Objective: To quantify the (direct and indirect) impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality for actual populations of persons living in 12 European countries in 2020. Method: Based on demographic and mortality data, as well as remaining life expectancies found in the Human Mortality Database, we calculated a “population life lost” in 2020 for men and women living in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. This quantity was obtained by dividing the total number of years lost in 2020 (estimated from all-cause mortality data and attributed directly or indirectly to COVID-19) by the size of the population. Results: A significant population life loss was found in 8 countries in 2020, with men losing an average of 8.7, 5.0, 4.4, 4.0, 3.7, 3.4, 3.1 and 2.7 days in Lithuania, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Croatia, Portugal, Switzerland and Sweden, respectively. For women, this loss was 5.5, 4.3, 3.7, 3.7, 3.1, 2.4, 1.6 and 1.4 days, respectively. No significant losses were found in Finland, Luxembourg, Denmark and Norway. Life loss was highly dependent on age, reaching 40 days at the age of 90 in some countries, while only a few significant losses occurred under the age of 60. Even in countries with a significant population life loss in 2020, it was on average about 30 times lower than in 1918, at the time of the Spanish flu. Conclusions: Our results based on the concept of population life loss were consistent with those based on the classical concept of life expectancy, confirming the significant impact of COVID-19 on mortality in 8 European countries in 2020. However, while life expectancy losses were typically counted in months or years, population life losses could be counted in days, a potentially useful piece of information from a public health perspective.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: On the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality: Lost years or lost days?
• In vivo virological efficacy of monoclonal antibodies and direct antiviral agents against the SARS-CoV-2 BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron sublineages -

  Background Omicron variant questioned the efficacy of the approved therapies for the early COVID-19. In vitro data show retained neutralizing activity against BA.1 and BA.2 for remdesivir (RDV), molnupiravir (MLN), and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (NRM/r), while poor efficacy for Sotrovimab (STR) against BA.2. No data about the risk of clinical failure and in vivo antiviral activity are available. Material and methods Single-center observational comparison study enrolling all consecutive patients with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (BA.1 or BA.2) diagnosis and who met eligibility criteria for treatment with RDV, MLN, NRM/r, or STR. Treatment allocation was subject to drug availability, time from symptoms onset, and comorbidities. Patients were followed through day 30. Nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) VL was measured on day 1 (D1) and D7 and was expressed by log2 cycle threshold (CT) scale. Comparisons between groups were made by Chi-square and Wilcoxon paired-test. Primary endpoint was D1-D7 VL variation. Potential decrease in VL and average treatment effect (ATE) were calculated from fitting marginal linear regression models weighted for calendar month of infusion, duration of symptoms, and immunodeficiency. Secondary endpoints were the proportion of D7 undetectable VL in NPS and clinical outcomes compared by treatment groups using a Chi-square test. Results A total of 521 pts received treatments (STR 202, MLN 117, NRM/r 84, and RDV 118): female 250 (48%), median age 66 yrs (IQR 55-76), 90% vaccinated; 15% with negative baseline serology. At D1, median time from symptoms onset was 3 days (2,4). 378 (73%) pts were infected with BA.1 and 143 (27%) with BA.2. D1 mean viral load was 4.12 log2 (4.16 for BA.1 and 4.01 for BA.2). The adjusted analysis showed that NRM/r significantly reduced VL compared to all the other drugs in pts infected with BA.1 while no evidence for a difference vs. MLP was seen in those infected with BA.2. MLN had comparable activity to STR against BA.1 and to NRM/r against BA.2. There was no significant difference between STR and RDV for BA.2. At D7, 35/521 (6.7%) pts had undetectable VL. Of these, 31 were infected with BA.1 [9 (9%) MLN, 7 (14%) NRM/r, 7 (8%) RDV, and 8 (5%) STR)], and only 4 with BA.2, all treated with NRM/r. After 30 days of follow-up, 9/568 pts experienced COVID-19-related clinical failure [7/226 STR (5 BA.1) and 2/87 NRM /r (2 BA.1)]. Conclusions In this analysis of in vivo early VL reductions, NRM/r appears to be the drug showing the greatest antiviral activity regardless of the VoC, together with MLN, although the latter limited to people with BA.2. In the Omicron era, due to the high prevalence of vaccinated people and the lower probability of hospital admission, VL decrease can be a valuable surrogate of drug activity.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: In vivo virological efficacy of monoclonal antibodies and direct antiviral agents against the SARS-CoV-2 BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron sublineages
• Hill numbers at the edge of a pandemic: rapid SARS-COV2 surveillance without alignments or trees -

  The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role of genomic surveillance for guiding policy and control strategies. Timeliness is key, but rapid deployment of existing surveillance is difficult because current approaches are based in sequence alignment and phylogeny. Millions of SARS-CoV-2 genomes have been assembled, the largest collection of sequence data in history. Phylogenetic methods are ill equipped to handle this sheer scale. We introduce a pan-genomic measure that examines the information diversity of a k-mer library drawn from a country9s complete set of sequenced genomes. Quantifying diversity is central to ecology. Studies that measure the diversity of various environments increasingly use the concept of Hill numbers, or the effective number of species in a sample, to provide a simple metric for comparing species diversity across environments. The more diverse the sample, the higher the Hill number. We adopt this ecological approach and consider each k-mer an individual and each genome a transect in the pan-genome of the species. Applying Hill numbers in this way allows us to summarize the temporal trajectory of pandemic variants by collapsing each day9s assemblies into genomic equivalents. We do this quickly, without alignment or trees, using modern genome sketching techniques to accommodate millions of genomes in one condensed view of pandemic dynamics. Using data from the UK, USA, and South Africa, we trace the ascendence of new variants of concern as they emerge in local populations. This history of emerging variants uses all available data as it is sequenced, intimating variant sweeps to dominance or declines to extinction at the leading edge of the COVID19 pandemic.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Hill numbers at the edge of a pandemic: rapid SARS-COV2 surveillance without alignments or trees
• OpenSAFELY: Representativeness of Electronic Health Record platform OpenSAFELY-TPP data compared to the population of England. -

  Abstract Background Since its inception in March 2020, data from the OpenSAFELY-TPP electronic health record platform has been used for more than 50 studies relating to the global COVID-19 emergency. OpenSAFELY-TPP data is derived from practices in England using SystmOne software, and has been used for the majority of these studies. We set out to investigate the representativeness of OpenSAFELY-TPP data by comparing it to national population estimates. Methods With the approval of NHS England, we describe the age, sex, Index of Multiple Deprivation and ethnicity of the OpenSAFELY-TPP population compared to national estimates from the Office for National Statistics. The five leading causes of death occurring between the 1st January 2020 and the 31st December 2020 were also compared to deaths registered in England during the same period. Results Despite regional variations, TPP is largely representative of the general population of England in terms of IMD (all within 1.1 percentage points), age, sex (within 0.1 percentage points), ethnicity and causes of death. The proportion of the five leading causes of death is broadly similar to those reported by ONS (all within 1 percentage point). Conclusions Data made available via OpenSAFELY-TPP is broadly representative of the English population. Summary Users of OpenSAFELY must consider the issues of representativeness, generalisability and external validity associated with using TPP data for health research. Although the coverage of TPP practices varies regionally across England, TPP registered patients are generally representative of the English population as a whole in terms of key demographic characteristics.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: OpenSAFELY: Representativeness of Electronic Health Record platform OpenSAFELY-TPP data compared to the population of England.
• S373P Mutation of Spike Protein in SARS-CoV-2 Stabilizes Omicron -
  Recently, a cluster of several newly occurring mutations on Omicron, which is currently the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, are found at the (mechanically) stable {beta}-core region of spike protein’s receptor-binding domain (RBD), where mutation rarely happened before. Notably, the binding of SARS-CoV-2 to human receptor ACE2 via RBD happens in a dynamic airway environment, where mechanical force caused by coughing or sneezing occurs and applies to the proteins. Thus, we used atomic force microscopy-based single-molecule force spectroscopy (AFM-SMFS) to measure the stability of RBDs and found that the unfolding force of Omicron RBD increased by 20% compared with the wild-type. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that Omicron RBD showed more hydrogen bonds in the {beta}-core region due to the closing of the -helical motif caused primarily by the S373P mutation, which was further confirmed by the experiment. This work reveals the stabilizing effect of the S373P mutation and suggests mechanical stability becomes another important factor in SARS-CoV-2 mutation selection.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: S373P Mutation of Spike Protein in SARS-CoV-2 Stabilizes Omicron
• National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic -
  Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors that associated with people reported adopting public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = -.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic
• I trust my immunity more than your vaccines: “Appeal to nature” bias strongly predicts questionable health behaviors in the pandemic -
  Health care policies often rely on public cooperation, especially during a health crisis. However, a crisis is also a period of uncertainty and proliferation of health related advice: while some people adhere to the official recommendations, others tend to avoid them and resort to non-evidence based, pseudoscientific practices. People prone to the latter are often the ones endorsing a set of epistemically suspect beliefs, with two being particularly relevant: conspiratorial pandemic-related beliefs, and the appeal to nature bias (i.e. trusting natural immunity to fight the pandemic). These in turn are rooted in trust in different epistemic authorities, seen as mutually exclusive: trust in science and trust in the “wisdom of the common man”. Drawing from two nationally representative probability samples, we tested a model in which trust in science/wisdom of the common man predicted COVID-19 vaccination status (Study 1, N = 1001) or vaccination status alongside use of pseudoscientific health practices (Study 2, N = 1010), through COVID-19 conspiratorial beliefs and the appeal to nature bias. As expected, epistemically suspect beliefs were interrelated, related to vaccination status, and to both types of trust. Moreover, trust in science had both a direct and indirect effect on vaccination status through both types of epistemically suspect beliefs. Trust in the wisdom of the common man had only an indirect effect on vaccination status. Contrary to the way they are typically portrayed, the two types of trust were unrelated. These results were largely replicated in the second study, in which we added pseudoscientific practices as an outcome; trust in science and the wisdom of the common man contributed to their prediction only indirectly, through epistemically suspect beliefs. We offer recommendations on how to make use of different types of epistemic authorities and how to tackle unfounded beliefs in communication during a health crisis.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: I trust my immunity more than your vaccines: “Appeal to nature” bias strongly predicts questionable health behaviors in the pandemic
• Priming reasoning increases intentions to wear a face covering to slow down COVID-19 transmission -
  Finding mechanisms to promote the use of face masks is fundamental during the second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic response, when shelter-in-place rules are relaxed and some segments of the population are allowed to circulate more freely. Here we report three pre-registered studies (total N = 1,920), using an heterogenous sample of people living in the USA, showing that priming people to “rely on their reasoning” rather than to “rely on their emotions” significantly increases their intentions to wear a face covering. Compared to the baseline, priming reasoning promotes intentions to wear a face covering, whereas priming emotion has no significant effect. These findings have theoretical and practical implications. Practically, they offer a simple and scalable intervention to promote intentions to wear a face mask. Theoretically, they shed light on the cognitive basis of intentions to wear a face covering.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Priming reasoning increases intentions to wear a face covering to slow down COVID-19 transmission
• Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response -
  The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behavior with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response
• The effect of messaging and gender on intentions to wear a face covering to slow down COVID-19 transmission -
  Now that various countries are or will soon be moving towards relaxing shelter-in-place rules, it is important that people use a face covering, to avoid an exponential resurgence of the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Adherence to this measure will be made explicitly compulsory in many places. However, since it is impossible to control each and every person in a country, it is important to complement governmental laws with behavioral interventions devised to impact people’s behavior beyond the force of law. Here we report a pre-registered online experiment (N=2,459) using a heterogenous, although not representative, sample of people living in the USA, where we test the relative effect of messages highlighting that the coronavirus is a threat to “you” vs “your family” vs “your community” vs “your country” on self-reported intentions to wear a face covering. Results show that focusing on “your community” promotes intentions to wear a face covering relative to the baseline; the trend is the same when comparing “your community” to the other conditions, but not significant. We also conducted pre-registered analyses of gender differences on intentions to wear a face covering. We find that men less than women intend to wear a face covering, but this difference almost disappears in counties where wearing a face covering is mandatory. We also find that men less than women believe that they will be seriously affected by the coronavirus, and this partly mediates gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering (this is particularly ironic because official statistics actually show that men are affected by the COVID-19 more seriously than women). Finally, we also find gender differences in self-reported negative emotions felt when wearing a face covering. Men more than women agree that wearing a face covering is shameful, not cool, a sign of weakness, and a stigma; and these gender differences also mediate gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: The effect of messaging and gender on intentions to wear a face covering to slow down COVID-19 transmission
• Conspiracy Beliefs and Generosity across 52 Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic -
  Previous research has demonstrated that higher levels of belief in conspiracy theories are related to higher levels of distrust toward others, greater antisocial tendencies, and more self-centeredness. These findings suggest that conspiracy believers may also be less likely to be generous. However, very little research has thus far investigated this possibility. In the current study, we examined the association between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and generosity across a sample of 45,073 participants from 52 countries. We found that participants with higher COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs were less likely to donate to national and international charities, and that this negative association was stronger for donations to national charities. Exploratory analyses revealed that the discrepancy between national and international charity donations was more salient in countries with high levels of corruption, suggesting that conspiracy beliefs might be negatively related to the relative preference for national charities over international ones in highly corrupt countries.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Conspiracy Beliefs and Generosity across 52 Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic
• The effect of norm-based messages on reading and understanding COVID-19 pandemic response governmental rules -
  The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) threatens the lives of millions of people around the world, making it the largest health threat in recent times. Billions of people around the world are asked to adhere to strict shelter-in-place rules, finalised to slow down the spread of the virus. Appeals and messages are being used by leaders and policy-makers to promote pandemic response. Given the stakes at play, it is thus important for social scientists to explore which messages are most effective in promoting pandemic response. In fact, some papers in the last month have explored the effect of several messages on people’s intentions to engage in pandemic response behaviour. In this paper, we make two contributions. First, we explore the effect of messages on people’s actual engagement, and not on intentions. Specifically, our dependent variables are the level of understanding of official COVID-19 pandemic response governmental informative panels, measured through comprehension questions, and the time spent on reading these rules. Second, we test a novel set of appeals built through the theory of norms. One message targets the personal norm (what people think is the right thing to do), one targets the descriptive norm (what people think others are doing), and one targets the injunctive norm (what people think others approve or disapprove of). Our experiment is conducted online with a representative (with respect to gender, age, and location) sample of Italians. Norms are made salient using a flier. We find that norm-based fliers had no effect on comprehension and on time spent on the panels. These results suggest that norm-based interventions through fliers have very little impact on people’s reading and understanding of COVID-19 pandemic response governmental rules.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: The effect of norm-based messages on reading and understanding COVID-19 pandemic response governmental rules
• COVID-19 vaccine booster strategies in light of emerging viral variants: Frequency, timing, and target groups -

  Background: Vaccinations have reduced severe burden of COVID-19 and allowed for lifting of non-pharmaceutical interventions. However, with immunity waning alongside emergence of more transmissible variants of concern, vaccination strategies must be examined. Methods: Here we apply a SARS-CoV-2 transmission model to identify preferred frequency, timing, and target groups for vaccine boosters to minimise public health burden and health systems risk. We estimated new infections and hospital admissions averted over two-years through annual or biannual boosting of those eligible (those who received doses one and two) who are 1) most vulnerable (60+ or persons with comorbidities) or 2) those 5+, at universal (98% of eligible) or lower coverage (85% of those 50+ or with comorbidities and 50% of 5-49-year-olds who are eligible) representing moderate vaccine fatigue and/or hesitancy. We simulated three emerging variant scenarios: 1) no new variants; 2) 25% more infectious and immune-evading, Omicron-level severity, variants emerge annually and become dominant; and 3) emerge biannually. We further explored the impact of varying seasonality, variant severity, timing, immune evasion, and infectivity, and vaccine infection blocking assumptions. Results: To minimise COVID-19-related hospitalisations over the next two years, boosters should be provided for all those eligible annually three-four months ahead of peak winter whether or not new variants of concern emerge. Only boosting those most vulnerable is unlikely to ensure reduced stress on health systems. Moreover, boosting all eligible protects those most vulnerable more than only boosting the vulnerable group. Conversely, more hospitalisations could be averted per booster dose through annual boosting of those most vulnerable versus all eligible, an indication of cost-effectiveness. Whereas increasing to biannual boosting showed diminishing returns. Results were robust when key model parameters were varied. However, we found that the more frequently variants emerge, the less the effect boosters will have, regardless of whether administered annually or biannually. Conclusions: Well-timed and targeted vaccine boosters preferencing vulnerable, and if possible, all those eligible to receive boosters, can minimise infections and hospital admissions. Findings provide model-based evidence for decision-makers to plan for administering COVID-19 boosters ahead of winter 2022-2023 to help mitigate the health burden and health system stress.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: COVID-19 vaccine booster strategies in light of emerging viral variants: Frequency, timing, and target groups

From Clinical Trials

• COVID-19 Algorithm Treatment at Home - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: Recommended treatment schedule;   Drug: Usual care
  Sponsor:   Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research
  Not yet recruiting

• Immunosuppression and COVID-19 Boosters - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Biological: diphtheria and tetanus toxoids (adsorbed) vaccine;   Biological: COVID-19 vaccine
  Sponsors:   Kirby Institute;   Seqirus Pty Ltd, Australia;   Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)
  Not yet recruiting

• Discussing COVID-19 Vaccines in Private Facebook Groups - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Behavioral: Gist messages on COVID-19 vaccination;   Behavioral: COVID-19 vaccine information
  Sponsor:   George Washington University
  Completed

• Epidemiological Monitoring of COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized on Reunion Island - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Other: telephone interview 24 months after hospitalization for Covid-19
  Sponsor:   Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de la Réunion
  Not yet recruiting

• Home-Based Exercise Tele-Rehabilitation After COVID-19 - Condition:   Post SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19)
  Intervention:   Other: Tele-exercise
  Sponsors:   VA Office of Research and Development;   Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center
  Not yet recruiting

• IMM-BCP-01 in Mild to Moderate COVID-19 - Conditions:   SARS-CoV2 Infection;   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: IMM-BCP-01;   Drug: Placebo
  Sponsors:   Immunome, Inc.;   United States Department of Defense
  Recruiting

• Calcitriol Supplementation in COVID-19 Patients - Conditions:   COVID-19;   Vitamin D Deficiency
  Intervention:   Drug: Calcitriol
  Sponsor:   RenJi Hospital
  Not yet recruiting

• Olfactory Training in COVID-19 Associated Loss of Smell - Conditions:   COVID-19;   Hyposmia
  Intervention:   Device: Sniffin’ sticks Duftquartett
  Sponsor:   Medical University Innsbruck
  Not yet recruiting

• Psychological Impact of Medical Evacuations on Families of Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Unit for Severe COVID-19 - Conditions:   COVID-19;   Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
  Interventions:   Other: Revised Impact of Event Scale;   Other: Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale;   Other: 36-Item Short Form Survey;   Other: satisfaction survey;   Other: semi-directed interview with trusted person on the general experience of the patient’s medical evacuation;   Other: semi-directed interview with trusted person on the general experience of hospitalization in intensive care
  Sponsor:   Centre Hospitalier Metropole Savoie
  Completed

• Effect of COVID-19 on Platelet Mitochondrial Bioenergetic, Antioxidants and Oxidative Stress in Infertile Men. - Conditions:   Infertility, Male;   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Other: diagnostic test and sperm analysis
  Sponsors:   Comenius University;   GYN-FIV
  Active, not recruiting

• COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Trial - Conditions:   Vaccination Refusal;   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Other: Short Message Service (SMS) + Website Link Strategy;   Other: Phone Call with Peer Strategy
  Sponsor:   Washington University School of Medicine
  Not yet recruiting

• A Study to Evaluate Immunogenicity and Safety of MVC-COV1901 Vaccine Compared With AZD1222 - Condition:   COVID-19 Vaccine
  Interventions:   Biological: MVC-COV1901;   Biological: AZD1222
  Sponsor:   Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp.
  Not yet recruiting

• Cardiovascular Autonomic and Immune Mechanism of Post COVID-19 Tachycardia Syndrome - Conditions:   Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome;   Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS);   Long COVID;   SARS CoV 2 Infection
  Interventions:   Diagnostic Test: Determine the inflammatory and immune profile of post-COVID-19 POTS patients;   Diagnostic Test: Measurement of PNS activity by HRV (Heart rate Variation);   Diagnostic Test: Autonomic Symptoms assessment
  Sponsors:   Vanderbilt University Medical Center;   American Heart Association
  Recruiting

• Clinical Trial of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine(LVRNA009) as Heterologous Booster in Islamabad - Condition:   SARS-CoV-2
  Interventions:   Biological: LVRNA009;   Biological: CoronaVac®
  Sponsor:   AIM Vaccine Co., Ltd.
  Not yet recruiting

• STEP-COVID: A Program for Pregnant Women During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic - Conditions:   Psychological;   Mental Health Issue;   Prenatal Stress;   Maternal Distress;   COVID-19 Pandemic
  Intervention:   Behavioral: STEP-COVID
  Sponsors:   Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières;   Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC);   Canada Research Chairs Endowment of the Federal Government of Canada
  Active, not recruiting

From PubMed

• SARS-CoV-2 M Protein Facilitates Malignant Transformation of Breast Cancer Cells - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread faster due to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, which carry an increased risk of infecting patients with comorbidities, such as breast cancer. However, there are still few reports on the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the progression of breast cancer, as well as the factors and mechanisms involved. In the present study, we investigated the impact of SARS-CoV-2 proteins on breast cancer cells (BCC). The results suggested that SARS-CoV-2 M…

• Antifibrotic Mechanism of Piceatannol in Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice - Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal interstitial lung disease characterized by myofibroblast accumulation and extracellular matrix deposition, which lead to irreversible damage of the lung’s architecture and the formation of fibrotic lesions. IPF is also a sequela in serious patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The molecular mechanisms under pulmonary fibrosis remain unclear, and there is no satisfactory treatment currently available….

• Inhibitors of Activin Receptor-like Kinase 5 Interfere with SARS-CoV-2 S-Protein Processing and Spike-Mediated Cell Fusion via Attenuation of Furin Expression - Screening of a protein kinase inhibitor library identified SB431542, targeting activin receptor-like kinase 5 (ALK5), as a compound interfering with SARS-CoV-2 replication. Since ALK5 is implicated in transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling and regulation of the cellular endoprotease furin, we pursued this research to clarify the role of this protein kinase for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We show that TGF-β1 induces the expression of furin in a broad spectrum of cells including Huh-7 and Calu-3…

• Borneol Ester Derivatives as Entry Inhibitors of a Wide Spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 Viruses - In the present work we studied the antiviral activity of the home library of monoterpenoid derivatives using the pseudoviral systems of our development, which have glycoproteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus strains Wuhan and Delta on their surface. We found that borneol derivatives with a tertiary nitrogen atom can exhibit activity at the early stages of viral replication. In order to search for potential binding sites of ligands with glycoprotein, we carried out additional biological tests to study…

• Nucleopore Traffic Is Hindered by SARS-CoV-2 ORF6 Protein to Efficiently Suppress IFN-β and IL-6 Secretion - A weak production of INF-β along with an exacerbated release of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been reported during infection by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. SARS-CoV-2 encodes several proteins that are able to counteract the host immune system, which is believed to be one of the most important features contributing to the viral pathogenesis and development of a severe clinical outcomes. Previous reports demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 ORF6 protein strongly suppresses INF-β production by…

• High Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern Breakthrough Infections Despite Residual Humoral and Cellular Immunity Induced by BNT162b2 Vaccination in Healthcare Workers: A Long-Term Follow-Up Study in Belgium - To mitigate the massive COVID-19 burden caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), several vaccination campaigns were initiated. We performed a single-center observational trial to monitor the mid- (3 months) and long-term (10 months) adaptive immune response and to document breakthrough infections (BTI) in healthcare workers (n = 84) upon BNT162b2 vaccination in a real-world setting. Firstly, serology was determined through immunoassays. Secondly, antibody…

• Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Evasion: Interferon Pathway and Therapeutic Options - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is characterized by an important capacity to circumvent the innate immune response. The early interferon (IFN) response is necessary to establish a robust antiviral state. However, this response is weak and delayed in COVID-19 patients, along with massive pro-inflammatory cytokine production. This dysregulated innate immune response contributes to pathogenicity and in some…

• Repurposing an In Vitro Measles Virus Dissemination Assay for Screening of Antiviral Compounds - Measles virus (MV) is a highly contagious respiratory virus responsible for outbreaks associated with significant morbidity and mortality among children and young adults. Although safe and effective measles vaccines are available, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in vaccination coverage gaps that may lead to the resurgence of measles when restrictions are lifted. This puts individuals who cannot be vaccinated, such as young infants and immunocompromised individuals, at risk. Therapeutic…

• Carriers of ADAMTS13 Rare Variants Are at High Risk of Life-Threatening COVID-19 - Thrombosis of small and large vessels is reported as a key player in COVID-19 severity. However, host genetic determinants of this susceptibility are still unclear. Congenital Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura is a severe autosomal recessive disorder characterized by uncleaved ultra-large vWF and thrombotic microangiopathy, frequently triggered by infections. Carriers are reported to be asymptomatic. Exome analysis of about 3000 SARS-CoV-2 infected subjects of different severities, belonging…

• In Silico Screening and Testing of FDA-Approved Small Molecules to Block SARS-CoV-2 Entry to the Host Cell by Inhibiting Spike Protein Cleavage - The COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, but it is still active. The development of an effective vaccine reduced the number of deaths; however, a treatment is still needed. Here, we aimed to inhibit viral entry to the host cell by inhibiting spike (S) protein cleavage by several proteases. We developed a computational pipeline to repurpose FDA-approved drugs to inhibit protease activity and thus prevent S protein cleavage. We tested some of our drug candidates and demonstrated a decrease in protease…

• The AI-Assisted Identification and Clinical Efficacy of Baricitinib in the Treatment of COVID-19 - During the current pandemic, the vast majority of COVID-19 patients experienced mild symptoms, but some had a potentially fatal aberrant hyperinflammatory immune reaction characterized by high levels of IL-6 and other cytokines. Modulation of this immune reaction has proven to be the only method of reducing mortality in severe and critical COVID-19. The anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib (Olumiant) has recently been strongly recommended by the WHO for use in COVID-19 patients because it reduces…

• A Randomized Clinical Trial of a Fractional Low Dose of BNT162b2 Booster in Adults Following AZD1222 - In the era of globally predominant omicron strains, a COVID-19 booster vaccine is needed. Our study aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity of a half-dose BNT162b2 booster after AZD1222 in healthy adults. A randomized trial of volunteers aged 18-69 years who received two-dose AZD1222 was conducted. The participants were randomized to receive the BNT162b2 vaccine intramuscularly-half (15 µg) vs. standard dose (30 µg). The immunogenicity was evaluated by a surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT)…

• Immunogenicity and Reactogenicity of mRNA BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccine among Thai Adolescents with Chronic Diseases - Adolescents with underlying diseases are at risk of severe COVID-19. The immune response of BNT162b2 may be poor among immunocompromised adolescents. We aim to describe immunogenicity of mRNA BNT162b2 among adolescents who are immunocompromised or have chronic diseases. We recruited adolescents 12-18 years of age; group A impaired-immunity (post-transplantation, cancer, on immunosuppressive drugs) and group B chronic diseases. A two-dose regimen of BNT162b2 was given. Immunogenicity was…

• Development of Nafamostat Mesylate Immediate-Release Tablet by Drug Repositioning Using Quality-by-Design Approach - We aimed to develop nafamostat mesylate immediate-release tablets for the treatment of COVID-19 through drug repositioning studies of nafamostat mesylate injection. Nafamostat mesylate is a serine protease inhibitor known to inhibit the activity of the transmembrane protease, serine 2 enzyme that affects the penetration of the COVID-19 virus, thereby preventing the binding of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor in vivo and the spike protein of the COVID-19 virus. The formulation was…

• Protocetraric and Salazinic Acids as Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CL Protease: Biochemical, Cytotoxic, and Computational Characterization of Depsidones as Slow-Binding Inactivators - The study investigated the inhibitory activity of protocetraric and salazinic acids against SARS-CoV-2 3CL^(pro). The kinetic parameters were determined by microtiter plate-reading fluorimeter using a fluorogenic substrate. The cytotoxic activity was tested on murine Sertoli TM4 cells. In silico analysis was performed to ascertain the nature of the binding with the 3CL^(pro). The compounds are slow-binding inactivators of 3CL^(pro) with a K(i) of 3.95 μM and 3.77 μM for protocetraric and…

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