Enzyme makes men more vulnerable to coronavirus; adding interferon may
improve treatment
Send a link to a friend
[May 13, 2020]
By Nancy Lapid
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The following is a
brief roundup of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus
and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness
caused by the virus.
Men's blood contains more of enzyme that helps coronavirus infect cells
A study from 11 European countries may help explain reports that the new
coronavirus seems to attack men more often and more severely than women.
Researchers have found that men have higher blood levels of the enzyme
that helps the virus infect cells. The higher levels of "angiotensin-converting
enzyme 2," or ACE2, in men's blood might mean their organs have more of
the ACE2 "receptors" the virus uses to get into cells, researchers
suggest in a paper published on Monday in European Heart Journal. Their
study involved more than 2,000 elderly men and women with heart failure
but no coronavirus infection, many of whom were taking common blood
pressure drugs that block the effect of this enzyme, known as ACE2
inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). The researchers
emphasize that study participants receiving these medications did not
have higher levels of ACE2, which adds to earlier evidence that the
drugs do not increase people's risk for coronavirus infection.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/May/13/images/ads/current/elkhart_fertilizer_sda_FFARM_2017.png)
Adding interferon may boost effectiveness of coronavirus treatment
Adding interferon-beta to a cocktail of the antiviral drugs lopinavir,
ritonavir and ribavirin helped alleviate symptoms and shorten the
duration of viral shedding (contagion) and hospital stays of mildly or
moderately ill COVID-19 patients, according to results of a small
randomized trial conducted at six hospitals in Hong Kong. The time it
took for at least half the patients to have negative coronavirus tests
was seven days with add-on interferon, compared to 12 days without it,
researchers reported on Sunday in The Lancet. Overall, 86 patients
received the interferon-containing combination and 41 got the antivirals
without interferon. When the study started, half the patients had
already been symptomatic for more than five days. The combination that
included interferon "also alleviated symptoms completely within four
days - a significantly shorter time than the control," researchers said,
adding that a larger trial to confirm these results is needed.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/051320PIX/news_k19.jpg)
A computer image created by Nexu Science Communication together with
Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative
of a betacoronavirus which is the type of virus linked to COVID-19,
better known as the coronavirus linked to the Wuhan outbreak, shared
with Reuters on February 18, 2020. NEXU Science Communication/via
REUTERS
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
UK coronavirus study reassures pregnant women; Swedish study says
don't downplay risks
Pregnant women in Britain are no more likely than other women to
become severely ill with COVID-19, but most expectant mothers who do
develop serious illness tend to be in the later stages of pregnancy,
according to a preliminary study. The study, which was posted online
on Monday on the MedRxiv website but has not yet been peer-reviewed,
found fewer than 0.5% of all pregnant women were hospitalized with
the disease, and only around 10% of those women needed intensive
care. Most pregnant women who were admitted to hospital were more
than six months pregnant, the study also found.
A separate study from Sweden, however, found pregnant women there do
appear to face higher risks. Swedish national registry data,
published on Sunday in the medical journal Acta Obstetricia et
Gynecologica Scandinavica, showed that compared to nonpregnant women
infected with the coronavirus, similarly aged pregnant women with
the virus were more than five times as likely to need intensive care
and four times more likely to need invasive mechanical ventilation.
The authors of an editorial accompanying the study advise that, "on
the basis of available data...the risk of COVID-19 in pregnancy
should not be down-played to avoid falsely reassuring healthcare
professionals and the public. Women should be advised to take
necessary precautions to avoid infection during pregnancy."
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Kate Kelland; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/May/13/images/ads/current/beason_ag_sda_030614.png) |