Tag: pathophysiology

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Sustained cellular immune dysregulation in individuals recovering from COVID-19

Press Release:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – COVID-19, which has killed 1.7 million people worldwide, does not follow a uniform path.

Many infected patients remain asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. Others, especially those with comorbidities, can develop severe clinical disease with atypical pneumonia and multiple system organ failure.

Since the first cases were reported in December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 has surged into a pandemic, with cases and deaths still mounting. Ongoing observational clinical research has become a priority to better understand how this previously unknown virus acts, and findings from this research can better inform treatment and vaccine design.

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers, led by first-author Jacob “Jake” Files and co-senior authors Nathan Erdmann, M.D., Ph.D., and Paul Goepfert, M.D., have now reported their observational study, “Sustained cellular immune dysregulation in individuals recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection,” published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

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New insight into the effect of hydroxychloroquine undermines its use in COVID-19

Press release:

Researchers at Radboud university medical center have discovered an as yet unknown effect of hydroxychloroquine. It inhibits the action of a type of white blood cells important in the first line of defense against infections. Based on this research, hydroxychloroquine is unlikely to be beneficial in clearing viral infections including the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, they write in their publication in Cell Reports Medicine.

Hydroxychloroquine is an agent that has been used for years, originally for the treatment of malaria. It is also widely used to treat patients with rheumatic diseases, because hydroxychloroquine has immunomodulatory effects. It is not known exactly how hydroxychloroquine does this. Hydroxychloroquine use for COVID-19 remains a topic of intense debate and investigation. Especially in the context of their use as a prophylaxis, large studies are ongoing to investigate their efficacy.

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