literature published Oct 2020 – Dec 2021
Updated May 25, 2024
8 OCT 2020: T-Cell Hyperactivation and Paralysis in Severe COVID-19 Infection Revealed by Single-Cell Analysis (Front Immunology)
“our study proposes a new model of T-cell hyperactivation and paralysis that drives immunopathology in severe COVID-19.”
13 OCT 2020: Neuropsychiatric complications of covid-19 (BMJ)
20 OCT 2022: SARS-CoV-2 infection of the liver directly contributes to hepatic impairment in patients with COVID-19 (Journal of Hepatology)
“Our findings suggested that SARS-CoV-2 infection of the liver is a crucial factor contributing to hepatic impairment in patients with COVID-19.”
4 NOV 2020: COVID-19 lung damage caused by persistence of ‘abnormal cells’ (medexpress press release)
17 NOV 2020: Obesity and COVID-19 in New York City: A Retrospective Cohort Study (Annals of Internal Med)
“This study of 1687 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York City showed that obesity was an independent risk factor for respiratory failure but not for in-hospital mortality. Our findings, at least in part, explain the extensive use of invasive mechanical ventilation reported in the United States (1), where the prevalence of obesity exceeds 40%.”
18 NOV 2020: Prothrombotic autoantibodies in serum from patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (Science)
“These findings suggest that half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 become at least transiently positive for aPL antibodies and that these autoantibodies are potentially pathogenic.”
8 DEC 2020: Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in an Oropharyngeal Swab Specimen, Milan, Italy, Early December 2019 (CDC Research Letter)
“We identified severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA in an oropharyngeal swab specimen collected from a child with suspected measles in early December 2019, ≈3 months before the first identified coronavirus disease case in Italy.”
16 DEC 2020: The S1 protein of SARS-CoV-2 crosses the blood–brain barrier in mice (Nature)
“We show that intravenously injected radioiodinated S1 (I-S1) readily crossed the blood–brain barrier in male mice, was taken up by brain regions and entered the parenchymal brain space. I-S1 was also taken up by the lung, spleen, kidney and liver.”
31 DEC 2021: Severity of COVID-19 at elevated exposure to perfluorinated alkylates (PLOS One)
“Measures of individual exposures to immunotoxic PFASs included short-chain PFBA known to accumulate in the lungs. Elevated plasma-PFBA concentrations were associated with an increased risk of a more severe course of COVID-19.”
19 JAN 2021: Reaction of Human Monoclonal Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 Proteins With Tissue Antigens: Implications for Autoimmune Diseases (Frontiers in Immunology)
“our results can establish the potential risk for autoimmunity and multi-system disorders with COVID-19 that may come from cross-reactivity between our own human tissues and this dreaded virus”
23 FEB 2021: Exhaled aerosol increases with COVID-19 infection, age, and obesity (PNAS)
2 MAR 2021: Diabetes, obesity, metabolism, and SARS-CoV-2 infection: the end of the beginning (Cell Metabolism)
“New data informing genetic predisposition, epidemiology, immune responses, disease severity, and therapy of COVID-19 in people with obesity and diabetes are highlighted. The emerging relationships of metabolic disorders to viral-induced immune responses and viral persistence, and the putative importance of adipose and islet ACE2 expression, glycemic control, cholesterol metabolism, and glucose- and lipid-lowering drugs is reviewed, with attention to controversies and unresolved questions. Rapid progress in these areas informs our growing understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection in people with diabetes and obesity”
30 MAR 2021: Multiorgan impairment in low-risk individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome: a prospective, community-based study (BMJ Open)
“Severe post-COVID-19 syndrome defined as ongoing respiratory symptoms and/or moderate functional impairment in activities of daily living; single-organ and multiorgan impairment (heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, spleen) by consensus definitions at baseline investigation.”
5 MAY 2021: SARS-CoV-2 causes brain inflammation and induces Lewy body formation in macaques (bioRxiv preprint)
“Post-mortem analysis demonstrated infiltration of T-cells and activated microglia in the brain”
7 MAY 2021: Longitudinal Analysis of COVID-19 Patients Shows Age-Associated T Cell Changes Independent of Ongoing Ill-Health (frontiers in Immunology)
“We demonstrate myeloid recovery but persistent T cell abnormalities in convalescent COVID-19 patients more than three months after initial infection. These changes are more marked with age and are independent of ongoing subjective ill-health, fatigue and reduced exercise tolerance.”
12 MAY 2021: Altered amino acid profile in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection (PNAS)
“Adults and children with COVID-19 and MIS-C in our cohort had low arginine bioavailability compared to healthy adult controls. This may contribute to immune dysregulation and endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19. Low arginine-to-ornithine ratio in patients with COVID-19 or MIS-C suggests an elevation of arginase activity.”
19 MAY 2021: Diverse functional autoantibodies in patients with COVID-19 (Nature)
“We found that patients with COVID-19 exhibit marked increases in autoantibody reactivities as compared to uninfected individuals, and show a high prevalence of autoantibodies against immunomodulatory proteins (including cytokines, chemokines, complement components and cell-surface proteins). We established that these autoantibodies perturb immune function and impair virological control by inhibiting immunoreceptor signalling and by altering peripheral immune cell composition, and found that mouse surrogates of these autoantibodies increase disease severity in a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our analysis of autoantibodies against tissue-associated antigens revealed associations with specific clinical characteristics. Our findings suggest a pathological role for exoproteome-directed autoantibodies in COVID-19, with diverse effects on immune functionality and associations with clinical outcomes.”
9 JUN 2021: Deep spatial profiling of human COVID-19 brains reveals neuroinflammation with distinct microanatomical microglia-T-cell interactions (Immunity)
“This study identifies profound neuroinflammation with activation of innate and adaptive immune cells as correlates of COVID-19 neuropathology, with implications for potential therapeutic strategies.”
17 JUN 2021: Investigation of Long COVID Prevalence and Its Relationship to Epstein-Barr Virus Reactivation (Pathogens)
“These findings suggest that many long COVID symptoms may not be a direct result of the SARS-CoV-2 virus but may be the result of COVID-19 inflammation-induced EBV reactivation.”
17 JUN 2021: Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated With Higher Hospitalization Risk From COVID-19: A Retrospective Case-control Study (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism)
22 JUN 2021: Evidence for Biological Age Acceleration and Telomere Shortening in COVID-19 Survivors (Int J Mol Sci)
“we hypothesize that some epigenetic alterations are associated with the post-COVID-19 condition, particularly in younger patients (< 60 years)”
24 JUN 2021: Autoantibodies stabilize neutrophil extracellular traps in COVID-19 (JCI Insight)
Press Release: https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/lab-report/novel-autoantibody-adds-fuel-to-covid-19-firestorm-of-inflammation-blood-clots
29 JUN 2021: Myocarditis Following Immunization With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Members of the US Military (JAMA Cardiology)
1 JUL 2021: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome after SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Vaccination (CDC)
7 JUL 2021: How antibodies may cause rare blood clots after some COVID-19 vaccines (ScienceNews)
10 JUL 2021: Autoimmune phenomena following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (Int Immunepharmacol)
“We report a series of patients presenting with de-novo or flares of existing autoimmune conditions associated with the Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.”
(Israel)
27 JUL 2021: Relaxed peripheral tolerance drives broad de novo autoreactivity in severe COVID-19 (medRxiv preprint)
“this study reveals the origins, breadth, and resolution of acute-phase autoreactivity in severe COVID-19, with significant implications in both early interventions and potential treatment of patients with post-COVID sequelae.”
29 JUL 2021: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in an adult following the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (MIS-V) (BMJ Case Reports)
5 AUG 2021: SARS-CoV spike proteins can compete for electrolytes in physiological fluids according to structure-based quantum-chemical calculations (Comput Theor Chem)
“Our multi-approach study, based on the combination of structural experimental data and quantum-chemical DFT calculations, led to identify a sequestration site for sodium, potassium and chloride ions within the central cavity of both the SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins. The same region was found as strictly conserved, even among the sequences of the bat-respective coronaviruses. Due to the prominent role of the main three electrolytes at many levels, and their possible implication in the molecular mechanisms of COVID-19 disease, our study can take the lead in important discoveries related to the SARS-CoV-2 biology”
6 AUG 2021: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis after vaccination: the UK experience (Lancet)
11 AUG 2021: Researchers find important clue to rare inflammatory disease in children following COVID-19 infection (MedicalXpress press release)
15 AUG 2021: High estradiol and low testosterone levels are associated with critical illness in male but not in female COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study (Emerging Microbes and Infections)
“we herein identified that disturbance of sex hormone metabolism might present a hallmark in critically ill male COVID-19 patients.”
18 AUG 2021: Brain imaging before and after COVID-19 in UK Biobank (medRxiv preprint)
“By using automated, objective and quantitative methods, we uncovered a consistent spatial pattern of longitudinal abnormalities in limbic brain regions forming a mainly olfactory network. Whether these abnormal changes are the hallmark of the spread of the pathogenic effects, or of the virus itself in the brain, and whether these may prefigure a future vulnerability of the limbic system in particular, including memory, for these participants, remains to be investigated.”
20 AUG. 2021: SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 induces fibrin(ogen) resistant to fibrinolysis: implications for microclot formation in COVID-19 (Bioscience Reports)
“Here we suggest that, in part, the presence of spike protein in circulation may contribute to the hypercoagulation in COVID-19 positive patients and may cause substantial impairment of fibrinolysis. Such lytic impairment may result in the persistent large microclots we have noted here and previously in plasma samples of COVID-19 patients. This observation may have important clinical relevance in the treatment of hypercoagulability in COVID-19 patients.”
23 AUG 2021: Seroconversion and fever are dose-dependent in a nonhuman primate model of inhalational COVID-19 (PLOS Pathogens)
“These results suggest that differences in exposure dose may be a factor influencing disease presentation in humans, and reinforce the importance of public health measures that limit exposure dose, such as social distancing, masking, and increased ventilation.”
23 AUG 2021: Persistent clotting protein pathology in Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is accompanied by increased levels of antiplasmin (Cardiovascular Diabetology)
“Clotting pathologies in both acute COVID-19 infection and in Long COVID/PASC might benefit from following a regime of continued anticlotting therapy to support the fibrinolytic system function.”
25 AUG 2021: Mutation rate of Covid19 virus is at least 50 per cent higher than previously thought (University of BATH)
27 AUG 2021: Research finds Covid-19 spike protein binds to cells in the heart and could help to explain some effects of severe infection (press release University of Bristol)
29 AUG 2021: Hepatitis C Virus Reactivation Following COVID-19 Vaccination – A Case Report (Int Med Case Rep J)
“This reactivation of hepatitis C virus after vaccination with the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID‑19 vaccine suggests a need for critical consideration of individuals with prior HCV infection and considered for COVID-19 vaccination.”
1 SEP 2021: SARS-CoV-2’s Wide-Ranging Effects on the Body (TheScientist)
4 SEP 2021: COVID-19 mRNA vaccination leading to CNS inflammation: a case series (Neurology)
“We report clinical and MRI features of seven individuals who received the Moderna (n = 3) or Pfizer (n = 4) SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines. Within one to 21 days of either the first (n = 2) or second (n = 5) vaccine dose, these patients developed neurologic symptoms and MRI findings consistent with active CNS demyelination of the optic nerve, brain, and/or spinal cord.”
9 SEP 2021: Some FDA-approved drugs could be repurposed to treat people infected with COVID-19
“The authors identified nine drugs effective in suppressing virus replication in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells already infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, the study was limited in that it was only conducted in human cells and the drugs have yet to be tested for efficacy in treating SARS-CoV-2 in patients. Clinical trials are needed to determine whether the drugs are suitable therapeutics for COVID-19 patients.”
Press Release: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-09-fda-approved-drugs-repurposed-people-infected.html
Paper: https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1009840
14 SEP 2021: New-onset IgG autoantibodies in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (Nature)
15 SEP 2021: Hyperglycemia in acute COVID-19 is characterized by insulin resistance and adipose tissue infectivity by SARS-CoV-2 (Cell Metabolism)
“Together these data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may trigger adipose tissue dysfunction to drive insulin resistance and adverse outcomes in acute COVID-19.”
16 SEP 2021: Identification of immune correlates of fatal outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients (PLOS Pathogens)
“We conclude that fatal COVID-19 infection is driven by uncoordinated inflammatory responses that drive a hierarchy of T cell activation, elements of which can serve as prognostic indicators and potential targets for immune intervention.”
23 SEP 2021: Safety and Efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 Covid-19 Vaccine (NEJM)
25 SEP 2021: Cerebral venous thrombosis after vaccination against COVID-19 in the UK: a multicentre cohort study (Lancet)
“A new syndrome of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) has emerged as a rare side-effect of vaccination against COVID-19.”
27 SEP 2021: Lung microbiota and COVID-19 severity (Nature Microbiology)
28 SEP 2021: A prenylated dsRNA sensor protects against severe COVID-19 (Science)
“expression of prenylated OAS1 was associated with protection from severe COVID-19, suggesting this antiviral defense is a major component of a protective antiviral response.”
29 SEP 2021: REGEN-COV Antibody Combination and Outcomes in Outpatients with Covid-19 (NEJM)
“REGEN-COV reduced the risk of Covid-19–related hospitalization or death from any cause, and it resolved symptoms and reduced the SARS-CoV-2 viral load more rapidly than placebo.”
29 SEP 2021: A farewell to R: time-series models for tracking and forecasting epidemics (Royal Society)
30 SEP 2021: Myocarditis after Covid-19 mRNA Vaccination (NEJM)
1 OCT 2022: COVID-19-related outcomes in immunocompromised patients: A nationwide study in Korea (PLOS ONE)
6 OCT 2021: One-year Risks and Burdens of Incident Cardiovascular Disease in COVID-19: Cardiovascular Manifestations of Long COVID (Nature preprint)
“our results provide evidence that risk and 1-year burden of cardiovascular disease in survivors of acute COVID-19 are substantial”
6 OCT 2021: Myocarditis after BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine against Covid-19 in Israel (NEJM)
“highest in male recipients between the ages of 16 and 19 years, with a ratio of 1 in 6637.”
7 OCT 2021: Association of Receipt of the Ad26.COV2.S COVID-19 Vaccine With Presumptive Guillain-Barré Syndrome (JAMA)
8 OCT 2021: Glycan engineering of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain elicits cross-neutralizing antibodies for SARS-related viruses (Journal of Experimental Medicine)
“We found that glycan addition elicited higher proportions of the core-RBD–specific germinal center (GC) B cells and antibody responses, thereby manifesting significant neutralizing activity for SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and the bat WIV1-CoV. These results have implications for the design of SARS-like virus vaccines.”
Press Release: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10-vaccination-approach-mice-future-coronavirus.html
8 OCT 2021: Could the new COVID pill become the next Tamiflu saga? (Maryanne Demasi blog)
12 OCT 2021: The Effect of Melatonin on Thrombosis, Sepsis and Mortality Rate in COVID-19 Patients (Intl Journal of Infectious Diseases)
“Adjuvant use of melatonin may help to reduce thrombosis, sepsis, and mortality in COVID-19 patients.”
13 OCT 2021: SARS–CoV–2 Spike Impairs DNA Damage Repair and Inhibits V(D)J Recombination In Vitro (Viruses)
“Mechanistically, we found that the spike protein localizes in the nucleus and inhibits DNA damage repair by impeding key DNA repair protein BRCA1 and 53BP1 recruitment to the damage site. Our findings reveal a potential molecular mechanism by which the spike protein might impede adaptive immunity and underscore the potential side effects of full-length spike-based vaccines.”
18 MAR 2022: Rapid resolution of severe pericardial effusion using anakinra in a patient with COVID-19 vaccine-related acute pericarditis relapse: a case report (European Heart Journal Case Reports)
“The patient was successfully treated with the recombinant interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist anakinra, with full reabsorption of the pericardial effusion and an abrupt drop of the inflammatory markers within 72 hours.”
18 OCT 2021: Myocarditis-induced Sudden Death after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination in Korea: Case Report Focusing on Histopathological Findings (J Korean Med Sci)
“We present autopsy findings of a 22-year-old man who developed chest pain 5 days after the first dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine and died 7 hours later.”
20 OCT 2021: Targeting SARS‐CoV‐2 with Chaga mushroom: An in silico study toward developing a natural antiviral compound (Food Sci Nutrition)
“Chaga mushroom components, beta glycan, galactomannan, and betulinic acid exhibited strong binding interaction with the S1‐carboxy‐terminal domain of the receptor‐binding domain of SARS‐CoV‐2, mainly at TRP‐436, ASN‐437, and ASN‐440 sites. Chaga mushroom shows promise in interacting with the viral spike protein and can be further explored in clinical settings that can bolster the current treatment regime for SARS‐CoV‐2. This will assist in developing natural anti‐coronavirus therapeutics in future that can greatly supplement the use of current anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 drugs.”
21 OCT 2021: The SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro causes microvascular brain pathology by cleaving NEMO in brain endothelial cells (Nature)
“Here we describe structural changes in cerebral small vessels of patients with COVID-19 and elucidate potential mechanisms underlying the vascular pathology. In brains of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected individuals and animal models, we found an increased number of empty basement membrane tubes, so-called string vessels representing remnants of lost capillaries. We obtained evidence that brain endothelial cells are infected and that the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (Mpro) cleaves NEMO, the essential modulator of nuclear factor-κB. By ablating NEMO, Mpro induces the death of human brain endothelial cells and the occurrence of string vessels in mice.”
22 OCT 2021: Post COVID-19 in children, adolescents, and adults: results of a matched cohort study including more than 150,000 individuals with COVID-19 (medRxiv preprint)
“This large, matched cohort study indicates substantial new-onset post COVID-19 morbidity in pediatric and adult populations based on routine health care documentation. Further investigation is required to assess the persistence and long-term health impact of post COVID-19 conditions, especially in children and adolescents.”
22 OCT 2021: Assessment of Cognitive Function in Patients After COVID-19 Infection (JAMA Neuro Research Letter)
“In this study, we found a relatively high frequency of cognitive impairment several months after patients contracted COVID-19. Impairments in executive functioning, processing speed, category fluency, memory encoding, and recall were predominant among hospitalized patients. The relative sparing of memory recognition in the context of impaired encoding and recall suggests an executive pattern. This pattern is consistent with early reports describing a dysexecutive syndrome after COVID-19”
25 OCT 2021: SARS-CoV-2 infects human adipose tissue and elicits an inflammatory response consistent with severe COVID-19 (bioRxiv preprint)
“our findings indicate that adipose tissue supports SARS-CoV-2 infection and pathogenic inflammation and may explain the link between obesity and severe COVID-19”
25 OCT 2021: Cryptic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the first COVID-19 wave (Nature)
“We find that community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was likely in several areas of Europe and the United States by January 2020, and estimate that by early March, only 1 to 3 in 100 SARS-CoV-2 infections were detected by surveillance systems. The modelling results highlight international travel as the key driver of the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 with possible introductions and transmission events as early as December 2019–January 2020.”
25 OCT 2021: Anti–SARS-CoV-2 and Autoantibody Profiles in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of 3 Teenaged Patients With COVID-19 and Subacute Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (JAMA)
“A subset of pediatric patients with COVID-19 and subacute neuropsychiatric symptoms have intrathecal antineural autoantibodies, suggesting central nervous system autoimmunity in pediatric patients with COVID-19 and recent neuropsychiatric symptoms.”
25 OCT 2021: Neurological complications after first dose of COVID-19 vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 infection (Nature Medicine)
“this population-based study identifies and quantifies several rare neurological adverse events that are specific to the ChAdOx1nCoV-19 and BNT162b2 vaccines, as well as SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
29 OCT 2021: Neuro-COVID long-haulers exhibit broad dysfunction in T cell memory generation and responses to vaccination (medRxiv preprint)
29 OCT 2021: Persistent COVID-19 Infection in Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Cleared Following Therapeutic Vaccination: a Case Report (J of Clinical Immunology)
“Here we describe a case of protracted SARS-CoV-2 infection for 218 days in a patient with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), an inborn error of metabolism predisposing to dysregulated immunity and infection. We find that mRNA vaccination allowed induction of humoral and cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, which had not been triggered by the ongoing infection itself, followed by viral clearance.”
2 NOV 2021: Visualizing in deceased COVID-19 patients how SARS-CoV-2 attacks the respiratory and olfactory mucosae but spares the olfactory bulb (Cell)
“SARS-CoV-2 does not appear to be a neurotropic virus. We postulate that transient insufficient support from sustentacular cells triggers transient olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19. Olfactory sensory neurons would become affected without getting infected.”
7 NOV 2021: A prominent virologist warns COVID-19 pill could unleash dangerous mutants. Others see little cause for alarm (Science)
8 NOV 2021: Six-month sequelae of post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection: a retrospective cohort study of 10,024 breakthrough infections (medRxiv preprint)
“previous vaccination does not appear to be protective against several previously documented outcomes of COVID-19 such as long-COVID features”
10 NOV 2021: Pre-existing polymerase-specific T cells expand in abortive seronegative SARS-CoV-2 (Nature)
“We provide T-cell and innate transcript evidence for abortive, seronegative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Longitudinal samples from SN-HCW and an additional cohort, showed RTC (particularly polymerase)-specific T-cells were enriched before exposure, expanded in vivo, and preferentially accumulated in those in whom SARS-CoV-2 failed to establish infection, compared to those with overt infection. “
11 NOV 2021: Autocrine vitamin D signaling switches off pro-inflammatory programs of TH1 cells (Nature)
Press Release: https://stories.purdue.edu/researchers-study-the-link-between-vitamin-d-and-inflammation/
12 NOV 2021: COVID‐19 vaccination can occasionally trigger autoimmune phenomena, probably via inducing age‐associated B cells (Int J Rheum Dis)
“In this article, we discuss the probability of ABC‐mediated autoimmunity (flare or new‐onset) following COVID‐19 vaccination.”
(Greece)
15 NOV 2021: Fighting SARS-CoV-2 with green seaweed Ulva sp. extract (PeerJ)
“Our results strongly suggest that further bioassay-guided investigation into bioactivity of compounds found in Ulva sp. ulvan extracts could lead to the discovery of novel anti-SARS-CoV-2 antivirals.”
18 NOV 2021: COVID-19 targets human adrenal glands (Lancet Diabetes)
22 NOV 2021: Hypertonic saline and aprotinin based blockage of SARS-CoV-2 specific furin site cleavage by inhibition of nasal protease activity (bioRxiv preprint)
“Our results show that saline and aprotinin block SARS-Cov-2 specific furin site cleavage and that a saline and aprotinin combination could significantly reduce SARS-Cov-2 wild-type and P681R mutant furin site cleavage by inhibition of nasal protease activity.”
22 NOV 2021: Subclinical thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura after vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Blood Research)
23 NOV 2021: Acquired Aplastic Anemia in Immunocompetent Pediatric Patients with Asymptomatic COVID-19 Infection: A Case Series (blood)
“Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) has high morbidity and mortality, and timely diagnosis is needed for appropriate treatment. Multiple different viral infections have been known to cause acquired aplastic anemia. Data on all the sequelae of COVID-19 infection is still emerging, but it is plausible that COVID-19 infection may cause SAA.”
23 NOV 2021: Assessment of Sequelae of COVID-19 Nearly 1 Year After Diagnosis (Frontiers in Medicine)
“At the nearly 1-year follow-up, COVID-19 survivors still had multi-system issues, including those in the respiratory functioning, radiography, quality of life, and anxiety and depression. Moreover, non-severe cases also showed some sequelae and the proportion of IgG negative cases in the non-severe patients was higher than that in severe cases.”
24 NOV 2021: A Possible Role for Anti-idiotype Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Vaccination (NEJM)
25 NOV 2021: Rapid Progression of Angioimmunoblastic T Cell Lymphoma Following BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine Booster Shot: A Case Report (Front Med)
“This observation, which has been posted as a pre-print on the SSRN platform (18), suggests that vaccination with the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine might induce rapid progression of AITL. Dedicated studies are needed to determine whether this case can be extrapolated to populations of patients with AITL or other peripheral T cell lymphoma involving TFH cells.”
27 NOV 2021: Ocular Manifestations after Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine: A Systematic Review (Vaccines)
“The ocular manifestations occurred up to forty-two days after vaccination, and vaccine-induced immunologic responses may be responsible. Although the incidence rate of ocular symptoms is considerably lower in the vaccinated subjects than in COVID-19 patients, physicians should be aware of the possible associations between COVID-19 vaccines and ocular symptoms for the early diagnosis and treatment of vision problems or life-threatening complications.”
29 NOV 2021: Patients With Unexplained Dyspnea Post–Coronavirus Disease (JACC Heart Failure)
“Circulatory impairment, abnormal ventilatory pattern, and ME/CFS are common in patients with PASC. The dysfunctional breathing, resting hypocapnia, and ME/CFS may contribute to symptoms. CPET is a valuable tool to assess these patients.”
1 DEC 2021: ChAdOx1 interacts with CAR and PF4 with implications for thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (Science)
1 DEC 2021: Metabolites with SARS-CoV-2 Inhibitory Activity Identified from Human Microbiome Commensals (mSphere)
“Our discovery of structurally diverse metabolites with anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity from screening a small fraction of the bacteria reported to be associated with the human microbiome suggests that continued exploration of phylogenetically diverse human-associated bacteria is likely to uncover additional small molecules that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 as well as other viral infections.”
1 DEC 2021: Postvaccination Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adult with No Evidence of Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection (Emerg Infect Dis)
“Ten days after receiving the first dose of coronavirus disease vaccine, a 22-year-old woman in South Korea experienced myocarditis, myopathy, pericarditis, and gastroenteritis; rash subsequently developed. There was no evidence of prior infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The diagnosis was multisystem inflammatory syndrome resulting from coronavirus disease vaccination.”
3 DEC 2021: Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 N-Protein and α-Synuclein Accelerate Amyloid Formation (ACS Chem Neuroscience)
“Our results point toward direct interactions between the N-protein of SARS-CoV-2 and α-synuclein as molecular basis for the observed correlation between SARS-CoV-2 infections and Parkinsonism.”
Press Release: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211214135150.htm
5 DEC 2021: Brain Injury in COVID-19 is Associated with Autoinflammation and Autoimmunity (medRxiv preprint)
5 DEC 2021: Guillain-Barré Syndrome after COVID-19 Vaccination in the Vaccine Safety Datalink (medRxiv preprint)
“In this interim analysis of surveillance data of COVID-19 vaccines, the incidence of GBS was elevated after Ad.26.COV2.S. Surveillance is ongoing.”
5 DEC 2021: Epidemiology of myocarditis and pericarditis following mRNA vaccines in Ontario, Canada: by vaccine product, schedule and interval (medRxiv preprint)
6 DEC 2021: Clinically Suspected Myocarditis Temporally Related to COVID-19 Vaccination in Adolescents and Young Adults (Circulation)
7 DEC 2021: Signature of long-lived memory CD8+ T cells in acute SARS-CoV-2 infection (nature)
7 DEC 2021: Persistence of clinically relevant levels of SARS-CoV2 envelope gene subgenomic RNAs in non-immunocompromised individuals (Intl Journal of Infectious Diseases)
“Our results suggest that potentially active virus can sometimes persist beyond a 10-day period, and could pose a potential risk of onward transmission.”
8 DEC 2021: Rapid initiation of nasal saline irrigation: hospitalizations in COVID-19 patients randomized to alkalinization or povidone-iodine compared to a national dataset (medRxiv)
“SARS-CoV-2+ participants initiating nasal irrigation were over 8 times less likely to be hospitalized than the national rate.”
8 DEC 2021: Residual SARS-CoV-2 viral antigens detected in GI and hepatic tissues from five recovered patients with COVID-19 (Gut BMJ)
“Using conventional immunohistochemistry, we detected SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (NP) in the colon, appendix, ileum, haemorrhoid, liver, gallbladder and lymph nodes from five patients who recovered from COVID-19, ranging from 9 to 180 days after testing negative for SARS-CoV-2. Notably, when multiple tissues were obtained from one patient (patients 1 and 4), all the tissues showed the presence of the viral antigen, suggesting widespread multiorgan involvement of the viral infection.”
8 DEC 2021: Reactivation of HBV triggered by SARS-CoV-2 in a patient with cirrhosis (Hepatology)
“we propose the coinfection with this virus as the cause of HBV reactivation”
9 DEC 2021: Breathlessness in patients with long COVID may signal heart problems (ESC Press Release)
“A small study has suggested that COVID-19 patients who continue to be short of breath during physical activity one year after recovering from the infection may have suffered heart damage.”
10 DEC 2021: Replication of SARS-CoV-2 in adipose tissue determines organ and systemic lipid metabolism in hamsters and humans (Cell Metabolism)
“we show here that SARS-CoV-2 infection of adipose tissue profoundly affects organ and systemic lipid metabolism in hamsters and humans.”
11 DEC 2021: Evaluating the number of unvaccinated people needed to exclude to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmissions (medRxiv preprint)
“Consideration of the harms of exclusion is urgently needed, including staffing shortages from losing unvaccinated healthcare workers, unemployment/unemployability, financial hardship for unvaccinated people, and the creation of a class of citizens who are not allowed to fully participate in many areas of society.”
13 DEC 2021: SARS-CoV-2 Spike triggers barrier dysfunction and vascular leak via integrins and TGF-β signaling (bioRxiv preprint)
“Our findings suggest that S interactions with barrier cells are a contributing factor to COVID-19 disease severity and offer mechanistic insight into SARS-CoV-2 triggered vascular leak, providing a starting point for development of therapies targeting COVID-19 pathogenesis.”
13 DEC 2021: ‘Supermeres’ may carry clues to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19 (Press Release)
“This raises the possibility that ACE2 carried by supermeres could serve as a “decoy” to bind the virus and prevent infection”.
Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-021-00805-8
14 DEC 2021: Risks of myocarditis, pericarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias associated with COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection (Nature Medicine)
14 DEC 2021: Respiratory Tract Bacterial Extracts Could Prevent COVID-19 (UArizona Press Release)
“Researchers from the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson found that the bacterial lysate OM-85 blocked SARS-CoV-2 infection by decreasing the ability of the coronavirus to bind to the lung cell surface receptor ACE2.”
Paper: https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(21)02581-1/fulltext#articleInformation
15 DEC 2021: The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein disrupts human cardiac pericytes function through CD147 receptor-mediated signalling: a potential non-infective mechanism of COVID-19 microvascular disease (Clinical Science)
from Press Release: “A new study has shown how SARS-CoV-2 may contribute to severe microvascular damage seen in severely-ill COVID-19 patients by transforming human heart vascular cells into inflammatory cells, without infecting them.”
16 DEC 2021: Myocarditis after vaccination against covid-19 (BMJ Editorial)
16 DEC 2021: Thyroiditis after Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA Vaccine: A Case Series (AACE Clin Case Rep)
“The mRNA vaccine for SARS-COV-2 was associated with thyroiditis and presented with thyrotoxicosis. Elevated proinflammatory markers and cytokines after vaccines may play a major role.”
17 DEC 2021: Amyloidogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein (bioRxiv preprint)
“Our data propose a molecular mechanism for amyloidogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 S-protein in humans facilitated by endoproteolysis. The potential implications of S-protein amyloidogenesis in COVID-19 disease associated pathogenesis and consequences following S-protein based vaccines should be addressed in understanding the disease, long COVID-19, and vaccine side effects.”
17 DEC 2021: COVID-19–Associated Mucormycosis — Arkansas, July–September 2021 (MMWR)
“Ten COVID-19–associated mucormycosis cases that occurred during July 12–September 28, 2021, were reported to ADH by six hospitals”
20 DEC 2021: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children by COVID-19 Vaccination Status of Adolescents in France (JAMA Research Letter)
“These results suggest that COVID-19 mRNA vaccination was associated with a lower incidence of MIS-C in adolescents.”
20 DEC 2021: SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence throughout the human body and brain (preprint)
“ …we detected persistent SARS-CoV-2 RNA in multiple anatomic sites, including regions throughout the brain, for up to 230 days following symptom onset.… Our data prove that SARS-CoV-2 causes systemic infection and can persist in the body for months.”
21 DEC 2021: 3D virtual histopathology of cardiac tissue from Covid-19 patients based on phase-contrast X-ray tomography (eLife)
Press Release: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-x-ray-imaging-covid-vascular-heart.html
22 DEC 2021: Local and systemic responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adults (Nature)
“We postulate that higher paediatric innate interferon-responses restrict viral replication and disease progression.”
Press Release: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-rapid-immune-response-children-covid-.html
23 DEC 2021: Graves Disease Following the SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine: Case Series (Journal of Investigative Med)
“The viral spike protein, delivered indirectly through an encoded mRNA vaccine, may be capable of triggering an inflammatory cascade and immune response triggering thyroid dysfunction.”
25 DEC 2021: SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids (Cell Stem Cell)
“Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect kidney cells and induce cell injury with subsequent fibrosis. These data could explain both acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and the development of chronic kidney disease in Long-COVID.”
25 DEC 2021: Risk of myocarditis following sequential COVID-19 vaccinations by age and sex (medRxiv preprint)
27 DEC 2021: New-onset autoimmune phenomena post-COVID-19 vaccination (Immunology)
“In the light of the information discussed above, emerging evidence has indicated that new onset of autoimmune manifestations including VITT, autoimmune liver diseases, GBS and IgA nephropathy appears to be associated with COVID-19 vaccines. The plausible mechanisms by which COVID-19 vaccines lead to autoimmune manifestations include molecular mimicry, the production of particular autoantibodies and the role of certain vaccine adjuvants.”
(China)
27 DEC 2021: Risk of Myopericarditis following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in a Large Integrated Health System: A Comparison of Completeness and Timeliness of Two Methods (medRxiv preprint)
”We identified additional valid cases of myopericarditis following an mRNA vaccination that would be missed by the VSDs search algorithm, which depends on select hospital discharge diagnosis codes. The true incidence of myopericarditis is markedly higher than the incidence reported to US advisory committees. The VSD should validate its search algorithm to improve its sensitivity for myopericarditis.”
28 DEC 2021: Complement activation induces excessive T cell cytotoxicity in severe COVID-19 (Cell)
“Increased generation of C3a in severe COVID-19 induced activated CD16+ cytotoxic T cells. Proportions of activated CD16+ T cells and plasma levels of complement proteins upstream of C3a were associated with fatal outcome of COVID-19, supporting a pathological role of exacerbated cytotoxicity and complement activation in COVID-19.”
29 DEC 2021: Association of Weight Loss Achieved Through Metabolic Surgery With Risk and Severity of COVID-19 Infection (JAMA Surgery)
“previous weight loss surgery was significantly associated with a 49% lower risk of hospitalization, 63% lower risk of need for supplemental oxygen, and 60% lower risk of severe disease during a 12-month period after contracting COVID-19 infection.”
29 DEC 2021: Emergence in Southern France of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of probably Cameroonian origin harbouring both substitutions N501Y and E484K in the spike protein (medRxiv preprint)
30 DEC 2021: Paradoxical sex-specific patterns of autoantibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection (Journal of Translational Med)
“Our results reveal that prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, even in the absence of severe clinical disease, can lead to a broad AAB response that exhibits sex-specific patterns of prevalence and antigen selectivity. Further understanding of the nature of triggered AAB activation among men and women exposed to SARS-CoV-2 will be essential for developing effective interventions against immune-mediated sequelae of COVID-19.”
Press Release: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-covid-trigger-self-attacking-antibodies-mild.html
“These patterns of immune dysregulation could be underlying the different types of persistent symptoms we see in people who go on to develop the condition now referred to as long COVID-19.”
30 DEC 2021: Study uncovers unique stem cell trajectory in lungs damaged by COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis (MedXpress press release)
“This study offers a roadmap to understand how severely injured lungs can remodel and scar and provides a potential pathway to reverse the remodeling by targeting the abnormal stem cells differentiation.”
30 DEC 2021: Multisystem Inflammatory-like Syndrome in a Child Following COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination (Vaccines)
“Our report highlights a potential role of mRNA vaccine-induced immunity leading to MIS-C-like symptoms with cardiac involvement and a CLOCC in a recently vaccinated child and the complexity of establishing a causal association with vaccination.”