Project description:The purpose of this study was to identify miRNAs that were dysregulated after the onset of COVID-19 and thus potentially be used for risk stratification (i.e., mortality). Therefore, we conducted a multi-center, retrospective longitudinal cohort study enrolling 142 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who presented to two Canadian hospitals from May 2020 – December 2020 along with a cohort of 27 SARS-CoV-2 patients with mild upper respiratory tract symptoms and 69 SARS-CoV-2-negative patients from the ICU. Blood was biobanked from SARS-CoV-2 positive patients in the emergency department (mild), ward (moderate) or intensive care unit (severe). Assessment of miRNA expression and co-regulatory network generation revealed significant transcriptome dyregulation in pateints with severe COVID-19 that was largely different from SARS-CoV-2 negative patients in the ICU.
Project description:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a global pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor, which is abundantly expressed in vascular endothelial cells and damages these cells. Besides pneumonia-induced respiratory failure, thrombotic cardiovascular complications are increasingly emerging as a major COVID-19 symptom. Multiple retrospective studies have strongly suggested that anticoagulant therapy improves the prognosis of people with COVID-19. However, validation of the safety and effectiveness of anticoagulant therapy for COVID-19 and greater awareness of this clinical therapeutic option are urgently needed.
Project description:Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging disease with a rapid increase in cases and deaths since its first identification in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Limited data are available about COVID-19 during pregnancy; however, information on illnesses associated with other highly pathogenic coronaviruses (i.e., severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)) might provide insights into COVID-19's effects during pregnancy.
Project description:Since December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread throughout China as well as other countries. More than 8,700,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been recorded worldwide so far, with much more cases popping up overseas than those inside. As the initial epicenter in the world, China has been combating the epidemic for a relatively longer period and accumulated valuable experience in prevention and control of COVID-19. This article reviewed the clinical use, mechanism and efficacy of the clinically approved drugs recommended in the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (DTPNCP) released by National Health Commission of P.R.China, and the novel therapeutic agents now undergoing clinical trials approved by China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to evaluate experimental treatment for COVID-19. Reviewing the progress in drug development for the treatment against COVID-19 in China may provide insight into the epidemic control in other countries.
Project description:ObjectivesTo assess the efficacy of corticosteroid treatment of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Design, settingObservational study in the two COVID-19-designated hospitals in Wuhu, Anhui province, China, 24 January - 24 February 2020.ParticipantsThirty-one patients infected with the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) treated at the two designated hospitals.Main outcome measuresVirus clearance time, length of hospital stay, and duration of symptoms, by treatment type (including or not including corticosteroid therapy).ResultsEleven of 31 patients with COVID-19 received corticosteroid treatment. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated no association between corticosteroid treatment and virus clearance time (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26; 95% CI, 0.58-2.74), hospital length of stay (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.33-1.78), or duration of symptoms (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.40-1.83). Univariate analysis indicated that virus clearance was slower in two patients with chronic hepatitis B infections (mean difference, 10.6 days; 95% CI, 6.2-15.1 days).ConclusionsCorticosteroids are widely used when treating patients with COVID-19, but we found no association between therapy and outcomes in patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome. An existing HBV infection may delay SARS-CoV-2 clearance, and this association should be further investigated.
Project description:SUMMARYIn recent decades, several new diseases have emerged in different geographical areas, with pathogens including Ebola virus, Zika virus, Nipah virus, and coronaviruses (CoVs). Recently, a new type of viral infection emerged in Wuhan City, China, and initial genomic sequencing data of this virus do not match with previously sequenced CoVs, suggesting a novel CoV strain (2019-nCoV), which has now been termed severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is suspected to originate from an animal host (zoonotic origin) followed by human-to-human transmission, the possibility of other routes should not be ruled out. Compared to diseases caused by previously known human CoVs, COVID-19 shows less severe pathogenesis but higher transmission competence, as is evident from the continuously increasing number of confirmed cases globally. Compared to other emerging viruses, such as Ebola virus, avian H7N9, SARS-CoV, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), SARS-CoV-2 has shown relatively low pathogenicity and moderate transmissibility. Codon usage studies suggest that this novel virus has been transferred from an animal source, such as bats. Early diagnosis by real-time PCR and next-generation sequencing has facilitated the identification of the pathogen at an early stage. Since no antiviral drug or vaccine exists to treat or prevent SARS-CoV-2, potential therapeutic strategies that are currently being evaluated predominantly stem from previous experience with treating SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and other emerging viral diseases. In this review, we address epidemiological, diagnostic, clinical, and therapeutic aspects, including perspectives of vaccines and preventive measures that have already been globally recommended to counter this pandemic virus.
Project description:BackgroundSince the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many researchers in China have performed related clinical research. However, systematic reviews of the registered clinical trials are still lacking. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of clinical trials for COVID-19 to summarize their characteristics.MethodsThis study is based on the PRISMA recommendations in the Cochrane handbook. The Chinese Clinical Registration Center and the ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched to identify registered clinical trials related to COVID-19. The retrieval inception date was February 9, 2020. Two researchers independently selected the literature based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias.ResultsA total of 75 registered clinical trials (63 interventional studies and 12 observational studies) for COVID-19 were identified. The majority of clinical trials were sponsored by Chinese hospitals. Only 11 trials have begun to recruit patients, and none of the registered clinical trials have been completed; 34 trials were early clinical exploratory trials or in the pre-experiment stage, 13 trials were phase III, and four trials were phase IV. The intervention methods included traditional Chinese medicine in 26 trials, Western medicine in 30 trials, and integrated traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine in 19 trials. The subjects were primarily non-critical adult patients (≥ 18 years old). The median sample size of the trials was 100 (IQR: 60-200), and the median length of the trial periods was 179 d (IQR: 94-366 d). The main outcomes were clinical observation and examinations. Overall, the methodological quality of both the interventional trials and observational studies was low.ConclusionsIntensive clinical trials on the treatment of COVID-19 using traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are ongoing or will be performed in China. However, based on the uncertain methodological quality, small sample size, and long trial duration, we will not be able to obtain reliable, high-quality clinical evidence regarding the treatment of COVID-19 in the near future. Improving the quality of study design, prioritizing promising drugs, and using different designs and statistical methods are worth advocating and recommending for clinical trials of COVID-19 in the future.
Project description:ObjectivesResearchers studying treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have reported findings of randomized trials comparing standard care with care augmented by experimental drugs. Many trials have small sample sizes, so estimates of treatment effects are imprecise. Hence, clinicians may find it difficult to decide when to treat patients with experimental drugs. A conventional practice when comparing standard care and an innovation is to choose the innovation only if the estimated treatment effect is positive and statistically significant. This practice defers to standard care as the status quo. We study treatment choice from the perspective of statistical decision theory, which considers treatment options symmetrically when assessing trial findings.MethodsWe use the concept of near-optimality to evaluate criteria for treatment choice. This concept jointly considers the probability and magnitude of decision errors. An appealing criterion from this perspective is the empirical success rule, which chooses the treatment with the highest observed average patient outcome in the trial.ResultsConsidering the design of some COVID-19 trials, we show that the empirical success rule yields treatment choices that are much closer to optimal than those generated by prevailing decision criteria based on hypothesis tests.ConclusionUsing trial findings to make near-optimal treatment choices rather than perform hypothesis tests should improve clinical decision making.