ABSTRACT
Background & Objective: Biological markers for the prediction of acquiring Covid-19 risk are deficient and there is a dire need of immediate research data. The objective of the study was to predict the link of ABO blood group types along with Rh factor distribution with the severity of Covid-19. Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional survey conducted in medicine department of Pakistan Ordnance Factory Hospital, Wah Cantt Pakistan, from August 2020 to December 2020 after approval of IRB. Participants tested positive for presence of Covid-19 infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were included in the study. Covid-19 infection severity was measured through mild, moderate and severe disease categories and analyzed. ABO blood group and Rh subgroups data for all the Covid-19 infected patients were obtained from the laboratory section of the hospital and analyzed. Data was entered in SPSS v 26 and analyzed. Cox regression model was used to find out the severity of Covid-19. Results: Total 248 patients were included;75% patients were male and 25% were females. The mean age of the patients was 52.77+or-15.58 years. A very significant association was found between ABO blood group types, Rh factor antigen and severity of Covid-19 (p=0.001). When stratified ABO, Rh antigen blood group with health status of all patients there was a very significant association between them (p=0.013). An insignificant association between male and female odds ratio of ABO blood group types but blood group B, Rh positive antigen was more susceptible in Covid-19 positive patients. Conclusion: There is a link between ABO blood group types along with Rh factor antigen (B+ and O+) with the severity of Covid-19 positive patients. ABO blood group types and Rh factor can be used as a potential marker/tool to predict the susceptibility of acquiring Covid-19 infection as well as for severity of the infection.
ABSTRACT
Background. The risk factors associated with COVID-19 disease severity are still being investigated. Individual susceptibility to viral infections has been known to be associated with the ABO blood group. Material and methods. This is an observational study with a prospective design. Patients were followed during treatment, and clinical outcomes were recorded, being severe or mild-moderate cases. A total of 207 confirmed COVID-19 patients who underwent treatment from November 2020 to January 2021 were included in this study. Chi-square analysis was used to determine the association between blood group A and other blood groups with the occurrence of severe cases. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to obtain the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and determine the effect of confounding variables. Results. We found a significant association between blood group A and disease severity, though not for any other blood group. By using multiple logistic regression analysis, blood group A was independently associated with disease severity with an adjusted OR (95% confidence interval (CI)) of 2.36 (1.07-5.23) (p = 0.034). Conclusions. COVID-19 patients with blood group A have a higher risk of becoming severe cases compared to non-A blood groups.
ABSTRACT
Background: The arising Covid infection 2019 is rapidly spreading over the world and has been named a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The ABO blood group has been linked to the susceptibility to viral infection in the past. According to research, blood groups A and O are associated with a higher and lower risk of coronavirus disease 2019 positivity. Objectives: The goal of the study was to see if there was a link between ABO blood type and COVID-19 susceptibility in patients recovering in Baghdad and Hilla hospitals, and if the former could be used as a biomarker for the latter.
ABSTRACT
We have used NMR experiments to explore the binding of selected glycans and glycomimetics to the SARS CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S-protein) and to its receptor binding domain (RBD). STD NMR experiments confirm the binding of sialoglycans to the S-protein of the prototypic Wuhan strain virus and yield dissociation constants in the millimolar range. The absence of STD effects for sialoglycans in the presence of the Omicron/BA.1 S-protein reflects a loss of binding as a result of S-protein evolution. Likewise, no STD effects are observed for the deletion mutant Δ143-145 of the Wuhan S-protein, thus supporting localization of the binding site in the N-terminal domain (NTD). The glycomimetics Oseltamivir and Zanamivir bind weakly to the S-protein of both virus strains. Binding of blood group antigens to the Wuhan S-protein cannot be confirmed by STD NMR. Using 1 H,15 N TROSY HSQC-based chemical shift perturbation (CSP) experiments, we excluded binding of any of the ligands studied to the RBD of the Wuhan S-protein. Our results put reported data on glycan binding into perspective and shed new light on the potential role of glycan-binding to the S-protein.
ABSTRACT
Rotaviruses (RVs) are a significant cause of severe diarrheal illness in infants and young animals, including pigs. Group C rotavirus (RVC) is an emerging pathogen increasingly reported in pigs and humans worldwide, and is currently recognized as the major cause of gastroenteritis in neonatal piglets that results in substantial economic losses to the pork industry. However, little is known about RVC pathogenesis due to the lack of a robust cell culture system, with the exception of the RVC Cowden strain. Here, we evaluated the permissiveness of porcine crypt-derived 3D and 2D intestinal enteroid (PIE) culture systems for RVC infection. Differentiated 3D and 2D PIEs were infected with porcine RVC (PRVC) Cowden G1P[1], PRVC104 G3P[18], and PRVC143 G6P[5] virulent strains, and the virus replication was measured by qRT-PCR. Our results demonstrated that all RVC strains replicated in 2D-PIEs poorly, while 3D-PIEs supported a higher level of replication, suggesting that RVC selectively infects terminally differentiated enterocytes, which were less abundant in the 2D vs. 3D PIE cultures. While cellular receptors for RVC are unknown, target cell surface carbohydrates, including histo-blood-group antigens (HBGAs) and sialic acids (SAs), are believed to play a role in cell attachment/entry. The evaluation of the selective binding of RVCs to different HBGAs revealed that PRVC Cowden G1P[1] replicated to the highest titers in the HBGA-A PIEs, while PRVC104 or PRVC143 achieved the highest titers in the HBGA-H PIEs. Further, contrasting outcomes were observed following sialidase treatment (resulting in terminal SA removal), which significantly enhanced Cowden and RVC143 replication, but inhibited the growth of PRVC104. These observations suggest that different RVC strains may recognize terminal (PRVC104) as well as internal (Cowden and RVC143) SAs on gangliosides. Finally, several cell culture additives, such as diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-dextran, cholesterol, and bile extract, were tested to establish if they could enhance RVC replication. We observed that only DEAE-dextran significantly enhanced RVC attachment, but it had no effect on RVC replication. Additionally, the depletion of cellular cholesterol by MßCD inhibited Cowden replication, while the restoration of the cellular cholesterol partially reversed the MßCD effects. These results suggest that cellular cholesterol plays an important role in the replication of the PRVC strain tested. Overall, our study has established a novel robust and physiologically relevant system to investigate RVC pathogenesis. We also generated novel, experimentally derived evidence regarding the role of host glycans, DEAE, and cholesterol in RVC replication, which is critical for the development of control strategies.
Subject(s)
Blood Group Antigens , Rotavirus Infections , Rotavirus , Animals , Blood Group Antigens/metabolism , Cholesterol/metabolism , Humans , Sialic Acids/metabolism , SwineABSTRACT
This special issue contains 10 papers on the following topics: evaluating association between ABO blood groups and COVID 19;impact of COVID-19 on Libyan laboratory specialists;microscopic agglutination test for diagnosis of leptospirosis by using filter paper-dried serum samples;prevalence of haemoparasites among blood donors in Calabar, Nigeria;assessment of peripheral blood lymphocytosis in adults and determination of thresholds for differential diagnosis between clonal and reactive lymphocytosis;investigation of antibiotic resistance pattern in isolates from urine and blood samples of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Velayat Hospital in Qazvin, Iran;evaluation of rejection rates and reasons among specimens taken from different hospital units;quality tools to ensure patient safety and reduce the turnaround time of medical laboratories in tertiary care teaching hospitals;prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of Gram-positive isolates from burn patients in Velayat Burn Center in Rasht, North of Iran;and infective endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus aureus in a 6-year-old girl with no history of heart and dental problems.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The possibility that the blood group (BG) predisposes to SARS-CoV-2 infection is controversial. OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of BG, anti-IgG SARS-CoV-2, and more frequent symptoms in convalescent health personnel vs controls prior to vaccination. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analytical cross-sectional design of cases and controls, which included health personnel, from March to June 2020, confirmed with (polymerase chain reaction) PCR-SARS-CoV-2 and negative controls with PCR and anti-IgG-SARS-CoV-2. Participants were questioned concerning symptoms and BG was determined. It was used descriptive statistics and comparative analysis with chi squared, Fisher's exact test, Student's t, and Mann Whitney's U tests. RESULTS: Of 218 workers, 102 (46.8%) were confirmed cases for SARS-CoV-2 (convalescent) and 116 controls. The distribution of BG was similar between cases and controls, being BG-O + the most frequent (52.9%). The risk of becoming infected by SARS-CoV-2 for BG-O compared to BGNo-O showed a lower trend (odds ratio [OR] 0.725, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.416-1.261, p = ns). The BG-A (28.4%) compared with BG-No-A (71.6%) showed a trend of increased risk in BG-A (OR 1.523, 95% CI 0.818-2.837, p = ns). The presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies was 85% in the convalescent group. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of infected was proportionally higher for BG-A and lower for BG-O. About 15% did not develop SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after overcoming COVID-19 disease.
ABSTRACT
Study sample of the 1101 patients with "COVID-19" showed that the infection rate of corona virus in men (66.3%) is Twice as high as it is in women (33.7%). According to age factor, patients with ages (26-35) years old were higher significantly compared other ages at (X2: 60.351, p-value: < 0.01). The distribution of Study sample according to blood types was as follows, 28.34%, 16.44%, 14.26%, 11.63%, 9.9%, 8.26%, 7.45%, and 3.72% for B+, AB+, O+, A+, B-, AB-, A-, O-, respectively. Current study was found the number of cases with blood type B+was substantially higher than in the other blood groups, while the ratio of number cases with type O- blood in the corona virus infection was substantially lower than other blood groups compared age at P-value: < 0.01. On the other hand, the single patients rate (62.94%) is higher than the married patients rate (37.06%), while the infected non-smokers corona virus infection portion (85.5%) is far higher than the incidence for smokers (17.5%) at statistically < 0.01.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 virus has caused many deaths of people worldwide since the pandemic began. However, no definitive treatment for this infection has been discovered so far. It has been shown that comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are associated with an increased risk of SARS-COV-2 infection. Interestingly, SARS-COV-2, like SARS-COV, uses the ACE2 gene to enter the host cell. Also, changes or imbalance in ACE2.ACE can affect SARS-COV-2 susceptibility, related outcomes and mortality. Regarding the crucial role of ACE2 protein in COVID-19 infection, the effect of different factors such as age, BMI, physical activity levels, nutritional status, altitude, as well as blood group was assessed on the level of this protein. Further, to our knowledge, no study has been conducted to examine factors that increase or decrease the risk of COVID-19 and its related severity and outcome in normal subjects emphasizing the pivotal role of ACE2. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the involved mechanisms of ACE2 protein and other risk factors causing infection in different situations and finally, to introduce a safe, accurate, and cost-effective approach to prevent SARS-COV-2 infection and hard clinical outcomes in normal subjects. © 2021 Islamic Republic of Iran Medical Council. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We aimed to verify the association between blood group systems and prognosis of SARS-Cov-2 disease. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 329 patients infected with SARS-Cov-2 diagnosed based on their COVID-19 RT-PCR results and chest CT scans, were enrolled in the study. These patients were admitted to Kamkar Arab Nia Hospital, Qom, Iran from March to June 2020. Their blood groups and RH were determined, and demographic characteristics and clinical signs of patients were recorded. The patients' temperature and peripheral capillary oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) were measured. Finally, the duration of hospitalization, intubation, and death rate were also analyzed. RESULTS: The results of the patients' blood group analysis were as follows: 129(39.2%) patients had A type, 66(20.1%) B type, 21(6.4%) AB type, and 113(34.3%) O type. Of 329 patients, 297 (90.3%) had Rh antigen. The dead cases were higher in O blood type at 13 cases (11.5%). Considering the positive and negative rhesus antigen, 31 (10.4%) and 1 (3.1%) were dead respectively, but the difference was not statically significant. As for the A group, the mean of admission duration (8.4±6.1 days) was not significantly different from the B group (8.8 ±7.2 days). AB group with a mean (7.4 ±4.4 days) was not significantly different from the O group (7.8 ± 5.4 days). There was no significant difference in the duration of hospitalization in RH patients, positive or negative. B blood group showed a significant association with the time interval to return to normal oxygen levels. CONCLUSION: Blood type was not associated with COVID-19 death rate, nor was it associated with admission duration. B blood group showed a significant association with the time interval to return to normal oxygen levels.
ABSTRACT
Human serum contains large amounts of anti-carbohydrate antibodies, some of which may recognize epitopes on viral glycans. Here, we tested the hypothesis that such antibodies may confer protection against COVID-19 so that patients would be preferentially found among people with low amounts of specific anti-carbohydrate antibodies since individual repertoires vary considerably. After selecting glycan epitopes commonly represented in the human anti-carbohydrate antibody repertoire that may also be expressed on viral glycans, plasma levels of the corresponding antibodies were determined by ELISA in 88 SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, including 13 asymptomatic, and in 82 non-infected controls. We observed that anti-Tn antibodies levels were significantly lower in patients as compared to non-infected individuals. This was not observed for any of the other tested carbohydrate epitopes, including anti-αGal antibodies used as a negative control since the epitope cannot be synthesized by humans. Owing to structural homologies with blood groups A and B antigens, we also observed that anti-Tn and anti-αGal antibodies levels were lower in blood group A and B, respectively. Analyses of correlations between anti-Tn and the other anti-carbohydrates tested revealed divergent patterns of correlations between patients and controls, suggesting qualitative differences in addition to the quantitative difference. Furthermore, anti-Tn levels correlated with anti-S protein levels in the patients' group, suggesting that anti-Tn might contribute to the development of the specific antiviral response. Overall, this first analysis allows to hypothesize that natural anti-Tn antibodies might be protective against COVID-19.