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Study: Repurposed arthritis drug did not improve outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia

In a study published online February 25, 2021 in The New England Journal of Medicine, a repurposed drug used to treat arthritis did not significantly improve the outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

1 Mar 2021

Cellular maps capture COVID-19 pathogenesis in detail

Researchers in the United States and Finland have used tissues from people who died from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to generate detailed cellular maps of the pathogenetic processes that occur within affected organs during severe disease.

1 Mar 2021

New paper discusses how smoking may affect risk for COVID-19

A new paper published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society discusses how smoking may affect risk for COVID-19 and the types of research that are needed to better understand the link between smoking and COVID-19 risk.

1 Mar 2021

Researchers to conduct large meta-analysis of fetomaternal complications in COVID-19

A new preprint on the medRxiv* server describes the protocol written for a study that aims to perform a systematic analysis of all the data available on the effect of this syndrome on pregnancy.

1 Mar 2021

Bacteria use slimy strategy to defeat antibiotics that fight cystic fibrosis

University of Montana researchers and their partners have discovered a slimy strategy used by bacteria to defeat antibiotics and other drugs used to combat infections afflicting people with cystic fibrosis. The research was published Feb. 23 in the journal Cell Reports.

27 Feb 2021

NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors may help treat early COVID-19, says study

A new study by researchers in the U.S. further supports the hypothesis that the unregulated release of inflammatory cytokines is responsible for the local and systemic inflammation that is associated with multi-organ damage and death in severe COVID-19.

26 Feb 2021

Inhalable nanobody shows potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vivo

Researchers have developed a stable and ultrapotent homotrimeric Pittsburgh inhalable Nanobody 21 (PiN-21) against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Syrian hamsters. They demonstrated the high therapeutic efficacy of this homotrimeric Nb, leveraging both intranasal and aerosol delivery.

26 Feb 2021

Microbes could predict fatal outcomes in ventilated COVID-19 patients

The study "Microbial signatures in the lower airways of mechanically ventilated COVID19 patients associated with poor clinical outcome" is available as a preprint on the medRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review.

25 Feb 2021

New biomarker discovery could help guide treatment of active sarcoidosis

Low blood levels of immune cells called lymphocytes, in combination with higher levels of inflammation on PET/CT scans, are indicators of active sarcoidosis -- an inflammatory disease that attacks multiple organs, particularly the lungs and lymph nodes -- which disproportionately affects African Americans.

25 Feb 2021

New vaccine, enhanced surveillance needed to combat childhood pneumonia

A rise in vaccine-resistant bacteria shows the need for a new vaccine to fight childhood empyema after a spike in hospitalisations, a new UNSW study reveals.

25 Feb 2021

High expression of ACE2 receptors in developing ovaries increases SARS-CoV-2 risk

A team of scientists from China collaborated to find if SARS-CoV-2 could also infect the ovary at different developmental stages.

25 Feb 2021

Corticosteroid receptor inhibitor shows anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vivo

A team of researchers examined PT150, which is an allosteric modulator of androgen and glucocorticoid receptors, to assess whether it had any antiviral activity or immunomodulatory activity to decrease the hyperinflammatory response of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

24 Feb 2021

Researchers identify 'violent' physical processes which cause wheezing

A team of engineers has identified the 'violent' physical processes at work inside the lungs which cause wheezing, a condition which affects up to a quarter of the world's population.

24 Feb 2021

Hyperactive immune system contributes to COVID-19 severity, lung damage

Researchers have pinpointed a helper T cell population in the lungs of patients with severe COVID-19 that may be central to the development of hyperinflammation, lung injury, and subsequent acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) during disease.

24 Feb 2021

Phase 1 clinical trial shows promising results for monoclonal antibodies against MERS coronavirus

A randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 clinical trial of two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against the coronavirus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) found that they were well tolerated and generally safe when administered simultaneously to healthy adults.

23 Feb 2021

Study reveals new routes to potential treatments for chronic inflammatory conditions

Inflammatory lung diseases such as asthma, COPD and, most recently, COVID-19, have proven difficult to treat.

23 Feb 2021

Innate immune system overreacts in patients with severe COVID-19

In patients with severe COVID-19, the innate immune system overreacts. This overreaction may underlie the formation of blood clots (thrombi) and deterioration in oxygen saturation that affect the patients.

23 Feb 2021

Intentional cooling of the body may help improve acute respiratory distress syndrome

A tenth of all intensive care unit patients worldwide, and many critical patients with COVID-19, have acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Therapeutic hypothermia, an intentional cooling of the body, has been suggested as a way to improve ARDS.

23 Feb 2021

Human monoclonal antibodies can act as a substitute for traditional antibiotics

In the course of a new and groundbreaking study, led by Dr, Natalia Freund and the doctoral candidate Avia Waston at the Sackler Medical Faculty, the research group succeeded in isolating monoclonal antibodies, which hindered the growth of tuberculosis germs in laboratory mice. The

22 Feb 2021

Why can SARS-CoV-2 infection cause neurological and cardiovascular symptoms?

Researchers from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, USA, present results linking oxidative stress and the activation of a biochemical pathway associated with Alzheimer’s disease to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

22 Feb 2021