Syndrome News and Research

RSS

DHODH inhibitor PTC299 shows potential as a COVID-19 therapeutic

As COVID-19 continues to take a heavy toll on human health and life in many parts of the world, there is still no effective antiviral drug or vaccine. This has fueled an intensive search for small molecules and proteins that can inhibit viral entry and replication.

10 Aug 2020

USA the source of most of New Zealand's coronavirus cases

New Zealand, an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, is marked by its early and fierce determination to totally arrest the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the viral illness that is causing the current COVID-19 pandemic.

9 Aug 2020

How have non-pharmaceutical interventions helped in COVID-19?

The COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating, with outbreaks in many spots still occurring across the world. From the start, health organizations and governments were focused on implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in the absence of any effective antivirals or vaccines.

9 Aug 2020

Speed of Novavax vaccine development does not compromise quality of the SARS-CoV-2 immunogen

A new study by researchers from the Scripps Research Institute and Novavax Inc. in the US affirms the structural integrity of the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein immunogen. It enables the interpretation of immune responses to this multivalent nanoparticle immunogen. Their results are currently available on bioRxiv preprint server.

9 Aug 2020

Encouraging results from Phase I NovaVax SARS-CoV-2 nanoparticle vaccine trial

NVX-CoV2373, a recombinant nanoparticle vaccine developed by Novavax and manufactured at Emergent Biosolutions, was found to be well tolerated and immunogenic – inducing T-cell response and neutralization antibodies four-fold higher than the mean observed in hospitalized coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, shows a recent study available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

9 Aug 2020

Cutting edge synthetic peptides block SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

Researchers at Ligandal Inc., the University of California San Francisco and Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, have designed novel synthetic peptides that potently inhibit the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect host cells.

9 Aug 2020

Community-based sampling needed for COVID-19 control, say researchers

Researchers in the UK have warned that it will be essential to carry out community-based sampling in addition to symptomatic testing if the ongoing transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARs-CoV-2) is going to be properly understood and controlled.

9 Aug 2020

FDA approves opioid agonist for management of moderate to severe acute pain in adults

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Olinvyk (oliceridine), an opioid agonist for the management of moderate to severe acute pain in adults, where the pain is severe enough to require an intravenous opioid and for whom alternative treatments are inadequate.

9 Aug 2020

Research identifies a potential therapeutic target for clogged arteries

New work led by Carnegie's Meredith Wilson and Steve Farber identifies a potential therapeutic target for clogged arteries and other health risks that stem from an excess of harmful fats in the bloodstream. Their findings are published by PLOS Genetics.

7 Aug 2020

Advanced analysis offers new insights into immune system’s role in severe COVID-19

By conducting advanced analyses of immune system activation in patients with severe COVID-19, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have managed to identify several cell types that play a key part in the immune response to the new coronavirus and the hyperinflammation seen in severe cases of the disease.

7 Aug 2020

Large-scale analysis of Alport syndrome reveals the effectiveness of existing treatments

A large-scale analysis of the clinical characteristics of Alport syndrome in Japanese patients has revealed that the effectiveness of existing treatment with ACE inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (RAS inhibitors) varies depending on the type of mutation in the syndrome's causal gene (COL4A5).

7 Aug 2020

Study provides detailed insight into problems faced by patients recovering from COVID-19

Researchers have identified a pattern of longer-term symptoms likely to be experienced by people who were hospitalised with the COVID-19 infection.

7 Aug 2020

Humans promote diseases from the animal kingdom

The coronavirus pandemic, which has now infected nearly 19 million and killed more than 712,000 people, most likely originated from bats. Just like other coronavirus outbreaks in the past, a spill-over event or zoonosis caused the viruses to jump from animals to humans.

6 Aug 2020

Study shows recombination among SARS-CoV-2 strains is already occurring, but remains rare

A recent study by U.S. researchers, currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server, indicates that the recombination events among the viral strains of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are already occurring – however, considering current levels of viral genetic diversity, they are neither widespread nor readily detectable.

6 Aug 2020

Heat suggested as a therapeutic intervention in COVID-19

Viruses that are contained within a lipid membrane or “enveloped viruses” such as coronaviruses and rhinoviruses can remain active for long periods in cool, dry conditions, which can lead to increased rates of respiratory infections.

6 Aug 2020

COVID-19 in pregnancy - premature birth common

A new study conducted by researchers at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea, suggests that while having coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during pregnancy has little effect on fetal or neonatal mortality, it can be associated with premature birth and sometimes severe outcomes for mother and baby, including death.

6 Aug 2020

Specific gene impairment may also protect people with Down syndrome

Scientists from Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago discovered that a set of genes with decreased expression in individuals with Down syndrome may lead to clinical abnormalities in this population, such as poor muscle development and heart valve problems.

6 Aug 2020

Human encroachment into forest land caused bat CoV spillover and COVID-19 emergence

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020 discusses the root causes underlying the emergence of such infectious diseases following their crossover of the line separating animal viruses from human. This initial event is of enormous significance.

6 Aug 2020

Researchers shed new light on epigenetic changes associated with ADNP syndrome

A study led by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai found that two different blood epigenetic signatures associated with ADNP syndrome (also known as Helsmoortel-Van Der Aa syndrome) have only a modest correlation with clinical manifestations of the syndrome. The study results were published online August 5 in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

6 Aug 2020

Face masks protect from COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses

Now a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020, therefore, presents the results of a meta-analysis that takes account of the lack of compliance with mask-wearing in RCTs, as well as the lag between the event and the measurable effects.

6 Aug 2020