Cancer and COVID-19 Susceptibility and Severity: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization and Bioinformatic Analysis.

The clinical management of patients with COVID-19 and cancer is a Gordian knot that has been discussed widely but has not reached a consensus. We introduced two-sample Mendelian randomization to investigate the causal association between a genetic predisposition to cancers and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Moreover, we also explored the mutation landscape, expression pattern, and prognostic implications of genes involved with COVID-19 in distinct cancers. Among all of the cancer types we analyzed, only the genetic predisposition to lung adenocarcinoma was causally associated with increased COVID-19 severity (OR = 2.93, ß = 1.074, se = 0.411, p = 0.009) with no obvious heterogeneity (Q = 17.29, p = 0.24) or symmetry of the funnel plot. In addition, the results of the pleiotropy test demonstrated that instrument SNPs were less likely to affect COVID-19 severity via approaches other than lung adenocarcinoma cancer susceptibility (p = 0.96). Leave-one-out analysis showed no outliers in instrument SNPs, whose elimination rendered alterations in statistical significance, which further supported the reliability of the MR results. Broad mutation and differential expression of these genes were also found in cancers, which may provide valuable information for developing new treatment modalities for patients with both cancer and COVID-19. For example, ERAP2, a risk factor for COVID-19-associated death, is upregulated in lung squamous cancer and negatively associated with patient prognosis. Hence, ERAP2-targeted treatment may simultaneously reduce COVID-19 disease severity and restrain cancer progression. Our results highlighted the importance of strengthening medical surveillance for COVID-19 deterioration in patients with lung adenocarcinoma by showing their causal genetic association. For these patients, a delay in anticancer treatment, such as chemotherapy and surgery, should be considered.

Corrigendum: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey of COVID-19 Among Healthcare Students During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.742314.].

Evaluation of reporting quality of abstracts of randomized controlled trials regarding patients with COVID-19 using the CONSORT statement for abstracts.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reporting quality of randomized controlled trial (RCT) abstracts regarding patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to analyze the factors influencing the quality. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched to collect RCTs on patients with COVID-19. The retrieval time was from inception to December 1, 2020. The CONSORT statement for abstracts was used to evaluate the reporting quality of RCT abstracts. RESULTS: A total of 53 RCT abstracts were included. The CONSORT statement for abstracts showed that the average reporting rate of all items was 50.2%. The items with a lower reporting quality were mainly the trial design and the details of randomization and blinding (<10%). The mean overall adherence score across all studies was 8.68 ± 2.69 (range 4-13.5). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the higher reporting scores were associated with higher journal impact factor (P < 0.01), international collaboration (P = 0.04), and structured abstract format (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Although many RCTs on patients with COVID-19 have been published in different journals, the overall quality of reporting in the included RCT abstracts was suboptimal, thus diminishing their potential usefulness, and this may mislead clinical decision-making. In order to improve the reporting quality, it is necessary to promote and actively apply the CONSORT statement for abstracts.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey of COVID-19 Among Healthcare Students During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has placed the healthcare system and student training under considerable pressure. However, the plights of healthcare students in the COVID-19 period have drawn limited attention in China. Methods: A cross-sectional on-line survey was undertaken between January and March 2020 to explore the COVID-19 knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) survey among Chinese healthcare students. Demographic information and data on KAP were obtained using a self-reported questionnaire. The percentage KAP scores were categorized as good or poor. Independent predictors of good knowledge of COVID-19 were ascertained to use a logistic regression model. Results: Of the 1,595 participants, 85.9% (1,370) were women, 53.4% were junior college students, 65.8% majoring in nursing, and 29.8% had received training on COVID-19. The overall median percentage for good KAP was 51.6% with knowledge of 28.3%, attitude 67.8%, and practice 58.6%, respectively. Independent predictors of good knowledge of COVID-19 were being students ≥25 (95% CI = 0.27-0.93, P = 0.02), those taking bachelor degrees (95% CI = 1.17-2.07, P = 0.00), and those having participated in COVID-19 treatment training. Conclusions: The result of this study revealed suboptimal COVID-19-related KAP among healthcare students in China. To effectively control future outbreaks of COVID-19, there is a need to implement public sensitization programs to improve the understanding of COVID-19 and address COVID-19-related myths and misconceptions, especially among healthcare students.

Evaluation of reporting quality of randomized controlled trials in patients with COVID-19 using the CONSORT statement.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reporting quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding patients with COVID-19 and analyse the influence factors. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases were searched to collect RCTs regarding patients with COVID-19. The retrieval time was from the inception to December 1, 2020. The CONSORT 2010 statement was used to evaluate the overall reporting quality of these RCTs. RESULTS: 53 RCTs were included. The study showed that the average reporting rate for 37 items in CONSORT checklist was 53.85% with mean overall adherence score of 13.02±3.546 (ranged: 7 to 22). The multivariate linear regression analysis showed the overall adherence score to the CONSORT guideline was associated with journal impact factor (P = 0.006), and endorsement of CONSORT statement (P = 0.014). CONCLUSION: Although many RCTs of COVID-19 have been published in different journals, the overall reporting quality of these articles was suboptimal, it can not provide valid evidence for clinical decision-making and systematic reviews. Therefore, more journals should endorse the CONSORT statement, authors should strictly follow the relevant provisions of the CONSORT guideline when reporting articles. Future RCTs should particularly focus on improvement of detailed reporting in allocation concealment, blinding and estimation of sample size.

Engineering of a Dual-Recognition Ratiometric Fluorescent Nanosensor with a Remarkably Large Stokes Shift for Accurate Tracking of Pathogenic Bacteria at the Single-Cell Level.

Rapid, accurate, reliable, and risk-free tracking of pathogenic microorganisms at the single-cell level is critical to achieve efficient source control and prevent outbreaks of microbial infectious diseases. For the first time, we report a promising approach for integrating the concepts of a remarkably large Stokes shift and dual-recognition into a single matrix to develop a pathogenic microorganism stimuli-responsive ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobe with speed, cost efficiency, stability, ultrahigh specificity, and sensitivity. As a proof-of-concept, we selected the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as the target analyte model, which easily bound to its recognition aptamer and the broad-spectrum glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin (Van). To improve the specificity and short sample-to-answer time, we employed classic noncovalent π-π stacking interactions as a driving force to trigger the binding of Van and aptamer dual-functionalized near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent Apt-Van-QDs to the surface of an unreported blue fluorescent π-rich electronic carbon nanoparticles (CNPs), achieving S. aureus stimuli-responsive ratiometric nanoprobe Apt-Van-QDs@CNPs. In the assembly of Apt-Van-QDs@CNPs, the blue CNPs (energy donor) and NIR Apt-Van-QDs (energy acceptor) became close to allow the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process, leading to a remarkable blue fluorescence quenching for the CNPs at ∼465 nm and a clear NIR fluorescence enhancement for Apt-Van-QDs at ∼725 nm. In the presence of S. aureus, the FRET process from CNPs to Apt-Van-QDs was disrupted, causing the nanoprobe Apt-Van-QDs@CNPs to display a ratiometric fluorescent response to S. aureus, which exhibited a large Stokes shift of ∼260 nm and rapid sample-to-answer detection time (∼30.0 min). As expected, the nanoprobe Apt-Van-QDs@CNPs showed an ultrahigh specificity for ratiometric fluorescence detection of S. aureus with a good detection limit of 1.0 CFU/mL, allowing the assay at single-cell level. Moreover, we also carried out the precise analysis of S. aureus in actual samples with acceptable results. We believe that this work offers new insight into the rational design of efficient ratiometric nanoprobes for rapid on-site accurate screening of pathogenic microorganisms at the single-cell level in the early stages, especially during the worldwide spread of COVID-19 today.