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Below is a summary of recent research on COVID-19. They include studies that have not yet been qualified by peer review that require further research to support their findings.
Reinfection, severe outcome, may be more common in BA.5.
Compared with the previous Omicron BA.2 variant, the currently prevalent Omicron BA.5 is associated with a higher likelihood of causing a second SARS-COV-2 infection, regardless of vaccination status A Portuguese study suggests that
From late April to early June, researchers studied 15,396 adults infected with the BA.2 variant and 12,306 adults infected with BA.5. The vaccine and booster were equally effective against both substrains, according to a report posted on medRxiv on Monday ahead of the peer review. Ten percent of the five cases were reinfections, suggesting a reduction in protection conferred by previous infection with BA.5 compared with BA.2, the researchers said. Furthermore, vaccines appeared less effective in reducing the risk of severe outcomes in BA.5 compared to BA.2.
As BA.5 OMICRON subvariant surges, vaccine experts urge at-risk people to get COVID-19 boosters now
“In people infected with BA.5, booster vaccination reduced the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death by 77% and 88%, respectively, compared with 93% and 94% for BA.2. , respectively,” the researchers wrote. Although “COVID-19 booster vaccination still offers substantial protection against severe consequences following BA.5 infection,” their findings suggest that “adjusting public health measures during BA.5 surge” provide “evidence to”, they said.
Viral spike protein damages cardiomyocytes
A spike protein on the surface that the coronavirus uses to invade heart muscle cells also triggers a damaging attack from the immune system, according to new research.
The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein interacts with other proteins in heart muscle cells to cause inflammation, researchers said in a presentation Wednesday at the American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Science Session 2022. After comparing the CoV2 spike protein with that from another relatively harmless coronavirus, the researchers found that only the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein causes cardiac dysfunction, hypertrophy, and inflammation. did. Furthermore, we found that in infected cardiomyocytes, only the SARS-CoV-2 spike interacts with the so-called TLR4 protein (Toll-like receptor-4), which recognizes invaders and triggers an inflammatory response. In a dying patient with COVID-19 inflammation, researchers found his SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and his TLR4 protein in both cardiomyocytes and other cell types. Neither was seen in healthy human heart biopsies.
“So, when the heart is infected with SARS-CoV-2, TLR4 signaling is activated,” said Zhiqiang Lin of the Masonic Institute of Medicine in Utica, New York, in a statement. “We have provided direct evidence that the spike protein is toxic to cardiomyocytes and have narrowed down the underlying mechanism by which the spike protein directly inflames cardiomyocytes,” he told Reuters. “More work is being done in my lab to test whether and how the spike protein kills cardiomyocytes.”
Omicron-targeted antibody combination nears human trials
A new monoclonal antibody combination can prevent and treat Omicron infection in monkeys, researchers reported Monday in Nature Microbiology.
Antibodies called P2G3 and P5C3 recognize specific regions of the spike protein that the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to enter cells. “P5C3 alone can block all SARS-CoV-2 variants that dominated the pandemic up to Omicron BA.2,” said Dr. Didier Trono of the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne. It comes to the rescue because it can not only neutralize all SARS-CoV-2 variants, but also block BA.4 and BA.5,” he said. “P2G3 is also active against some BA.2 or BA.4/BA.5 variants that can evade[Lilly’s]bebuterobimab, and is now the predominant BA.4/BA.5 subvariant. It is the only antibody approved for clinical use that remains active against .”
OMICRON BA.5 surges to 82% of US COVID cases, CDC says
In lab experiments, mutations that could make SARS-CoV-2 variants resistant to P2G3 did not allow escape from P5C3, and P5C3 escape mutants were still blocked by P2G3, Trono said. says. “Essentially, the two antibodies cover each other, one filling in the other’s mistakes and vice versa.”
Aerium Therapeutics plans to begin testing the combination on humans next month, said Trono, one of the company’s founders. If a large trial finally confirms its efficacy, the P5C3/P2G3 combination could be used in people who are immunocompromised and who do not respond strongly to the COVID-19 vaccine. It will be administered by injection, the company said.