ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most devastating and significant events of recent times. COVID-19 has so far become one of the worst infectious disease outbreaks of recent times, with more than 635 million cases and more than 6.6 million deaths. Viruses cause an explosion of inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen types. Oxidative stress is thought to have a key role in COVID-19. vitamin D, folic acid, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and ferritin levels are thought to be associated with COVID-19. This study aims to investigate the role of oxidative stress, inflammation, vitamin D and folic acid, ferritin, Ca and Mg in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Material(s) and Method(s): 45 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and 45 healthy persons (control group) were included in the study. Vitamin D, ferritin, folic acid, CRP, Ca, Mg and Phosphorus were measured in an autoanalyzer, and SOD, GSH-Px and MDA were spectrophotometrically measured in the serum of the participants. TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL6 levels were studied by the ELISA method. Result(s): The activity of SOD, GSH-px, antioxidant enzymes, Serum vitamin D, folic acid, Ca and Mg of the COVID-19 group was found to be significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion(s): Again, the levels of MDA, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, CRP and ferritin in the Covid-19 group were found to be significantly higher than in the control group (p<0.05).Antioxidant enzyme activities were low and oxidative stress was high in patients with COVID-19. At the same time, the levels of serum ferritin, CRP, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL6 were high, and levels of Ca and Mg were low in patients with COVID-19.According to these results, we hypothesize think that the level of oxidative stress, inflammation, vitamin D, and serum ferritin, Ca, and Mg levels play a role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Future clinical trials should be conducted to further clarify the pathogenesis in patients with COVID-19.Copyright © 2022 Mattioli 1885. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: In 2019, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic broke out, caused by the coronavirus called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Reinfections can be observed with various respiratory viruses, including human coronaviruses. Moreover, they may result from weak or waning initial immune response, reinfection with another genotype/subtype, or the rapid antigenic changes in the virus. The aim of this study was to investigate the likelihood of reinfection in COVID-19 patients that had a positive qPCR test result at least 60 days after a negative test result in patients that were confirmed with COVID-19 on qPCR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results of a total of 105,000 samples that had been obtained between April 1, 2020, and February 1, 2021, in two separate authorized laboratories were retrospectively analyzed. 22 samples from 11 patients included in the study, qPCR tests were repeated for each sample using the Rotorgene Q PCR system with Diagnovital SARS-CoV-2 (RTA Labs, Turkey) Real-Time PCR kits. Positive samples were screened for B.1.1.7 and E484K mutations using the qPCR method on the Rotorgene Q PCR system with Bio-Speedy SARS-CoV-2 Variant Plus kits (Bioeksen Technology, Turkey). RESULTS: The 105,000 individuals comprised 55,614 men and 49,386 women. In the qPCR test, 14,511 (13.82%) individuals were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2. Of these, 11 (0.076%) patients were included in the study based on the inclusion criteria. Accordingly, the risk of reinfection was calculated as 0.076% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.056%-0.096%) and the incidence was 1.04 per 10,000 population (95% CI: 0.62-1.38 per 10,000). No patient was admitted to the intensive care unit or died during both episodes. Moreover, no B.1.1.7 or E484K mutation was detected in any patient. CONCLUSIONS: The high frequency of COVID-19 infection poses serious risks for the development of new variants and the currently used vaccines are likely to lose their efficacy against new variants. To reduce these risks and to be successful in the fight against the pandemic, we suggest compliance with personal protective measures as well as rapid and widespread application of vaccination not only in developed countries but also in the whole world and the modification of currently used vaccines in such a way to fight against newly emerged variants.