Tag Archive for: COVID-19

Babies Born During Pandemic First Year Score Slightly Lower on a Developmental Screening Test - کاهش رشد شیرخواران در زمان پاندمی

Columbia researchers found that babies born during the pandemic’s first year scored slightly lower on a developmental screening test of social and motor skills at 6 months—regardless of whether their mothers had COVID during pregnancy—compared to babies born just before the pandemic.

The study, which included 255 babies born at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Allen Hospital between March and December 2020, was published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Release date: 04 January 2022
Source: Columbia University Irving Medical Center

COVID 19 Can Trigger Self-Attacking Antibodies - کرونا و اتوآنتی بادی ها

Infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 can trigger an immune response that lasts well beyond the initial infection and recovery—even among people who had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to Cedars-Sinai investigators. The findings are published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.

When people are infected with a virus or other pathogen, their bodies unleash proteins called antibodies that detect foreign substances and keep them from invading cells. In some cases, however, people produce autoantibodies that can attack the body’s own organs and tissues over time.

The Cedars-Sinai investigators found that people with prior infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have a wide variety of autoantibodies up to six months after they have fully recovered. Prior to this study, researchers knew that severe cases of COVID-19 can stress the immune system so much that autoantibodies are produced. This study is the first to report not only the presence of elevated autoantibodies after mild or asymptomatic infection, but their persistence over time.

Some of the autoantibodies have been linked to autoimmune diseases that typically affect women more often than men. In this study, however, men had a higher number of elevated autoantibodies than women.

Release date: 03 January 2022
Source: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Substantial Weight Loss Can Reduce Risk of Severe COVID 19 Complications - جراحی کاهش وزن و کووید۱۹

Successful weight-loss intervention before infection associated with 60% lower risk of severe disease in patients with obesity. A Cleveland Clinic study shows that among patients with obesity, prior weight loss achieved with bariatric surgery was associated with a 60% lower risk of developing severe complications from COVID-19 infection. The research was published in the journal JAMA Surgery.

Numerous studies have established obesity as a major risk factor for developing serious illness from an infection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Obesity weakens the immune system, creates a chronic inflammatory state, and increases risk for cardiovascular disease, blood clots, and lung conditions. All of these conditions can complicate COVID-19.

The aim of this study was to examine whether a successful weight-loss intervention in patients with obesity prior to contracting COVID-19 could reduce the risk of developing a severe form of this disease.

A total of 20,212 adult patients with obesity were included in this observational study. A group of 5,053 patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or greater who had weight-loss surgery between 2004 and 2017 were carefully matched 1:3 to non-surgical patients, resulting in 15,159 control patients. Compared with those in the non-surgical group, patients who had bariatric surgery lost 19% more body weight prior to March 1, 2020 (the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Cleveland).

After the COVID-19 outbreak, researchers looked at four COVID-19-related outcomes: rate of contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, need for supplemental oxygen and severe disease (defined as a combination of ICU admission, need for mechanical ventilation or death).

Although the rate of contracting SARS-CoV-2 was similar between the groups (9.1% in the surgical group and 8.7% in the non-surgical group), participants in the weight-loss surgery group experienced much better outcomes after contracting COVID-19 compared with those in the non-surgical group. Researchers found that patients with prior weight loss surgery had a 49% lower risk of hospitalization, 63% lower risk of need for supplemental oxygen, and 60% lower risk of developing severe COVID-19.

Although the exact underlying mechanisms are not known, these data suggest that patients who underwent weight-loss surgery were healthier at the time of contracting a SARS-CoV-2 infection, which resulted in better clinical outcomes.

Release date: 16 December 2021
Source: Cleveland Clinic

The Best Time for COVID 19 Vaccination During Your Pregnancy - زمان مناسب واکسیناسیون کرونا در مادران باردار

COVID-19 vaccination of expectant mothers elicits levels of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 outer “spike” protein at the time of delivery that don’t vary dramatically with the timing of vaccination during pregnancy and thus don’t justify delaying vaccination, according to a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

The researchers, whose study was published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, analyzed how anti-spike antibody levels in the mother’s blood and baby’s umbilical cord blood at delivery varied with the timing of prior vaccination in nearly 1,400 women and their babies.

They found that the levels of these antibodies at delivery tended to be higher when the initial vaccination course occurred in the third trimester. However, they also found that antibody levels at delivery are still comparably high, and probably still protective, when vaccination occurs in early pregnancy or even a few weeks before pregnancy—and a booster shot late in pregnancy can make those antibody levels much higher.

“Women often ask what is the best vaccination timing for the baby—our data suggest that it’s now,” said Dr. Malavika Prabhu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine and an obstetrician and gynecologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Release date: 28 December 2021
Source: Weill Cornell Medicine

Immune memory less durable after severe COVID19 - ایمنی کرونایی

Infection-fighting B cells retain better memory of the coronavirus spike protein in University Hospital patients who recover from less-severe cases of COVID-19 than in those recovering from severe COVID-19, a new study suggests. Findings by scientists from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio were published in the journal PLOS ONE .

The study focused on memory B cells that react against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Blood samples were analyzed one month after symptom onset and five months post-onset. After one month, a significant proportion of spike-specific B cells were active.

However, samples from eight individuals who recovered from less-severe disease showed increased expression of markers associated with durable B cell memory as compared to individuals who recovered from severe disease, the authors wrote. The markers include T-bet and FcRL5.

T-bet-positive, spike-specific B cells nearly disappeared from the blood samples five months post-symptom onset, the authors noted. Overall, a more dysfunctional B cell response is seen in severe disease cases, they wrote.

Release date: 23 December 2021
Source: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Metabolic syndrome increases risk of respiratory distress death for hospitalized COVID19 patients - سندرم متابولیک و کرونا

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who had a combination of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes or other conditions associated with metabolic syndrome were at much higher risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death, according to an international study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

The risk for developing ARDS, a life-threatening lung condition that causes low blood oxygen, grew progressively higher with each additional metabolic syndrome criteria present. The study, one of the largest to examine the link between metabolic syndrome and outcomes for COVID-19, examined records of more than 46,000 patients admitted in 181 hospitals across 26 countries.

Researchers from Tulane University, the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Mayo Clinic followed outcomes for patients hospitalized between mid-February 2020 to mid-February 2021 in the Discovery VIRUS: COVID-19 Registry. Researchers compared 5,069 patients (17.5%) with metabolic syndrome with 23,971 control patients (82.5%) without metabolic syndrome. They defined metabolic syndrome as having more than three of the following criteria: obesity, pre-diabetes or diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.

Patients with metabolic syndrome were 36% more likely to develop ARDS, almost 20% more likely to die in the hospital, more than 30% more likely to be admitted to an ICU and 45% more likely to require mechanical ventilation. Researchers calculated these risks after adjusting for race, age, sex, ethnicity, other comorbid conditions and hospital case volume.

Overall, slightly more than 20% of the patients with metabolic syndrome died in the hospital, 20% developed ARDS and almost half were admitted to the ICU. Approximately 16% of those without metabolic syndrome died, 12% developed ARDS and nearly 36% were admitted to the ICU.

Metabolic syndrome was significantly more common among patients with COVID-19 admitted to U.S. hospitals (18.8%) than those admitted to non-U.S. hospitals (8%). According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than a third of adults in the U.S. meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome, with some regions having a metabolic syndrome prevalence greater than 40%.

Release date: 22 December 2021
Source: Tulane University

Supermeres may carry clues to cancer Alzheimer disease and COVID 19 -سوپرمر کلیددار ابتلا به سرطان آلزایمر و حتی کرونا

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered a nanoparticle released from cells, called a “supermere,” which contains enzymes, proteins and RNA associated with multiple cancers, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and even COVID-19.

The discovery, reported Dec. 9 in Nature Cell Biology, is a significant advance in understanding the role extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles play in shuttling important chemical “messages” between cells, both in health and disease.

For one thing, supermeres carry most of the extracellular RNA released by cells and which is found in the bloodstream. Among other functional properties, cancer-derived supermeres can “transfer” drug resistance to tumor cells, perhaps via the RNA cargo they deliver, the researchers reported.

Supermeres are important carriers of TGFBI, a protein that in established tumors promotes tumor progression. TGFBI thus may be a useful marker in liquid biopsies for patients with colorectal cancer, the researchers noted.

They also carry ACE2, a cell-surface receptor that plays a role in cardiovascular disease and is the target of the COVID-19 virus. This raises the possibility that ACE2 carried by supermeres could serve as a “decoy” to bind the virus and prevent infection.

Another potentially important cargo is APP, the amyloid-beta precursor protein implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Supermeres can cross the blood-brain barrier, suggesting that their analysis could improve early diagnosis or possibly even targeted treatment of the disease.

Release date: 10 December 2021
Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Vaccines and previous infection could offer some stronger than basic protection to Omicron - قابلیت فرار امیکرون از ایمنی اکتسابی

One of the earliest, peer-reviewed studies looking into the Omicron variant of COVID-19 suggests that people previously infected with COVID, and those vaccinated, will have some, “stronger than basic” defense against this new strain of concern.

However, the test tube (or ‘in-vitro’, scientifically) samples of Omicron examined in this new research do show it “exceeds” all other variants in its potential capability to evade the protection gained from previous infection or vaccination.

Published inEmerging Microbes & Infections, the findings also suggest that although a third-dose enhancement strategy can “significantly boost immunity”, the protection from Omicron “may be compromised” – but more research is needed to better understand this.

Reporting on this very early study, lead author Youchun Wang, Senior Research Fellow from the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control in China, says their results support recent findings in South Africa which highlight Omicron was “easy to evade immunity”.

“We found the large number of mutations of the Omicron variant did cause significant changes of neutralization sensitivity against people who had already had COVID,” Wang says.

Release date: 12 December 2021
Source: Taylor & Francis Group

Natural infection and vaccination together provide maximum protection against COVID variants - واکسیناسیون کرونا بعد از ابتلا به کووید 19

A combination of vaccination and naturally acquired infection appears to boost the production of maximally potent antibodies against the COVID-19 virus, new UCLA research finds.

The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal mBio, raise the possibility that vaccine boosters may be equally effective in improving antibodies’ ability to target multiple variants of the virus, including the delta variant, which is now the predominant strain, and the recently detected omicron variant. (The study was conducted prior to the emergence of delta and omicron, but Dr. Otto Yang, the study’s senior author, said the results could potentially apply to those and other new variants.)

The researchers compared blood antibodies in 15 vaccinated people who had not been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with infection-induced antibodies in 10 people who were recently infected with SARS-CoV-2 but not yet vaccinated. Several months later, the 10 participants in the latter group were vaccinated, and the researchers then reanalyzed their antibodies. Most people in both of the groups had received the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna two-dose vaccines.

The scientists evaluated how antibodies acted against a panel of spike proteins with various common mutations in the receptor-binding domain, which is the target for antibodies that help neutralize the virus by blocking it from binding to cells.

They found that the receptor-binding domain mutations reduced the potency of antibodies acquired both by either natural infection or vaccination alone, to about the same degree in both groups of people. When previously infected people were vaccinated about a year after natural infection, however, their antibodies’ potency was maximized to a point that they recognized all of the COVID-19 variants the scientists tested.

Release date: 07 December 2021
Source: UCLA Health Sciences

COVID 19 Delta variant may have increased ability to evade vaccine-induced immunity - دلتا سویه مقاوم تر کرونا در برابر واکسن

Vaccines are effective in decreasing hospitalization and deaths from COVID-19 infection but the emergence of viral variants of concern may diminish their efficacy. A study publishing in PLOS Pathogens by Emma Thomson, Brian Willett, and colleagues at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, United Kingdom and colleagues suggests that COVID-19 Delta variant may be more successful at evading the protective response of vaccines.

Mutations change the shape of the COVID-19 spike protein, preventing antibody recognition and enabling the virus to escape vaccine-induced immunity; however, the extent to which vaccine recipients are immune from the Delta variant is unknown. To quantify the capacity of different variants (Alpha, Beta and Delta) to evade protective immune response in vaccines, researchers analyzed serum samples collected from healthy people who had received either the Pfizer or Astra Zeneca vaccine. 156 people had received two doses and 50 people had received one dose. They exposed SARS-CoV-2 proteins in a virus model system to sera from vaccinated people and observed the antibody response, measuring how effectively antibodies prevented each variant from infecting cells (virus neutralization).

Release date: 02 December 2021
Source: EurekAlert