Date Time
Anticancer drug may improve outcome for severe COVID-19 patients
Treating severe COVID-19 patients with the anticancer drug bevacizumab may reduce mortality and speed up recovery, according to a small clinical study in Italy and China that was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden between February and April 2020. On average, blood oxygen levels, body temperature and inflammatory markers significantly improved in patients treated with a single dose of bevacizumab in addition to standard care. The research is published in Nature Communications.
Yihai Cao, photo: Ulf Sirborn
“To reduce COVID-19 mortality, we aim to develop an effective therapeutic paradigm for treating patients with severe COVID-19,” says corresponding author Yihai Cao, professor of vascular biology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet. “Our findings suggest that bevacizumab plus standard care is highly beneficial for patients with severe
Immune profiling shows differences in COVID-19 and influenza pathologic pathways
A study conducted at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore has revealed distinct differences in the immune pathways that are activated by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and those that are activated by influenza.
The development could lead to potential therapeutic approaches to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – the illness caused by SARS-COV-2.
Studies have called into question the uniqueness of the inflammatory profile observed in cases of COVID-19.
Influenza is also a virus that causes severe pneumonia, and it is not yet clear how immune pathways in SARS-CoV-2 infection cause more severe disease than other viruses, says Andrea Cox and colleagues.
Working to develop new treatments for osteoarthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have genetically engineered cartilage to deliver an anti-inflammatory drug in response to activity similar to the bending of a knee or other motions that put stress on joints.