Tenecteplase in Pulmonary Embolism Patients: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review (preprint)

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and safety of tenecteplase in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). METHODS We completed the literature search on May 31, 2021 using PubMed, EMBASE and the Web of Science. Analyses were conducted according to PE risk stratification, study design and duration of follow-up. The pooled risk ratios (RRs) and its 95% confident intervals (CIs) for death and major bleeding were calculated using a random-effect model. RESULTS A total of six studies, with four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and two cohort studies, were included in this study out of the 160 studies retrieved. For patients with high-risk PE, tenecteplase increased 30-day survival rate (16% vs 6%; P=0.005) and did not increase the incidence of bleeding (6% vs 5%; P=0.73). For patients with intermediate-risk PE, four RCTs suggested that tenecteplase reduced right ventricular insufficiency at 24h early in the onset and the incidence of hemodynamic failure without affecting mortality in a short/long-term [<30 days RR=0.83, 95% CI (0.47, 1.46);≥30 days RR=1.04, 95% CI (0.88, 1.22)]. However, tenecteplase was associated with high bleeding risk [<30 days RR=1.79, 95% CI (1.61, 2.00); ≥30 days RR=1.28, 95% CI (0.62, 2.64)]. CONCLUSIONS Tenecteplase may represent a promising candidate for patients with intermediate/high risk PE. Furthermore, tenecteplase may be preferable in the COVID-19 pandemic due to its all-at-once administration.

Dynamics of the Upper Respiratory Tract Microbiota and Its Association with Fatality in COVID-19 Patients (preprint)

Background: The pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is ongoing globally, which is a big challenge for public health. Alteration of human microbiota had been observed in COVID-19. However, it is unknown how the microbiota is associated with the fatality in COVID-19.Methods: We conducted metatranscriptome sequencing on 588 longitudinal oropharyngeal swab specimens collected from 192 COVID-19 patients recruited in the LOTUS clinical trial (Registration number: ChiCTR2000029308) (including 39 deceased patients), and 95 healthy controls from the same geographic area.Findings: The upper respiratory tract (URT) microbiota in COVID-19 patients differed from that in healthy controls, while deceased patients possessed a more distinct microbiota. Streptococcus was enriched in recovered patients, whereas potential pathogens, including Candida and Enterococcus, were more abundant in deceased patients. Moreover, the microbiota dominated by Streptococcus was more stable than that dominated by other species. In contrast, the URT microbiota in deceased patients showed a more significant alteration and became more deviated from the norm after admission. The abundance of Streptococcus on admission, particularly that of S. parasanguis, was identified as a strong predictor of fatality by Cox and L1 regularized logistic regression analysis, thus could be used as a potential prognostic biomarker of COVID-19.Interpretation Alteration of the URT microbiota was observed in COVID-19 patients and was associated with the fatality rate. A higher abundance of Streptococcus, especially S. parasanguis, on admission in oropharyngeal swabs predicts a better outcome. The generalization of the results in other populations and underlying mechanisms need further investigations.Trial Registration: Participants were enrolled in ChiCTR2000029308.Funding: This study was funded in part by the National Major Science & Technology Project for Control and Prevention of Major Infectious Diseases in China (2017ZX10103004, 2018ZX10301401), the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2019-I2M-2-XX, 2016-I2M-1-014, 2018-I2M-1-003), The Non-profit Central Research Institute Fund of CAMS (2020HY320001, 2019PT310029), Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics (ICG), and Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology (ICSB).Declaration of Interests: All authors declare no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Jin Yin-Tan Hospital (KY2020-02.01). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients or their legal representatives if they were too unwell to provide consent.

Dynamics of the upper respiratory tract microbiota and its association with fatality in COVID-19 patients (preprint)

The pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is ongoing globally, which is a big challenge for public health. Alteration of human microbiota had been observed in COVID-19. However, it is unknown how the microbiota is associated with the fatality in COVID-19. We conducted metatranscriptome sequencing on 588 longitudinal oropharyngeal swab specimens collected from 192 COVID-19 patients recruited in the LOTUS clinical trial (Registration number: ChiCTR2000029308) (including 39 deceased patients), and 95 healthy controls from the same geographic area. The upper respiratory tract (URT) microbiota in COVID-19 patients differed from that in healthy controls, while deceased patients possessed a more distinct microbiota. Streptococcus was enriched in recovered patients, whereas potential pathogens, including Candida and Enterococcus, were more abundant in deceased patients. Moreover, the microbiota dominated by Streptococcus was more stable than that dominated by other species. In contrast, the URT microbiota in deceased patients showed a more significant alteration and became more deviated from the norm after admission. The abundance of Streptococcus on admission, particularly that of S. parasanguinis, was identified as a strong predictor of fatality by Cox and L1 regularized logistic regression analysis, thus could be used as a potential prognostic biomarker of COVID-19. The generalization of the results in other populations and underlying mechanisms needs further investigations.

Cross-Reactive Antibody Against Human Coronavirus OC43 Spike Protein Correlates with Disease Severity in COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Study (preprint)

Background: Seasonal human coronaviruses (HCoVs) including HCoV-229E, -OC43, -NL63 and -HKU1 are widely spreading in global human populations. However, the relevance of humoral response against seasonal HCoVs to COVID-19 pathogenesis is elusive.Methods: We profiled the temporal changes of IgG antibodies against spike (S; S-IgG) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal HCoVs in 838 plasma samples collected from 344 COVID-19 patients. We tested the antigenic cross-reactivity of S protein between SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal HCoVs and evaluated the correlations between HCoV-OC43 S-IgG antibody and disease severity in COVID-19 patients.Findings: SARS-CoV-2 S-IgG titers mounted until days 22–28, whereas HCoV-OC43 antibody titers increased until days 15–21 and then plateaued until day 46. However, IgG antibody titers against HCoV-NL63, -229E, and -HKU1 showed no significant increasing. A two-way cross-reactivity was identified between SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-OC43. Neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were not detected in healthy controls who were positive for HCoV-OC43 S-IgG. HCoV-OC43 S-IgG titers were significantly higher in patients with severe disease than those in mild/moderate patients at days 1–21 post symptom onset (PSO). Higher levels of HCoV-OC43 S-IgG were also observed in patients requiring mechanical ventilation and the elderly. At days 1–10 PSO, HCoV-OC43 S-IgG titers correlated to disease severity in all age groups, and to fatality in over 60-year group.Interpretation: Our data indicate that there exist a humoral cross-reactive response between HCoV-OC43 and SARS-CoV-2. The cross-reactive HCoV-OC43 S-IgG antibody is not protective against SARS-CoV-2, but may be a risk factor for the severity and adverse outcome of COVID-19.Funding Statement: This study was funded in part by the National Major Science & Technology Project for Control and Prevention of Major Infectious Diseases in China (2017ZX10204401, 2018ZX10734404), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2016-I2M-1–014, 2018-I2M-1-003, 2020-I2M-1-001, 2020-I2M-CoV19-005), Natural Science Foundation of China (82041011/H0104), and National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFA0707600). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Infectious Disease Hospital of Heilongjiang Province (Harbin), and Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Written informed consent was obtained from each healthy volunteer and COVID-19 patients in cohort 4. Written informed consents from the remaining patients were waived in light of the emerging infectious disease of high public health relevance.

Clinical characteristics and outcome of influenza virus infection among adults hospitalized with severe COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study from Wuhan, China (preprint)

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease that rapidly spreads worldwide and co-infection of COVID-19 and influenza may occur in some cases. We aimed to describe clinical features and outcomes of severe COVID-19 patients with co-infection of influenza virus.MethodsRetrospective cohort study was performed and a total of 140 patients with severe COVID-19 were enrolled in designated wards of Sino-French New City Branch of Tongji Hospital between Feb 8th and March 15th in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. The demographic, clinical features, laboratory indices, treatment and outcomes of these patients were collected.ResultsOf 140 severe COVID-19 hospitalized patients, including 73 patients (52.14%) with median age 62 years were influenza virus IgM-positive and 67 patients (47.86%) with median age 66 years were influenza virus IgM-negative. 76 (54.4%) of severe COVID-19 patients were males. Chronic comorbidities consisting mainly of hypertension (45.3%), diabetes (15.8%), chronic respiratory disease (7.2%), cardiovascular disease (5.8%), malignancy (4.3%) and chronic kidney disease (2.2%). Clinical features, including fever (≥38°C), chill, cough, chest pain, dyspnea, diarrhea and fatigue or myalgia were collected. Fatigue or myalgia was less found in COVID-19 patients with IgM-positive (33.3% vs 50/7%, P = 0.0375). Higher proportion of prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) > 42 s was observed in COVID-19 patients with influenza virus IgM-negative (43.8% vs 23.6%, P = 0.0127). Severe COVID-19 Patients with influenza virus IgM positive have a higher cumulative survivor rate than that of patients with influenza virus IgM negative (Log-rank P= 0.0308). Considering age is a potential confounding variable, difference in age was adjusted between different influenza virus IgM status groups, the HR was 0.29 (95% CI, 0.081-1.100). Similarly, difference in gender was adjusted as above, the HR was 0.262 (95% CI, 0.072-0.952) in the COX regression model.ConclusionsInfluenza virus IgM positive may be associated with decreasing in-hospital death.