Neutrophils play an important role in infectious diseases by clearing pathogens in the early stages of the disease and damaging the surrounding tissues along with the disease progress. Low-density neutrophils (LDNs) are a crucial and distinct subpopulation of neutrophils. They are a mixture of activated and degranulated normal mature neutrophils and a considerable number of immature neutrophils prematurely released from the bone marrow. Additionally, they may be involved in the occurrence and development of diseases through the changes in phagocytosis, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the enhancement of the ability to produce neutrophils extracellular traps and immunosuppression. We summarizes the role of LDNs in the pathogenesis and their correlation with the severity of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), AIDS, and tuberculosis.
Humans ; Neutrophils ; COVID-19/pathology* ; Phagocytosis ; Extracellular Traps ; Communicable Diseases ; Reactive Oxygen Species

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a global epidemic for more than three years, causing more than 6.9 million deaths. COVID-19 has the clinical characteristics of strong infectivity and long incubation period, and can cause multi-system damage, mainly lung damage, clinical symptoms of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and systemic multiple organ damage. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still constantly mutating. At present, there is no global consensus on the pathological changes of COVID-19 associated deaths and even no consensus on the criteria for determining the cause of death. The investigation of the basic pathological changes and progression of the disease is helpful to guide the clinical treatment and the development of therapeutic drugs. This paper reviews the autopsy reports and related literature published worldwide from February 2020 to June 2023, with a clear number of autopsy cases and corresponding pathological changes of vital organs as the inclusion criteria. A total of 1 111 autopsy cases from 65 papers in 18 countries are included. Pathological manifestations and causes of death are classified and statistically analyzed, common pathological changes of COVID-19 are summarized, and analytical conclusions are drawn, suggesting that COVID-19 infection can cause life-threatening pathological changes in vital organs. On the basis of different health levels of infected groups, the direct cause of death is mainly severe lung damage and secondary systemic multiple organ failure.
Humans ; SARS-CoV-2 ; COVID-19/pathology* ; Cause of Death ; Lung/pathology* ; Autopsy

COVID-19 virus is a causative agent of viral pandemic in human beings which specifically targets respiratory system of humans and causes viral pneumonia. This unusual viral pneumonia is rapidly spreading to all parts of the world, currently affecting about 105 million people with 2.3 million deaths. Current review described history, genomic characteristics, replication, and pathogenesis of COVID-19 with special emphasis on Nigella sativum (N. sativum) as a treatment option. N. sativum seeds are historically and religiously used over the centuries, both for prevention and treatment of different diseases. This review summarizes the potential role of N. sativum seeds against COVID-19 infection at levels of in silico, cell lines and animal models.
Animals ; COVID-19 ; Humans ; Nigella ; Pandemics ; Pathology, Molecular ; SARS-CoV-2

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to compare the early clinical manifestations, laboratory results and chest computed tomography (CT) images of COVID-19 patients with those of other community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients to differentiate CAP from COVID-19 before reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction results are obtained. METHODS: The clinical and laboratory data and chest CT images of 51 patients were assessed in a fever observation ward for evidence of COVID-19 between January and February 2020. RESULTS: 24 patients had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, whereas 27 individuals had negative results. No statistical difference in clinical features was found between COVID-19 and CAP patients, except for diarrhoea. There was a significant difference in lymphocyte and eosinophil counts between COVID-19 and CAP patients. In total, 22 (91.67%) COVID-19 patients had bilateral involvement and multiple lesions according to their lung CT images; the left lower lobe (87.50%) and right lower lobe (95.83%) were affected most often, and all lesions were located in the peripheral zones of the lung. The most common CT feature of COVID-19 was ground-glass opacity, found in 95.83% of patients, compared to 66.67% of CAP patients. CONCLUSION Diarrhoea, lymphocyte counts, eosinophil counts and CT findings (e.g. ground-glass opacity) could help to distinguish COVID-19 from CAP at an early stage of infection, based on findings from our fever observation ward.
COVID-19/diagnostic imaging* ; China ; Community-Acquired Infections/diagnostic imaging* ; Diarrhea/pathology* ; Fever ; Humans ; Lung/diagnostic imaging* ; Retrospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*

Adult ; Body Temperature/drug effects* ; COVID-19/pathology* ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Ephedra sinica/chemistry* ; Female ; Fever/pathology* ; Glycyrrhiza/chemistry* ; Humans ; Indoles/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy/methods* ; Pneumonia, Viral/pathology* ; Radiography, Thoracic ; SARS-CoV-2/drug effects*

OBJECTIVE: Traditional Chinese medicine plays a significant role in the treatment of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Tanreqing Capsule (TRQC) was used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. This study aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy of TRQC in the treatment of COVID-19. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 82 patients who had laboratory-confirmed mild and moderate COVID-19; patients were treated with TRQC in one designated hospital. The treatment and control groups consisted of 25 and 57 cases, respectively. The treatment group was given TRQC orally three times a day, three pills each time, in addition to conventional Western medicine treatments which were also administered to the control group. The clinical efficacy indicators, such as the negative conversion time of pharyngeal swab nucleic acid, the negative conversion time of fecal nucleic acid, the duration of negative conversion of pharyngeal-fecal nucleic acid, and the improvement in the level of immune indicators such as T-cell subsets (CD3, CD4 and CD45) were monitored. RESULTS: COVID-19 patients in the treatment group, compared to the control group, had a shorter negative conversion time of fecal nucleic acid (4 vs. 9 days, P = 0.047) and a shorter interval of negative conversion of pharyngeal-fecal nucleic acid (0 vs. 2 days, P = 0.042). The level of CD3 CONCLUSION Significant reductions in the negative conversion time of fecal nucleic acid and the duration of negative conversion of pharyngeal-fecal nucleic acid were identified in the treatment group as compared to the control group, illustrating the potential therapeutic benefits of using TRQC as a complement to conventional medicine in patients with mild and moderate COVID-19. The underlying mechanism may be related to the improved levels of the immune indicator CD3
Adult ; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use* ; COVID-19/pathology* ; Capsules ; DNA, Viral/analysis* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Feces/virology* ; Female ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Lymphocyte Count ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2/genetics* ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

After one-month of oral treatment with traditional Chinese medicine decoction, without using other drugs, the lung inflammatory exudate, pulmonary fibrosis and quality of life of a 61-year-old female patient with corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were significantly improved. No recurrence or deterioration of the patient's condition was found within seven weeks of treatment and follow-up, and no adverse events occurred, indicating that oral Chinese medicine decoction was able to improve the pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis in a patient recovering from COVID-19, but further research is still needed.
Administration, Oral ; COVID-19/virology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Exudates and Transudates ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation/etiology* ; Lung/pathology* ; Magnoliopsida ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Pulmonary Fibrosis/etiology* ; SARS-CoV-2

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has rapidly spread throughout the world. In this study, we aimed to identify the risk factors for severe COVID-19 to improve treatment guidelines. METHODS: A multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted on 313 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Patients were classified into two groups based on disease severity (nonsevere and severe) according to initial clinical presentation. Laboratory test results and epidemiological and clinical characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to detect potential risk factors associated with severe COVID-19. RESULTS: A total of 289 patients (197 nonsevere and 92 severe cases) with a median age of 45.0 (33.0, 61.0) years were included in this study, and 53.3% (154/289) were male. Fever (192/286, 67.1%) and cough (170/289, 58.8%) were commonly observed, followed by sore throat (49/289, 17.0%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that patients who were aged ≥ 65 years (OR: 2.725, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.317-5.636; P = 0.007), were male (OR: 1.878, 95% CI: 1.002-3.520, P = 0.049), had comorbid diabetes (OR: 3.314, 95% CI: 1.126-9.758, P = 0.030), cough (OR: 3.427, 95% CI: 1.752-6.706, P < 0.001), and/or diarrhea (OR: 2.629, 95% CI: 1.109-6.231, P = 0.028) on admission had a higher risk of severe disease. Moreover, stratification analysis indicated that male patients with diabetes were more likely to have severe COVID-19 (71.4% vs. 28.6%, χ2 = 8.183, P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS The clinical characteristics of those with severe and nonsevere COVID-19 were significantly different. The elderly, male patients with COVID-19, diabetes, and presenting with cough and/or diarrhea on admission may require close monitoring to prevent deterioration.
Adult ; COVID-19/pathology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Cough ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Since the beginning of this century, three types of coronavirus have widely transmitted and caused severe diseases and deaths, which strongly indicates that severe infectious diseases caused by coronavirus infection are not accidental events. Coronavirus-infected diseases are mainly manifested by respiratory symptoms, with multiple organ dysfunctions. Precisely investigating the pathological process, characteristics and pathogenesis of coronavirus-infected diseases will be beneficial for us to understand clinical manifestations and provide targeted suggestions on prophylaxis and treatment. This paper briefly reviews the pathological findings of three known coronavirus-infected diseases, and attempts to construct the pathological spectrum of coronavirus-infected diseases, aiming to provide reference and thinking for autopsy, histopathological examination and animal infection model study of coronavirus-infected diseases.
Animals ; Autopsy ; COVID-19 ; Forensic Pathology ; SARS-CoV-2

I am sharing with you the first issue of the Philippine Journal of Pathology for 2021, our tenth issue since we breathed life into our society publication in 2016. We have two case reports of gynecologic tumors, and an autopsy case of a disseminated hematolymphoid malignancy. Four original articles include a molecular pathology study for lung cancer, a real-world observational study on pooled testing among asymptomatic individuals, a cost effectiveness study on diagnostics for leukemia in the Philippines, and a 5-year soft tissue tumor review. On top of these, we are featuring a new section – Opinion, and we have on board, Dr. Raymundo Lo, to regularly provide his take on issues relevant to our profession and practice. This issue also comes alive with the inclusion of the entries and winners of the PSP 69th Annual Convention Photomicroscopy Contest sponsored by Omnibus Biomedical Systems.
Editorial ; Pathology ; COVID-19