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Pro-inflammatory response and mortality appeared to be reduced in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with gastrointestinal manifestations, suggesting that the GI tract may mitigate SARS-CoV-2 inflammation, researchers reported.
In a three-cohort international study, SARS-CoV-2 was detected in small-intestine epithelial cells by immunofluorescence staining or electron microscopy in 14 of 16 patients in the final analysis of biopsied patients, according to Saurabh Mehandru, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues.
High-dimensional analyses of GI tissues in COVID-19 patients revealed low levels of inflammation, including down-regulation of key inflammatory genes such as IFNG, CXCL8, CXCL2, and IL1B, as well as reduced frequencies of pro-inflammatory dendritic cells compared with controls. Infected intestinal cells were predominantly goblet cells, they stated in
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The same ketones involved in diabetic ketoacidosis could have a protective role in cardiovascular disease (CVD), animal and human studies suggested.
Emerging evidence points to several cardiovascular benefits to these metabolites, according to B. Daan Westenbrink, MD, PhD, of University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, and colleagues:
Fuel for cardiac energetics: ketones act as ancillary fuel for the failing heart given that they require less oxygen per molecule of ATP generated
Pleiotropic effects on other cellular processes: ketones are linked to improved endothelial function, protection from oxidative stress, direct targeting of inflammation, and slowdown of pathological cardiac remodeling
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Public health departments were already under pressure in distributing COVID-19 vaccines, and recent directives from the Trump administration didn t help matters, experts from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) said.
In a media briefing Thursday, Andrew Pavia, MD, of the University of Utah, discussed public health departments lack of resources for the distribution phase, calling it an enormous undertaking.
While expanding distribution to vulnerable groups, such as adults over age 65 and those with comorbidities, as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recommended on Tuesday, is good, Pavia was concerned about the mismatch between people who have been told they are eligible, the amount of vaccine to be distributed, and the resources to connect them.