Evaluation of vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in utero: Nine pregnant women and their newborns.

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), mainly transmitted by droplets and close contact, has caused a pandemic worldwide as of March 2020. According to the current case reports and cohort studies, the symptoms of pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 were similar to normal adults and may cause a series of adverse consequences of pregnancy (placental abruption, fetal distress, epilepsy during pregnancy, etc.). However, whether SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted to the fetus through the placental barrier is still a focus of debate. METHODS: In this study, in order to find out whether SARS-CoV-2 can infect fetus through the placental barrier, we performed qualitative detection of virus structural protein (spike protein and nucleoprotein) and targeted receptor protein Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), Basigin (CD147) and molecular chaperone GRP78 expression on the placental tissue of seven pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 through immunohistochemistry. Amniotic fluid, neonatal throat, anal swab and breastmilk samples were collected immediately in the operating room or delivery room for verification after delivery, which were all tested for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS/DISCUSSION: The result showed that CD147 was expressed on the basal side of the chorionic trophoblast cell membrane and ACE2 was expressed on the maternal side, while GRP78 was strongly expressed in the cell membrane and cytoplasm. The RT-PCR results of Amniotic fluid, neonatal throat, anal swab and breastmilk samples were all negative. On the basis of these findings, we speculated that it may be due to the placental barrier between mother and baby, for example, villous matrix and interstitial blood vessels have low expression of virus-related receptors (ACE2, CD147, GRP78), the probability of vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through the placenta is low.

Convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19: clinical experience and efficacy.

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 in the world is currently a big threat to global health and economy. Convalescent plasma has been confirmed effective against the novel corona virus in preliminary studies. In this paper, we first described the therapeutic schedule, antibody detection method, indications, contraindications of the convalescent plasmas and reported the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy by a retrospective cohort study.

Procalcitonin levels in COVID-19 patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been declared a pandemic. This study analysed 95 SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, including 62 moderate COVID-19 patients, 21 severe COVID-19 patients and 12 critical COVID-19 patients (6 patients died, all critical). The results showed that the mean serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels were over four times higher in severe patients than in moderate patients and were over eight times higher in critical patients than in moderate patients. For discharged patients, both high-normal PCT levels and abnormal PCT levels decreased during recovery. However, in death cases, serum levels of PCT increased as the disease worsened. We demonstrate that PCT may be an indicator of disease severity in COVID-19 and may contribute to determining the severity of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, serial PCT measurements may be useful in predicting the prognosis.