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Objective: Retrospectively analyze the clinical data in patients with suspected COVID-19 for reference to differential diagnosis of this infection.
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PURPOSE: To report a four-case series of ocular adverse events post an inactivated COVID-19 vaccination in China. METHODS: The four patients exhibited ocular inflammatory reactions on the same day after receiving an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. RESULTS: All patients underwent detailed ophthalmic examinations, with the medical diagnosis of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada, Ponser-Schlossman, secondary post-inflammatory glaucoma, and iridocyclitis, respectively. No patients had any other underlying medical conditions causing the ocular complications. The ocular inflammatory reactions of these four patients were resolved with the administration of oral or topical corticosteroids. CONCLUSION: Our cases remind the ophthalmologist that adverse ocular events may happen after the administration of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Since the ocular complications could be resolved with the corticosteroid treatment, the events were considered to be inflammatory reactions caused by the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
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Nanobodies derived from camelid single-chain antibodies have the advantages of being small, simple, highly soluble and stable. Nanobodies can be administered by inhalation and therefore is potentially valuable for the prevention and control of respiratory viruses. Trichoderma reesei is a food-grade protein expression host with a cellulase production capacity of up to 80 g/L, which can be employed for low-cost production of therapeutic proteins. In this study, a codon-optimized SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing nanobody Nb20 was expressed in T. reesei under a strong constitutive promoter Pcdna1. Nb20 protein was fused downstream of the N-terminal fragment of cellobiohydrolase â , and the fusion protein can be intracellularly cleaved by the KEX2 protease to release Nb20. In a shake-flask fermentation using glucose medium, 47.4 mg/L Nb20 was detected in the culture after 48 h of cultivation. The expressed Nb20 showed the ability to interact with the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, suggesting that it can be used for the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2. The results indicate that T. reesei has the potential for recombinant production of nanobodies.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Single-Domain Antibodies , Humans , Hypocreales , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , Single-Domain Antibodies/genetics , Spike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusABSTRACT
Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) comprise 13-16% of glial tumors. As survival for LGG patients has been gradually improving, it is essential that the effects of diagnosis and disease progression on mental health be considered. This retrospective cohort study queried the IBM Watson Health MarketScan® Database to describe the incidence and prevalence of mental health disorders (MHDs) among LGG patients and identify associated risk factors. Among the 20,432 LGG patients identified, 12,436 (60.9%) had at least one MHD. Of those who never had a prior MHD, as documented in the claims record, 1915 (16.7%) had their first, newly diagnosed MHD within 12 months after LGG diagnosis. Patients who were female (odds ratio (OR), 1.14, 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.03-1.26), aged 35-44 (OR, 1.20, 95% CI, 1.03-1.39), and experienced glioma-related seizures (OR, 2.19, 95% CI, 1.95-2.47) were significantly associated with MHD incidence. Patients who underwent resection (OR, 2.58, 95% CI, 2.19-3.04) or biopsy (OR, 2.17, 95% CI, 1.68-2.79) were also more likely to develop a MHD compared to patients who did not undergo a first-line surgical treatment. These data support the need for active surveillance, proactive counseling, and management of MHDs in patients with LGG. Impact of surgery on brain networks affecting mood should also be considered.
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Rapid emergence of new strains of drug-resistant H1N1 influenza viruses calls for effective drugs for the controls prior to their outbreaks. In the present work, electrochemical H1N1 RNA beacons have been newly designed for exploring the potentiality of an anticancer agent of Bleomycin (BLM) with Fe (ΙΙ) ions (BLM-Fe(ΙΙ)) alternatively the treatment of drug-resistant H1N1 strains with H274Y gene mutation. Herein, biotinylated (-) ssRNA of H1N1 virus and its complementary (+) ssRNA were labeled with electrochemical signal probes of ferrocene and anthraquinone, respectively. The resultants were hybridized and conjugated with avidin-modified magnetic beads to create electrochemical RNA beacons. The electrochemical signal variation of the H1N1 RNA beacon treated with the RNA degradation agent of BLM-Fe(ΙΙ) were monitored. Results indicate that the BLM-Fe(ΙΙ) agent could effectively cleave both H1N1 dsRNAs and ssRNAs at selective cutting sites, as evidenced by the mass spectrometry analysis. This indicates that the BLM-Fe(II) agent could be utilized to block the viral-host infection process by curbing the host-cell viral RNA-mRNA transcription or inactivate the viruses through the cleavage of viral genomes. The efficiency of the BLM-Fe(ΙΙ) agent was verified with clinical seasonal H1N1 samples using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The therapeutic gene drug of BLM-Fe(ΙΙ) holds great potential for controlling new strains of H1N1 virus resistant to clinical antiviral drugs. More importantly, the so designed RNA beacons may provide a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective platform of drug screening by monitoring the drug-DNA/RNA interactions.