Frequency of Away-From-Home Meals is Associated with Prevalence of Inflammatory Sinonasal Diseases: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study (preprint)

Background Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a great number of people had to stay at home due to quarantine, and the food delivery industry has grown significantly. In terms of public health, concerns have been raised regarding the popularity of meals prepared away-from-home (AFH) and their impact on health and nutrition. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association between the frequency of away-from-home meals and the prevalence of inflammatory sinonasal diseases including allergic rhinitis (AR) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), among South Koreans.Methods In this cross-sectional study, data of participants of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) recruited from 2010 to 2019 were reviewed. The frequency of AFH meals was assessed by asking participants how often they ate AFH meals in an average week. Those who ate AFH meals less than once per week were designated as group 1, those who ate one to four times per week as group 2, and those who ate five times per week or more as group 3. Questionnaires regarding the diagnosis of AR and CRS were administered to each participant, and other factors such as symptoms, endoscopic findings, and serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were assessed by referring to the recent clinical guidelines. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed.Results Among 80,861 participants in the KNHANES 2010–2019, 48,515 were eligible. A total of 6,642 and 3,144 participants had AR and CRS, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis for AR, when compared to group 1, the odds ratio (OR) for diagnosis of AR in the participants of group 2 (OR = 1.226, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.136–1.324) and group 3 (OR = 1.227, 95% CI = 1.126–1.337) were significantly higher (p < 0.0001). For CRS, group 2 (OR = 1.139, 95% CI = 1.029–1.260) and group 3 (OR = 1.210, 95% CI = 1.078–1.358) showed a significantly higher risk than group 1 (p = 0.0044). Additionally, serum specific IgE for house dust mites (p = 0.0173) and endoscopic findings of watery rhinorrhea (p = 0.0359) in patients with AR, and symptoms of olfactory dysfunction for more than 12 weeks (p = 0.0004) in CRS were significantly more prevalent in participants who had AFH meals more frequently.Conclusion If individuals who frequently eat away-from-home change their dietary habits, they might lower the risk and severity of AR or CRS.

Atazanavir is a competitive inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, impairing variants replication in vitro and in vivo (preprint)

Atazanavir (ATV) has already been considered as a potential repurposing drug to 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), however, there are controversial reports on its mechanism of action and effectiveness as anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Through the pre-clinical chain of experiments: enzymatic, molecular docking, cell-based, and in vivo assays, it is demonstrated here that both SARS-CoV-2 B.1 lineage and variant of concern gamma are susceptible to this antiretroviral. Enzymatic assays and molecular docking calculations showed that SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M pro ) was inhibited by ATV, with Morrison’s inhibitory constant (Ki) 1.5-fold higher than boceprevir (GC376, a positive control). ATV was a competitive inhibition, increasing the M pro ’s Michaelis-Menten (K m ) more than 6-fold. Cell-based assays indicated that SARS-CoV-2 gamma is more susceptible to ATV than its predecessor strain B.1. Using oral administration of ATV in mice to reach plasmatic exposure similar to humans, transgenic mice expression in human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (K18-hACE2) were partially protected against lethal challenge with SARS-CoV-2 gamma. Moreover, less cell death and inflammation were observed in the lung from infected and treated mice. Our studies may contribute to a better comprehension of the M pro /ATV interaction, which could pave the way to the development of specific inhibitors of this viral protease.

Early COVID-related Acute Kidney Injury Recovery May Course with Hydroelectrolytic Disorders in Patients With High Risk of Insensible Fluid Loss (preprint)

Background Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) may occur in more than 30% of COVID hospitalized patients, and renal recovery is poorly described. Aim We aimed to evaluate the renal short-term recovery profile of COVID-related AKI (COV+) compared to COVID-unrelated AKI (COV-). Design case-control retrospective single-center study Methods All patients admitted to the Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo, who recovered AKI from April to June of 2020 (COV+, n=98) and from August to October of 2019 (COV-, n=50) were analyzed. Recovery was defined by spontaneous serum creatinine drop or withdrawal of dialysis. Serum electrolytes were analyzed during the first five days of recovery. Results Among 333 COV+ patients, 98 recovered from AKI (29.4%), while 50 of 177 COV-patients recovered (28.2%). The COV- group presented higher prevalence of chronic morbidities, while the COV+ group had a worse acute clinical course requiring vasoactive drugs (VAD), mechanical ventilation (MV) and dialysis. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with need of mecxhanical ventilation, dialysis, presence of fever, and higher use of any diuretic drug during first days of recovery. The presence of fever and mechanical ventilation were the predictors associated with intravascular volume depletion surrogates (daily progressive rising in sodium levels and elevation in serum urea: creatinine ratio). Neither COVID-19 nor diuretics use seem to be independent risk factors for this. Conclusions Intravascular volume depletion surrogates are more common in short-term AKI-recovery of patients presenting fever and mechanical ventilation, commons features in SARS-CoV2 infection.