Laursen Bowles (beatcomic98)
SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent for COVID-19, infect human mainly via respiratory tract, which is heavily inhabited by local microbiota. However, the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and nasopharyngeal microbiota, and the association with metabolome has not been well characterized. Here, metabolomic analysis of blood, urine, and nasopharyngeal swabs from a group of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, and metagenomic analysis of pharyngeal samples were used to identify the key features of COVID-19. Results showed lactic acid, l-proline, and chlorogenic acid methyl ester (CME) were significantly reduced in the sera of COVID-19 patients compared with non-COVID-19 ones. Nasopharyngeal commensal bacteria including Gemella morbillorum, Gemella haemolysans and Leptotrichia hofstadii were notably depleted in the pharynges of COVID-19 patients, while Prevotella histicola, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Veillonella dispar were relatively increased. The abundance of G. haemolysans and L. hofstadii were significantly positively associated with serum CME, which might be an anti-SARS-CoV-2 bacterial metabolite. This study provides important information to explore the linkage between nasopharyngeal microbiota and disease susceptibility. The findings were based on a very limited number of patients enrolled in this study; a larger size of cohort will be appreciated for further investigation.The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spread as a global pandemic with significant morbidity and mortality. As the prevalence of COVID-19 has risen, so has the diversity of its clinical presentation. SARS-CoV-2 is considered to have neuroinvasive and neurotropic qualities that can lead to central and peripheral nervous system manifestations. We describe a 65-year-old woman who developed new-onset unilateral ptosis and mitosis following a diagnosis of COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case describing transient Horner syndrome in association with COVID-19. To estimate appropriate dose-volume parameters for avoidance of pneumonitis in use of chemoradiotherapy and durvalumab for treatment of lung cancer. Patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by durvalumab at 9 centers were enrolled in the study. Three-dimensional radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy, and proton beam therapy were used. The frequency and severity of pneumonitis and the dose-volume relationship for normal lung were evaluated. Univariable and multivariable analyses were conducted to identify risk factors. A covariate adjusted hazard ratio was then estimated for the percentages of normal lung volume irradiated at≥X Gy (Vx) (X=5-40) and lung volume non-irradiated at≥X Gy (X=5-40), with the covariates selected in the variable selection. Cumulative incidence functions and covariate adjusted hazard ratios were also estimated for dichotomized variables, with estimated cut-off points. A total of 91 patients were enrolled in the study. Theof this therapy.The infection by COVID-19 is a serious global public health problem. An efficient way to improve this disease's clinical management would be to characterize patients at higher risk of progressing to critically severe infection using prognostic biomarkers. The telomere length could be used for this purpose. Telomeres are responsible for controlling the number of maximum cell divisions. The telomere length is a biomarker of aging and several diseases. We aimed to compare leukocyte telomere length (LTL) between patients without COVID-19 and patients with different clinical severity of the infection. Were included 53 patients who underwent SARS-CoV-2 PCR divided in four groups. The first group was composed by patients with a negative diagnosis for COVID-19 (n = 12). The other three groups consisted of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 divided acc