Using an electronic health records network we estimated the absolute incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) in the two weeks following COVID-19 diagnosis (N=513,284), or influenza (N=172,742), or receipt of the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccines (N=489,871). The incidence of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) was also assessed in these groups, as well asthe baseline CVT incidence over a two-week period. The incidence of CVT after COVID-19 diagnosis was 39.0 per million people (95% CI, 25.2–60.2). This was higher than the CVT incidence after influenza (0.0 per million people, 95% CI 0.0–22.2, adjusted RR=6.73, P=.003) or after receiving BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccine (4.1 per million people, 95% CI 1.1–14.9, adjusted RR=6.36, P<.001). The relative risks were similar if a broader definition of CVT was used. For PVT, the incidence was 436.4 per million people (382.9-497.4) after COVID-19, 98.4 (61.4-157.6) after influenza, and 44.9 (29.7-68.0) after BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273. The incidence of CVT following COVID-19 was higher than the incidence observed across the entire health records network (0.41 per million people over any 2-week period). Laboratory test results, availablein a subsetof the COVID-19 patients, provide preliminary evidence suggestive of raised D-dimer, lowered fibrinogen, and an increased rate of thrombocytopenia in the CVT and PVT groups. Mortality was 20% and 18.8% respectively. These data show that the incidence of CVT is significantly increased after COVID-19,andgreater than that observed with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccines. The risk of CVT following COVID-19 is also higher than the latest estimate from the European Medicines Agency for the incidence associated with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (5.0 per million people, 95% CI 4.3–5.8). Although requiring replication and corroboration, the present data highlight the risk of serious thrombotic events in COVID-19, and can help contextualize the risks and benefits of vaccination in this regard.

In this paper, we focus on the camelid nanobodies as a revolutionary therapy that can guide efforts to discover new drugs for Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The small size property makes nanobodies capable of penetrating efficiently into tissues and recognizing cryptic antigens. Strong antigen affinity and stability in the gastrointestinal tract allow them to be used via oral administration. In fact, the use of nanobodies as inhalant can be directly delivered to the target organ, conferring high pulmonary drug concentrations and low systemic drug concentrations and minimal systemic side effects. For that, nanobodies are referred as a class of next-generation antibodies. Nanobodies permit the construction of multivalent formats that may achieve ultra-high neutralization potency and then may prevent mutational escape and can neutralize a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Due to their distinctive characteristics, nanobodies can be of great use in the development of promising treatment or preventive strategies against SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this review, the state-of-the-art of camel nanobodies design strategies against the virus including SARS-CoV-2 are critically summarized. The application of general nanotechnology was also discussed to mitigate and control emerging SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids are metabolized into regulatory lipids important for initiating inflammatory responses in the event of disease or injury and for signaling the resolution of inflammation and return to homeostasis. The epoxides of linoleic acid (leukotoxins) regulate skin barrier function, perivascular and alveolar permeability and have been associated with poor outcomes in burn patients and in sepsis. It was later reported that blocking metabolism of leukotoxins into the vicinal diols ameliorated the deleterious effects of leukotoxins, suggesting that the leukotoxin diols are contributing to the toxicity. During quantitative profiling of fatty acid chemical mediators (eicosanoids) in COVID-19 patients, we found increases in the regioisomeric leukotoxin diols in plasma samples of hospitalized patients suffering from severe pulmonary involvement. In rodents these leukotoxin diols cause dramatic vascular permeability and are associated with acute adult respiratory like symptoms. Thus, pathways involved in the biosynthesis and degradation of these natural products should be investigated in larger biomarker studies to determine their significance in COVID-19 disease. In addition, incorporating diols in plasma multi-omics of patients could illuminate the COVID-19 pathological signature along with other lipid mediators and blood chemistry.

Background: Treatment of COVID-19 patients with plasma containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may have a beneficial effect on clinical outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Methods: In this randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]) several possible treatments are being compared with usual care in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients were randomly allocated to receive either usual care plus high titre convalescent plasma or usual care alone. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. Findings: Between 28 May 2020 and 15 January 2021, 5795 patients were randomly allocated to receive convalescent plasma and 5763 to usual care alone. There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality between the two groups: 1398 (24%) of 5795 patients allocated convalescent plasma and 1408 (24%) of 5763 patients allocated usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio [RR] 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.93 to 1.07; p=0.93). The 28-day mortality rate ratio was similar in all prespecified subgroups of patients, including in those patients without detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at randomisation. Allocation to convalescent plasma had no significant effect on the proportion of patients discharged from hospital within 28 days (66% vs. 67%; rate ratio 0.98; 95% CI 0.94-1.03, p=0.50). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, there was no significant difference in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of progression to invasive mechanical ventilation or death (28% vs. 29%; rate ratio 0.99; 95% CI 0.93-1.05, p=0.79). Interpretation: Among patients hospitalised with COVID-19, high-titre convalescent plasma did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes.

The primary immunological target of COVID-19 vaccines is the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. S is exposed on the viral surface and mediates viral entry into the host cell. To identify possible antibody binding sites, we performed multi-microsecond molecular dynamics simulations of a 4.1 million atom system containing a patch of viral membrane with four full-length, fully glycosylated and palmitoylated S proteins. By mapping steric accessibility, structural rigidity, sequence conservation, and generic antibody binding signatures, we recover known epitopes on S and reveal promising epitope candidates for structure-based vaccine design. We find that the extensive and inherently flexible glycan coat shields a surface area larger than expected from static structures, highlighting the importance of structural dynamics. The protective glycan shield and the high flexibility of its hinges give the stalk overall low epitope scores. Our computational epitope-mapping procedure is general and should thus prove useful for other viral envelope proteins whose structures have been characterized.

Background: Corticosteroid has been used to manage inflammation caused by many diseases including respiratory viral infections. Many articles are available to support the good and bad side of this steroid use but remain inconclusive. To find some evidence about the safety of the drug, we investigated the effect of corticosteroids on the mortality of patients with respiratory viral infections including SARS-CoV-2, SARS, MERS, and Influenza. Method: We searched articles in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Medline, Google Scholar, and Web of Science records using the keywords corticosteroid or viral infection or patients or control study. Mortality was the primary outcome. Result: Our selected 24 studies involving 16633 patients were pooled in our meta-analysis. Corticosteroid use and overall mortality were not significantly associated (P=0.176), but in subgroup analysis, corticosteroid use was significantly associated with lower mortality in the case of SARS (P=0.003) but was not significantly associated with mortality for Influenza (H1N1) (P=0.260) and SARS-CoV-2 (P=0.554). Further analysis using study types of SARS-CoV-2, we found that corticosteroid use was not significantly associated with mortality in the case of retrospective cohort studies (P=0.256) but was significantly associated with lower mortality in the case of randomized control trials (P=0.005). Our findings uncover how the outcome of particular drug treatment for different diseases with comparable pathogenesis may not be similar and, RCTs are sometimes required for robust outcome data. Conclusion: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, data of corticosteroid use from other viral infections along with COVID-19 observational and retrospective cohort studies created confusion of its effect, but randomized control trials showed that corticosteroid can be used to treat COVID-19 patients.

Beyond their substantial protection of individual vaccinees, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines might reduce viral load in breakthrough infection and thereby further suppress onward transmission. In this analysis of a real-world dataset of positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test results after inoculation with the BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine, we found that the viral load was substantially reduced for infections occurring 12–37 d after the first dose of vaccine. These reduced viral loads hint at a potentially lower infectiousness, further contributing to vaccine effect on virus spread.

The prime function of proteasomes is the control of protein homeostasis in cells (i.e., the removal of proteins that are not properly folded, damaged by stress conditions like reactive oxygen species formation, or degraded on the basis of regular protein turnover). During viral infection, the standard proteasome is replaced by the so-called immunoproteasome (IP) in an IFN-γ–dependent manner. It has been proposed that the IP is required to protect cell viability under conditions of IFN-induced oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated the requirement for IP to cope with the enhanced need for protein degradation during lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection in mice lacking the IP subunit LMP7. We found that IP are upregulated in the liver but not in the spleen during LCMV infection, although the total proteasome content was not altered. The expression of standard proteasome subunits is not induced in LMP7-deficient mice, indicating that enhanced proteasomal activity is not required during viral infection. Furthermore, ubiquitin accumulation, apoptosis induction, and viral titers were similar in LCMV-infected mice lacking LMP7 compared with wild-type mice. Taken together, these data indicate that the IP is not required to regulate protein homeostasis during LCMV infection.