By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the new coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
COVID-19 attacks the pancreas
The new coronavirus directly affects the pancreas, infecting and damaging its insulin-producing cells, according to a new study. The findings may help explain why blood sugar problems develop in many patients with COVID-19 and why there are reports of diabetes developing as a result of the virus. The pancreas has two functions: producing enzymes important for digestion and creating and releasing the hormones insulin and glucagon that regulate blood sugar levels. In an article published on Wednesday in Nature Metabolism, researchers report that laboratory and autopsy studies show that the new coronavirus infects the cells of the pancreas involved in these processes and changes its shape, disrupts its genes and impairs their function. The new data “identifies the human pancreas as a target for SARS-CoV-2 infection and suggests that beta cell infection may contribute to the metabolic dysregulation seen in patients with COVID-19”, conclude the authors. (https://go.nature.com/36Cmtfy)
One dose of vaccine may be sufficient for survivors of COVID-19
COVID-19 survivors may only need an injection of the new vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer / BioNTech, instead of the usual two doses, because their immune systems have already started to learn to recognize the virus, according to two separate reports published this week. week at medRxiv before peer review. In a study of 59 health professionals who recovered from COVID-19 and received one of the vaccines, the levels of antibodies after the first injection were higher than the levels generally seen after two doses in people without a history of COVID-19. In a separate study, the researchers found that 41 survivors of COVID-19 developed “high antibody titers within a few days of vaccination”, and these levels were 10 to 20 times higher than in uninfected and unvaccinated volunteers after just one vaccine dose. “The antibody response to the first dose of the vaccine in individuals with pre-existing immunity is equal to or even exceeds” the levels found in uninfected individuals after the second dose of the vaccine, the authors of the article said. “Changing the policy of giving these individuals just one dose of the vaccine would not have a negative impact on antibody titers, saving them from unnecessary pain and releasing the many necessary doses of vaccine urgently,” they said. (https://bit.ly/3je4Zv4; https://bit.ly/2YG0EYf)
Gout medicine promising for moderately ill patients with COVID-19
Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat gout and other rheumatic diseases, reduced hospitalizations and deaths by more than 20% in patients with COVID-19 in a large international trial. COVID-19 patients with mild illness and at least one condition that put them at high risk for complications, such as diabetes or heart disease, received colchicine or a placebo for 30 days. Overall, the risk of hospitalization or death was statistically similar in both groups. But among the 4,159 patients whose coronavirus infections were diagnosed with a gold-standard PCR test, death or hospitalization occurred in 4.6% of those who took colchicine against 60% of those who received a placebo. After taking into account the patients’ other risk factors, colchicine was associated with a statistically significant 25% risk reduction, the researchers reported in medRxiv before peer review. Patients using colchicine also had fewer cases of pneumonia. “Considering that colchicine is inexpensive, taken orally, it is generally safe in this study and generally does not need laboratory monitoring during use, it shows potential as the first oral drug to treat COVID-19 in an outpatient setting,” said the researchers. . (https://bit.ly/3oDSDgY)
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine may work best with doses that are months apart
Among recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, prolonging the interval between the first and second doses led to better results, the researchers said in an article published on Monday before the Lancet’s peer review on your prepress website. For volunteers aged 18 to 55, the vaccine’s effectiveness was 82.4% with 12 or more weeks between doses, compared with 54.9% when the booster was given within 6 weeks after the first dose. The longest interval between doses administered to older volunteers was 8 weeks, so there was no data on the effectiveness of a 12-week dosing interval in this group. Europe’s drug regulator said there was insufficient data to determine how well the vaccine would work in people over 55. Given their findings, the authors say that “a second dose administered after a period of three months is an effective strategy … and may be ideal for launching a pandemic vaccine when supplies are limited in the short term. “(https://bit.ly/3apMSyt)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser to get a Reuters graph on vaccines under development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Alistair Smout; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Originally published