Category Covid-19

PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-18

A new study shows recombinant ADAMTS13 reduces abnormally up-regulated von Willebrand factor in plasma from patients with severe COVID-19. A new potential role for human plasma transfusion.

Thrombosis affecting the pulmonary and systemic vasculature is common during severe COVID-19 and causes adverse outcomes. Although thrombosis likely results from inflammatory activation of vascular cells, the mediators of thrombosis remain unconfirmed. In a cross-sectional cohort of 36 severe COVID-19 patients, it was shown that markedly increased plasma von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels were accompanied

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-18

Low ADAMTS13 Activity Correlates with Increased Mortality in COVID-19 Patients

The main hypothesis of this retrospective study is that VWF biomarkers are associated with coagulation in COVID-19. It was performed a balanced retrospective study of COVID-19 hospitalized patients with similar demographics and comorbidities and a wide range of D-dimer levels to study how VWF biomarkers correlate with coagulation, intravascular hemolysis, and outcome. Indeed, we show

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-17

New Study from Cleveland Clinic Florida Researchers Points to Novel Drug Target for Treating COVID-19

Researchers from Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Research and Innovation Center (FRIC) have identified a potential new target for anti-COVID-19 therapies. Their findings were published in Nature Microbiology. Led by FRIC scientific director Michaela Gack, Ph.D., the team discovered that a coronavirus enzyme called PLpro (papain-like protease) blocks the body’s immune response to the infection.  More research is necessary, but the

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-17

A two-dose regimen of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine did not show protection against mild-to-moderate Covid-19 due to the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike gene has accumulated mutations within the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the N-terminal domain (NTD). These domains are major targets of the antibody response elicited by the vaccines. The RBD mutations include the N501Y mutation, which is associated with increased affinity of SARS-CoV-2 to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. In contrast, the E484K

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-17

Astrazeneca Covid vaccine and blood clots: a storm in a teacup

A number of European nations, including Germany, France, Italy and Sweden, have suspended use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid‑19 vaccine over blood clot concerns. The World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have both emphasised that there is currently no evidence linking the vaccine to blood clots and recommend that countries continue using it. Emer Cooke, director of

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-15

How the pandemic has impacted teen mental health. Result of a Mott Poll Report

Restrictions put in place to contain COVID-19 may be particularly difficult for teens, who rely heavily on their peer and social connections for emotional support. In 2021, the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health asked a national sample of parents about the emotional impact pandemic restrictions have had on their teens age

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-15

Association of Acute Symptoms of COVID-19 and Symptoms of Depression in Adults

52,4% patients have symptoms of major depressive disorder after COVID-19, as published in a study of Massachusetts General Hospital More than half of individuals with prior COVID-19 illness have met the criteria for symptoms of major depressive disorder, according to a research letter published online March 12 in JAMA Network Open. Roy H. Perlis, M.D., from

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-14

Neutrophil activation tracks most closely with severe COVID-19 progression: a study on temporal and resolution dynamics of the host molecular responses confirms the main role of neutrophil proteolytic storm

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has cost lives and economic hardships globally. Various studies have found a number of different factors, such as hyperinflammation and exhausted/suppressed T cell responses to the etiological SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), being associated with severe COVID-19. However, sieving the causative from associative factors of respiratory dysfunction has remained rudimentary. In this

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PIER MARIA FORNASARI
2021-03-13

Vaccine-induced antibodies may be less effective against several new SARS-CoV-2 variants

Key Takeaways Neutralizing antibodies induced by the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were significantly less effective against the variants first described in Brazil/Japan and South Africa. While the ability of these variants to resist neutralizing antibodies is concerning, it doesn’t mean the vaccines won’t be effective. Understanding which mutations are most likely to allow the

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