1.A case of vitiligo after COVID-19 vaccination: a possible role of thymic dysfunction.
Denis KUZNETSOV ; Oleg KALYUZHIN ; Andrey MIRONOV ; Valery NESCHISLIAEV ; Anastasiia KUZNETSOVA
Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B 2023;24(12):1141-1150
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, vaccines help control the spread of infection. To date, 47 vaccines have been approved, with another 227 candidates in various stages of development. In the short period of time since the beginning of their use, evidence has begun to emerge of complications following vaccination in the form of the development or exacerbation of a number of pathological conditions (Block et al., 2022; Haseeb et al., 2022). For example, a population-based study in France identified 1612 cases of myocarditis and 1613 cases of pericarditis requiring hospital treatment within five months of vaccination (le Vu et al., 2022).
Humans
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COVID-19/prevention & control*
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COVID-19 Vaccines/adverse effects*
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Vaccination/adverse effects*
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Vitiligo/etiology*
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Thymus Gland/physiopathology*
2.Structural and physiological changes of the human body upon SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Zhonglin WU ; Qi ZHANG ; Guo YE ; Hui ZHANG ; Boon Chin HENG ; Yang FEI ; Bing ZHAO ; Jing ZHOU
Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B 2021;22(4):310-317
Since December 2019, the novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) has spread to many countries around the world, developing into a global pandemic with increasing numbers of deaths reported worldwide. To data, although some vaccines have been developed, there are no ideal drugs to treat novel coronavirus pneumonia (coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)). By examining the structure of the coronavirus and briefly describing its possible pathogenesis based on recent autopsy reports conducted by various teams worldwide, this review analyzes the possible structural and functional changes of the human body upon infection with SARS-CoV-2. We observed that the most prominent pathological changes in COVID-19 patients are diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) of the lungs and microthrombus formation, resulting in an imbalance of the ventilation/perfusion ratio and respiratory failure. Although direct evidence of viral infection can also be found in other organs and tissues, the viral load is relatively small. The conclusion that the injuries of the extra-pulmonary organs are directly caused by the virus needs further investigation.
COVID-19/physiopathology*
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Human Body
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Humans
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Immune Evasion
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Lung/virology*
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Viral Load
3.Chinese Medicine Meets Conventional Medicine in Targeting COVID-19 Pathophysiology, Complications and Comorbidities.
Shan-Shan WANG ; Xian ZENG ; Ya-Li WANG ; Zhuoma DONGZHI ; Yu-Fen ZHAO ; Yu-Zong CHEN
Chinese journal of integrative medicine 2022;28(7):627-635
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate how the National Health Commission of China (NHCC)-recommended Chinese medicines (CMs) modulate the major maladjustments of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly the clinically observed complications and comorbidities.
METHODS:
By focusing on the potent targets in common with the conventional medicines, we investigated the mechanisms of 11 NHCC-recommended CMs in the modulation of the major COVID-19 pathophysiology (hyperinflammations, viral replication), complications (pain, headache) and comorbidities (hypertension, obesity, diabetes). The constituent herbs of these CMs and their chemical ingredients were from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Information Database. The experimentally-determined targets and the activity values of the chemical ingredients of these CMs were from the Natural Product Activity and Species Source Database. The approved and clinical trial drugs against these targets were searched from the Therapeutic Target Database and DrugBank Database. Pathways of the targets was obtained from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and additional literature search.
RESULTS:
Overall, 9 CMs modulated 6 targets discovered by the COVID-19 target discovery studies, 8 and 11 CMs modulated 8 and 6 targets of the approved or clinical trial drugs for the treatment of the major COVID-19 complications and comorbidities, respectively.
CONCLUSION
The coordinated actions of each NHCC-recommended CM against a few targets of the major COVID-19 pathophysiology, complications and comorbidities, partly have common mechanisms with the conventional medicines.
COVID-19/physiopathology*
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Comorbidity
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Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*
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Humans
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Medicine
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Medicine, Chinese Traditional
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SARS-CoV-2
5.Pregnancy Outcomes in COVID-19: A Prospective Cohort Study in Singapore.
Citra Nz MATTAR ; Shirin KALIMUDDIN ; Sapna P SADARANGANI ; Shephali TAGORE ; Serene THAIN ; Koh Cheng THOON ; Eliane Y HONG ; Abhiram KANNEGANTI ; Chee Wai KU ; Grace Mf CHAN ; Kelvin Zx LEE ; Jeannie Jy YAP ; Shaun S TAN ; Benedict YAN ; Barnaby E YOUNG ; David C LYE ; Danielle E ANDERSON ; Liying YANG ; Lin Lin SU ; Jyoti SOMANI ; Lay Kok TAN ; Mahesh A CHOOLANI ; Jerry Ky CHAN
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore 2020;49(11):857-869
INTRODUCTION:
Pregnant women are reported to be at increased risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to underlying immunosuppression during pregnancy. However, the clinical course of COVID-19 in pregnancy and risk of vertical and horizontal transmission remain relatively unknown. We aim to describe and evaluate outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 in Singapore.
METHODS:
Prospective observational study of 16 pregnant patients admitted for COVID-19 to 4 tertiary hospitals in Singapore. Outcomes included severe disease, pregnancy loss, and vertical and horizontal transmission.
RESULTS:
Of the 16 patients, 37.5%, 43.8% and 18.7% were infected in the first, second and third trimesters, respectively. Two gravidas aged ≥35 years (12.5%) developed severe pneumonia; one patient (body mass index 32.9kg/m2) required transfer to intensive care. The median duration of acute infection was 19 days; one patient remained reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive >11 weeks from diagnosis. There were no maternal mortalities. Five pregnancies produced term live-births while 2 spontaneous miscarriages occurred at 11 and 23 weeks. RT-PCR of breast milk and maternal and neonatal samples taken at birth were negative; placenta and cord histology showed non-specific inflammation; and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific immunoglobulins were elevated in paired maternal and umbilical cord blood (n=5).
CONCLUSION
The majority of COVID-19 infected pregnant women had mild disease and only 2 women with risk factors (obesity, older age) had severe infection; this represents a slightly higher incidence than observed in age-matched non-pregnant women. Among the women who delivered, there was no definitive evidence of mother-to-child transmission via breast milk or placenta.
Abortion, Spontaneous/epidemiology*
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Adult
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COVID-19/transmission*
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COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing
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COVID-19 Serological Testing
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Cohort Studies
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Disease Transmission, Infectious/statistics & numerical data*
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Female
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Fetal Blood/immunology*
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Humans
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Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/statistics & numerical data*
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Live Birth/epidemiology*
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Maternal Age
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Milk, Human/virology*
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Obesity, Maternal/epidemiology*
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Placenta/pathology*
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/physiopathology*
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Pregnancy Outcome/epidemiology*
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Pregnancy Trimester, First
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Pregnancy Trimester, Second
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Prospective Studies
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RNA, Viral/analysis*
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Risk Factors
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SARS-CoV-2
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Severity of Illness Index
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Singapore/epidemiology*
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Umbilical Cord/pathology*
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Young Adult
6.2019 novel coronavirus, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 and cardiovascular drugs.
Hao Zhe SHI ; Ping MA ; Feng Ying GAO ; Gong Lie CHEN ; Yu Hui WANG ; Xun De XIAN ; Er Dan DONG
Chinese Journal of Cardiology 2020;48(7):532-538
Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists
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Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
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Betacoronavirus
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COVID-19
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Cardiovascular Agents/pharmacology*
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Cardiovascular Diseases
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Coronavirus Infections/physiopathology*
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Humans
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Pandemics
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Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A/physiology*
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Pneumonia, Viral/physiopathology*
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SARS-CoV-2
7.Semen parameters in men recovered from COVID-19.
Tong-Hang GUO ; Mei-Ying SANG ; Shun BAI ; Hui MA ; Yang-Yang WAN ; Xiao-Hua JIANG ; Yuan-Wei ZHANG ; Bo XU ; Hong CHEN ; Xue-Ying ZHENG ; Si-Hui LUO ; Xue-Feng XIE ; Chen-Jia GONG ; Jian-Ping WENG ; Qing-Hua SHI
Asian Journal of Andrology 2021;23(5):479-483
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is emerging as a global health threat and shows a higher risk for men than women. Thus far, the studies on andrological consequences of COVID-19 are limited. To ascertain the consequences of COVID-19 on sperm parameters after recovery, we recruited 41 reproductive-aged male patients who had recovered from COVID-19, and analyzed their semen parameters and serum sex hormones at a median time of 56 days after hospital discharge. For longitudinal analysis, a second sampling was obtained from 22 of the 41 patients after a median time interval of 29 days from first sampling. Compared with controls who had not suffered from COVID-19, the total sperm count, sperm concentration, and percentages of motile and progressively motile spermatozoa in the patients were significantly lower at first sampling, while sperm vitality and morphology were not affected. The total sperm count, sperm concentration, and number of motile spermatozoa per ejaculate were significantly increased and the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm was reduced at the second sampling compared with those at first in the 22 patients examined. Though there were higher prolactin and lower progesterone levels in patients at first sampling than those in controls, no significant alterations were detected for any sex hormones examined over time following COVID-19 recovery in the 22 patients. Although it should be interpreted carefully, these findings indicate an adverse but potentially reversible consequence of COVID-19 on sperm quality.
Adult
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Asthenozoospermia/virology*
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COVID-19/physiopathology*
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China
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Gonadal Steroid Hormones/blood*
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Humans
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Male
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Progesterone/blood*
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Prolactin/blood*
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SARS-CoV-2
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Semen/physiology*
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Semen Analysis
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Sperm Count
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Sperm Motility
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Spermatozoa/physiology*
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Time Factors