Archives: 2021-11-01

Serine protease inhibitor Nafamostat may be beneficial in the treatment of high-risk COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen treatment: results of a randomised Phase II clinical trial published in EClinical Medicine.

Nafamostat, a serine protease inhibitor, has been used for the treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation and pancreatitis. In vitro studies and clinical reports suggest its beneficial effect in the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia. This phase 2 open-label, randomised, multicentre, controlled trial evaluated nafamostat (4.8 mg/kg/day) plus standard-of-care (SOC) in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (i.e.,

Read More


Long-term persistence of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody responses after Covid-19 infection: levels conferring 50% protection are maintained for around 990 days post-symptom onset.

In a paper published on The lancet researchers of University of Hong Kong used 50% plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) antibody titre data from 115 sera collected longitudinally from 90 to 386 days after onset of symptoms or first RT-PCR confirmation from 62 RT–PCR confirmed SARS-CoV infected individuals, to estimate that PRNT antibody will remain

Read More


Lifelong calcium and 25-hydroxyvitamin D use may shorten life expectancy and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease: a Karolinska Institute study shows.

Supplementation with calcium and vitamin D, alone or together, leads to increases in serum calcium (S-Ca) concentration with a peak 4 h after each ingestion and a more long-lasting elevation in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25(OH)D), the marker metabolite for vitamin D status. Whether regular calcium supplementation elevates S-Ca after several months of use is debatable

Read More


Gene Therapies against Rare diseases Boosted by NIH, FDA and Industry Alliance

The National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10 pharmaceutical companies and five non-profit organizations have partnered to accelerate development of gene therapies for the 30 million Americans who suffer from a rare disease. While there are approximately 7,000 rare diseases, only two heritable diseases currently have FDA-approved gene therapies. The newly launched Bespoke

Read More


Gene Therapy Shows Early Promise as Angelman Syndrome Treatment

The new therapy was generally well-tolerated and prevented key signs of the condition in animal models. Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have reported in the journal JCI Insight encouraging early tests of a gene therapy strategy against Angelman syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that features poor muscle control and balance, hard-to-treat epilepsy, and intellectual disabilities. Angelman

Read More


Alberta University researchers team uncovers new proteases inhibitors to slow SARS-CoV-2 replication mechanism

Novel protease inhibitors show promise for developing safer, more effective COVID-19 treatments. A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has uncovered new antiviral agents that could lead to safer and more effective COVID-19 treatments than other current drugs under development. In a recently published paper in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, the researchers identified novel protease

Read More


How to identify misleading information and fake news in scientific communication

A guide to to determine if something is pseudoscience or real science Click the link Your first exposure to any pseudoscientific claim will almost certainly come in the form of a catchy headline—perhaps a little too catchy. John Gregory, a researcher for the online fact-checking service NewsGuard, warns that fully capitalized words, exclamation points, or strong

Read More


Patients with severe COVID-19 could benefit from higher doses of corticosteroids

A large international study in hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 has shown that while a higher dose of steroids did not significantly reduce mortality, there was a trend towards benefit without increased side effects. Published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study compared the standard 6mg dose of the steroid dexamethasone

Read More


Previously SARS-CoV-2 infected, if unvaccinated: reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 is likely, study finds

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much uncertainty about how long immunity lasts after an unvaccinated person is infected with SARS-CoV-2. Now a team of scientists led by faculty at Yale School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have an answer: Strong protection following natural infection is short-lived. “Reinfection

Read More