Correlation Between Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Olfactory Dysfunction.

A great number of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) experience olfactory dysfunction, typically of a short duration and with a high incidence rate, during the early stages of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This kind of olfactory dysfunction appears more likely in young people and women. This study presents a review of the clinical features and pathogenic mechanism of the olfactory dysfunction related to SARS-CoV-2 infection, aiming to provide a clinical reference for the diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients.

Pulmonary rehabilitation focusing on the regulation of respiratory movement can improve prognosis of severe patients with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China, it has become a global public health emergency. Besides conventional care, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an equally important treatment for patients with COVID-19 suffering from respiratory, physical and psychological disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of PR on the inpatients with severe COVID-19. METHODS: This study was a self-pre- and post-control prospective clinical trial, which totally recruited 31 inpatients confirmed COVID-19 by RT-PCR. They were performed 3-week PR. The demographic data, medical records, symptoms, laboratory findings and chest computed tomographic (CT) scans of patients were collected at baseline. The effect of PR was assessed by questionnaires before PR as well as after 2- and 3-week PR. RESULTS: After 3-week PR and treatment, neutrophil percentage decreased, while lymphocyte percentage and lymphocyte count increased (before vs. 2 weeks after PR respectively: P=0.001; P=0.001; P<0.0001). Besides, CRP and procalcitonin reduced significantly (before vs. after respectively: P<0.0001; P=0.023). Patients' oxygen intake decreased and oxygen saturation increased significantly. Meanwhile, PR relieved the patients' symptoms of cough and dyspnea, improved the patients' self-care ability, physical fitness and mental state significantly. Activities of daily living (ADL) score increased and Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (mMRC) decreased after PR. CONCLUSIONS: PR can relieve symptoms, enhance health-related quality of life, improve respiratory muscle function and alleviate disease-related anxiety and depression of severe patients with COVID-19. PR should be provided throughout the diseases management process, regardless of whether the patient is hospitalized or at home.

Characterization of a pathogenic variant in GBA for Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment patients

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a well-established risk factor for the development of dementia in PD. A growing body of evidence suggests that low expression of glucocerebrosidase (GBA) promotes the transmission of &#945;-synuclein (&#945;-Syn) interpolymers and the progression of PD. However, how GBA mutations affect the pathogenesis of PD via abnormal aggregation of &#945;-Syn is unclear, and no clinically valid PD-MCI genetic markers have been identified. Here, we first located a GBA eQTL, rs12411216, by analysing DHS, eQTL SNP, and transcription factor binding site data using the UCSC database. Subsequently, we found that rs12411216 was significantly associated with PD-MCI (P <0.05) in 306 PD patients by genotyping. In exploring the relationship between rs12411216 and GBA expression, the SNP was found to be associated with GBA expression in 50 PD patients through qPCR verification. In a further CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing module, the SNP was identified to cause a decrease in GBA expression, weaken enzymatic activity and enhance the abnormal aggregation of &#945;-Syn in SH-SY5Y cells. Additionally, using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, we confirmed that the binding efficiency of transcription factor E2F4 was affected by the rs12411216 SNP. In conclusion, our results showed that rs12411216 regulated GBA expression, supporting its potential role as a PD-MCI genetic biomarker and highlighting novel mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease.