Respiratory Disease News and Research

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Traditional Japanese dish may hold an answer to COVID-19

Natto, a fermented soybean dish often served for breakfast in Japan, originated at the turn of the last millennium but may hold an answer to a modern problem: COVID-19, according to a new study based on cell cultures.

21 Jul 2021

Firefighters exposed to Fort McMurray wildfire have persistent lung damage

Firefighters at the centre of the battle against the massive Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016 have persistent lung damage, according to new findings published by a University of Alberta occupational health research team.

19 Jul 2021

Patient's case report reveals link between Bell’s palsy and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

The case of a patient who experienced two facial palsies – one after the first and another after the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – strongly suggests that Bell’s palsy (facial nerve palsy of unknown cause) is linked to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, doctors write in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

19 Jul 2021

Latest ATS/CSL Behring research grant recipient focuses on COVID-19 ARDS study

The ATS Research Program is pleased to announce that William Zhang, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical Center is the recipient of the 2020-2021 ATS/CSL Behring Research Award in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

13 Jul 2021

Socioeconomic inequities and structural racism are neglected pieces of SARS-CoV-2 transmission networks

A recent perspective article published in the prestigious journal Science highlights how the use of network-driven strategies for adequately informing rapidly emergent epidemic responses is not only evidence-based but also an equitable way forward for the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and future respiratory pandemics.

12 Jul 2021

Strength training for breathing muscles lowers blood pressure, improves vascular health

Working out just five minutes daily via a practice described as "strength training for your breathing muscles" lowers blood pressure and improves some measures of vascular health as well as, or even more than, aerobic exercise or medication, new CU Boulder research shows.

30 Jun 2021

Wayne State awarded NSF grant to investigate how viruses navigate through the mucus barrier

A research team at Wayne State University led by Ashis Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D., associate professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, received a three-year, $326,226 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate fundamental issues related to the passage of viruses through the mucus barrier.

29 Jun 2021

Specific lung cell exhibits immune properties and improves respiratory viral disease outcomes

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have discovered that a specific type of lung cell exhibits unconventional immune properties and may contribute to the outcome of respiratory viral infections.

28 Jun 2021

Could microalgae-derived antiviral compounds combat SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses?

A new review article published in the journal Antibiotics reports the presence of a large number of bioactive compounds in microalgae that target chemical structures present only in their structure.

28 Jun 2021

Researchers reanalyze COVID RECOVERY trial data on tocilizumab

A Bayesian analysis of the RECOVERY trial suggests the immunosuppressive drug tocilizumab can reduce deaths in hospitalized COVID-19 patients taking corticosteroids as well as patients on oxygen or non-invasive ventilation and likely increases hospital discharge rates. However, it is not clear if patients on invasive ventilation also benefit.

24 Jun 2021

Increased severity of COVID-19 in pregnancy

A new preprint on the medRxiv* server provides more evidence that COVID-19 likely causes a more serious phenotype to arise in pregnant women.

23 Jun 2021

Study determines the mechanism behind respiratory inflammation and finds effective treatment

Applied Biological Laboratories (Applied Bio), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the respiratory disease market, announced that its study published online in Immunology, Inflammation and Disease was able to determine the mechanism behind respiratory inflammation and treat it effectively with Biovanta(TM), a 100% naturally derived, over-the-counter (OTC) drug for cold, cough and sore throat.

22 Jun 2021

Western diet increases COVID-19 severity in a hamster model

Researchers have shown that a Western diet may affect viral replication, disease severity, and immune protection following infection with SARS-CoV-2.

21 Jun 2021

Which vitamins and minerals help with COVID?

A study published in the journal Inflammopharmacology reviewed recent data related to the role of vitamins and minerals in treating COVID-19 patients. The primary goal of the review is to highlight the possible therapeutic role of vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, and micronutrients as immunity boosters in COVID-19 patients.

18 Jun 2021

Increased viral replication and shedding in nonhuman primates carrying SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant

A team of researchers from the US and UK used the AGM intranasal model of SARS-CoV-2 infection to determine differences between a contemporary SARS-CoV-2 D614G variant circulating in summer 2020 and the B.1.1.7 UK variant of concern that emerged in late 2020.

16 Jun 2021

Study suggests COVID-19 in children is milder than the flu

Researchers retrospectively analyzed the medical records of children in Turkey hospitalized because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or influenza and found COVID-19 to be milder than influenza in this group.

14 Jun 2021

Enterprise Therapeutics doses first subjects in Phase I trial for novel cystic fibrosis therapy ETD001

Enterprise Therapeutics Ltd today announced it has successfully dosed the first subjects in a Phase 1 trial for its novel inhaled cystic fibrosis therapy, ETD001.

14 Jun 2021

Cyperus rotundus medicinal plant shows promise for novel COVID-19 therapeutics

Cyperus rotundus is a plant with a history as herbal medicine, containing many chemical substances frequently found to be drug-like in character: flavonoids, terpenoids, and the like. Compounds sourced from the plant have demonstrated some inhibitory activity against HIV by modulation of the CYP3A4 enzyme, and thus in a drug lead discovery effort, Kumar et al. (July 2021) computationally screened these natural compounds against MPRO in a paper recently published to Computers in Biology and Medicine.

9 Jun 2021

Fluorescence-based assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies

Researchers have developed a rapid assay to rapidly detect neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using an imaging technique they developed for the Ebola virus.

8 Jun 2021

Antibody cocktail effectively inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in the rhesus macaque model

Researchers from the US tested the prophylactic potential of a combination of 2 mAbs administered 3 or 75 days before respiratory challenge in rhesus macaques. They used the rhesus macaque model to test the added benefit of combinatory parenteral administration of 2 high-affinity anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAbs - C144-LS and C135-LS. These mAbs were developed to neutralize the virus and tweaked to improve their pharmacokinetics.

1 Jun 2021