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Varotto-Boccazzi I, Epis S, Cattaneo GM, Guerrini N, Manenti A, Rubolini D, Gabrieli P, Otranto D, Zuccotti G, Montomoli E, Bandi C. Rectal Administration of Leishmania Cells Elicits a Specific, Th1-Associated IgG2a Response in Mice: New Perspectives for Mucosal Vaccination against Leishmaniasis, after the Repurposing of a Study on an Anti-Viral Vaccine Candidate. Trop Med Infect Dis 2023; 8:406. [PMID: 37624344 PMCID: PMC10458511 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8080406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The mucosal immune system plays a pivotal role in the control of infections, as it represents the first line of defense against most pathogens, from respiratory viruses to intestinal parasites. Mucosal vaccination is thus regarded as a promising strategy to protect animals, including humans, from infections that are acquired by ingestion, inhalation or through the urogenital system. In addition, antigens delivered at the mucosal level can also elicit systemic immune responses. Therefore, mucosal vaccination is potentially effective also against systemic infections acquired through non-mucosal routes, for example, through the bite of hematophagous insects, as in the case of leishmaniasis, a widespread disease that affects humans and dogs. Here, we explored the potential of antigen rectal administration for the generation of anti-Leishmania immunity. Mice were immunized through rectal administration of whole cells of the model parasite Leishmania tarentolae (using a clone engineered to express the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus generated in a previous study). A specific anti-Leishmania IgG antibody response was detected. In addition, the recorded IgG2a/IgG1 ratio was higher than that of animals injected subcutaneously; therefore, suggesting a shift to a Th1-biased immune response. Considering the importance of a Th1 polarization as a protective response against Leishmania infections, we suggest that further investigation should be focused on the development of novel types of vaccines against these parasites based on rectal immunization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Varotto-Boccazzi
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy; (I.V.-B.); (G.M.C.); (P.G.)
- Pediatric CRC ‘Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi’, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy;
| | - Sara Epis
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy; (I.V.-B.); (G.M.C.); (P.G.)
- Pediatric CRC ‘Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi’, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy;
| | - Giulia Maria Cattaneo
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy; (I.V.-B.); (G.M.C.); (P.G.)
| | - Noemi Guerrini
- VisMederi, 53100 Siena, Italy; (N.G.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | | | - Diego Rubolini
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy;
- Water Research Institute-National Research Council of Italy, IRSA-CNR, 20861 Brugherio, Italy
| | - Paolo Gabrieli
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy; (I.V.-B.); (G.M.C.); (P.G.)
- Pediatric CRC ‘Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi’, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy;
| | - Domenico Otranto
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy;
- Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan 65175/4161, Iran
| | - Gianvincenzo Zuccotti
- Pediatric CRC ‘Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi’, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy;
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuele Montomoli
- VisMederi, 53100 Siena, Italy; (N.G.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Claudio Bandi
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy; (I.V.-B.); (G.M.C.); (P.G.)
- Pediatric CRC ‘Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi’, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy;
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Epis S, Varotto-boccazzi I, Manenti A, Rubolini D, Gabrieli P, Cattaneo GM, Gourlay L, Dapporto F, Monti M, Razzano I, Leonardi M, Matteo I, Recordati C, Bertola L, Fiorina P, Marvasi L, Montomoli E, Zuccotti G, Bandi C. Efficacy of mucosal vaccination using a protozoan parasite as a vehicle for antigen delivery: IgG and neutralizing response after rectal administration of LeCoVax-2, a candidate vaccine against COVID-19. Pharmacol Res 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2022.106546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Dioni L, Orlandi A, Uceda Renteria S, Favero C, Solazzo G, Oggioni M, Bollati V. Digital RT-PCR Chip method for detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. J Immunol Methods 2022; 509:113339. [PMID: 35985558 PMCID: PMC9383957 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2022.113339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The “gold standard” method for detection of SARS-CoV-2 is the real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, but due to pre-analytical and technical limitations, biological samples with low viral load are not sometimes detected. For this purpose a digital RT-PCR method on-chip was developed for detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, using two TaqMan™ Assays for quantification of the N Protein (Nucleocapsid) and the S Protein (Spike), and the QuantStudio™ 3D Digital PCR instrument. The method was applied to assess the nasopharyngeal swabs of asymptomatic subjects recruited in the UNICORN Study. The digital RT-PCR method is characterized by a higher sensitivity than the RT-qPCR method, even if performed with the same TaqMan™, and could be a promising tool for SARS-CoV-2 viral load quantification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Dioni
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
| | - Annarosa Orlandi
- Virology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Sara Uceda Renteria
- Virology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Favero
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Solazzo
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Oggioni
- Virology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Valentina Bollati
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy; Occupational Health Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
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Ferrari L, Favero C, Solazzo G, Mariani J, Luganini A, Ferraroni M, Montomoli E, Milani GP, Bollati V. Nasopharyngeal Bacterial Microbiota Composition and SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibody Maintenance in Asymptomatic/Paucisymptomatic Subjects. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:882302. [PMID: 35873175 PMCID: PMC9297915 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.882302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), ranging from asymptomatic conditions to severe/fatal lung injury and multi-organ failure. Growing evidence shows that the nasopharyngeal microbiota composition may predict the severity of respiratory infections and may play a role in the protection from viral entry and the regulation of the immune response to the infection. In the present study, we have characterized the nasopharyngeal bacterial microbiota (BNM) composition and have performed factor analysis in a group of 54 asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic subjects who tested positive for nasopharyngeal swab SARS-CoV-2 RNA and/or showed anti-RBD-IgG positive serology at the enrolment. We investigated whether BNM was associated with SARS-CoV-2 RNA positivity and serum anti-RBD-IgG antibody development/maintenance 20–28 weeks after the enrolment. Shannon’s entropy α-diversity index [odds ratio (OR) = 5.75, p = 0.0107] and the BNM Factor1 (OR = 2.64, p = 0.0370) were positively associated with serum anti-RBD-IgG antibody maintenance. The present results suggest that BNM composition may influence the immunological memory against SARS-CoV-2 infections. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the link between BNM and specific IgG antibody maintenance. Further studies are needed to unveil the mechanisms through which the BNM influences the adaptive immune response against viral infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Ferrari
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Mila-no, Milan, Italy
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Favero
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Mila-no, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Solazzo
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Mila-no, Milan, Italy
| | - Jacopo Mariani
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Mila-no, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Luganini
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, Università degli Studi di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Monica Ferraroni
- Branch of Medical Statistics, Biometry, and Epidemiology "G. A. Maccacaro", Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuele Montomoli
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Gregorio Paolo Milani
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
- Pediatric Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Valentina Bollati
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Mila-no, Milan, Italy
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
- *Correspondence: Valentina Bollati,
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Lai J, German J, Hong F, Tai SHS, McPhaul KM, Milton DK. Comparison of Saliva and Midturbinate Swabs for Detection of SARS-CoV-2. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0012822. [PMID: 35311575 PMCID: PMC9045394 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00128-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Saliva is an attractive sample for detecting SARS-CoV-2. However, contradictory reports exist concerning the sensitivity of saliva versus nasal swabs. We followed close contacts of COVID-19 cases for up to 14 days from the last exposure and collected self-reported symptoms, midturbinate swabs (MTS), and saliva every 2 or 3 days. Ct values, viral load, and frequency of viral detection by MTS and saliva were compared. Fifty-eight contacts provided 200 saliva-MTS pairs, and 14 contacts (13 with symptoms) had one or more positive samples. Saliva and MTS had similar rates of viral detection (P = 0.78) and substantial agreement (κ = 0.83). However, sensitivity varied significantly with time since symptom onset. Early on (days -3 to 2), saliva had 12 times (95% CI: 1.2, 130) greater likelihood of viral detection and 3.2 times (95% CI: 2.8, 3.8) higher RNA copy numbers compared to MTS. After day 2 of symptoms, there was a nonsignificant trend toward greater sensitivity using MTS. Saliva and MTS demonstrated high agreement making saliva a suitable alternative to MTS for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Saliva was more sensitive early in the infection when the transmission was most likely to occur, suggesting that it may be a superior and cost-effective screening tool for COVID-19. IMPORTANCE The findings of this manuscript are increasingly important with new variants that appear to have shorter incubation periods emerging, which may be more prone to detection in saliva before detection in nasal swabs. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide the science to support the use of a detection method that is highly sensitive and widely acceptable to the public to improve screening rates and early detection. The manuscript presents the first evidence that saliva-based RT-PCR is more sensitive than MTS-based RT-PCR in detecting SARS-CoV-2 during the presymptomatic period - the critical period for unwitting onward transmission. Considering other advantages of saliva samples, including the lower cost, greater acceptability within the general population, and less risk to health care workers, our findings further supported the use of saliva to identify presymptomatic infection and prevent transmission of the virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianyu Lai
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
- Public Health Aerobiology and Biomarker Laboratory, Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Jennifer German
- Public Health Aerobiology and Biomarker Laboratory, Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Filbert Hong
- Public Health Aerobiology and Biomarker Laboratory, Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - S.-H. Sheldon Tai
- Public Health Aerobiology and Biomarker Laboratory, Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Kathleen M. McPhaul
- Public Health Aerobiology and Biomarker Laboratory, Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Donald K. Milton
- Public Health Aerobiology and Biomarker Laboratory, Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
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Varotto-Boccazzi I, Manenti A, Dapporto F, Gourlay LJ, Bisaglia B, Gabrieli P, Forneris F, Faravelli S, Bollati V, Rubolini D, Zuccotti G, Montomoli E, Epis S, Bandi C. Epidemic Preparedness- Leishmania tarentolae as an Easy-to-Handle Tool to Produce Antigens for Viral Diagnosis: Application to COVID-19. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:736530. [PMID: 34966362 PMCID: PMC8710741 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.736530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
To detect and prevent emerging epidemics, discovery platforms are urgently needed, for the rapid development of diagnostic assays. Molecular diagnostic tests for COVID-19 were developed shortly after the isolation of SARS-CoV-2. However, serological tests based on antiviral antibody detection, revealing previous exposure to the virus, required longer testing phases, due to the need to obtain correctly folded and glycosylated antigens. The delay between the identification of a new virus and the development of reliable serodiagnostic tools limits our readiness to tackle future epidemics. We suggest that the protozoan Leishmania tarentolae can be used as an easy-to-handle microfactory for the rapid production of viral antigens to face emerging epidemics. We engineered L. tarentolae to express the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) and we recorded the ability of the purified RBD antigen to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in human sera, with a sensitivity and reproducibility comparable to that of a reference antigen produced in human cells. This is the first application of an antigen produced in L. tarentolae for the serodiagnosis of a Coronaviridae infection. On the basis of our results, we propose L. tarentolae as an effective system for viral antigen production, even in countries that lack high-technology cell factories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Varotto-Boccazzi
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Science “L. Sacco”, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | - Paolo Gabrieli
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Federico Forneris
- The Armenise-Harvard Laboratory of Structural Biology, Department of Biology and Biotechnology “L. Spallanzani”, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Silvia Faravelli
- The Armenise-Harvard Laboratory of Structural Biology, Department of Biology and Biotechnology “L. Spallanzani”, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Valentina Bollati
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Diego Rubolini
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Water Research Institute—National Research Council of Italy, IRSA−CNR, Brugherio, Italy
| | - Gianvincenzo Zuccotti
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Science “L. Sacco”, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Pediatric CRC “Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi”, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuele Montomoli
- VisMederi Research, Siena, Italy
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Sara Epis
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Pediatric CRC “Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi”, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Claudio Bandi
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Pediatric CRC “Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi”, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
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Ma Q, Liu J, Liu Q, Kang L, Liu R, Jing W, Wu Y, Liu M. Global Percentage of Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections Among the Tested Population and Individuals With Confirmed COVID-19 Diagnosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open 2021; 4:e2137257. [PMID: 34905008 PMCID: PMC8672238 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.37257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 239] [Impact Index Per Article: 79.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Asymptomatic infections are potential sources of transmission for COVID-19. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the percentage of asymptomatic infections among individuals undergoing testing (tested population) and those with confirmed COVID-19 (confirmed population). DATA SOURCES PubMed, EMBASE, and ScienceDirect were searched on February 4, 2021. STUDY SELECTION Cross-sectional studies, cohort studies, case series studies, and case series on transmission reporting the number of asymptomatic infections among the tested and confirmed COVID-19 populations that were published in Chinese or English were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS This meta-analysis was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. Random-effects models were used to estimate the pooled percentage and its 95% CI. Three researchers performed the data extraction independently. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The percentage of asymptomatic infections among the tested and confirmed populations. RESULTS Ninety-five unique eligible studies were included, covering 29 776 306 individuals undergoing testing. The pooled percentage of asymptomatic infections among the tested population was 0.25% (95% CI, 0.23%-0.27%), which was higher in nursing home residents or staff (4.52% [95% CI, 4.15%-4.89%]), air or cruise travelers (2.02% [95% CI, 1.66%-2.38%]), and pregnant women (2.34% [95% CI, 1.89%-2.78%]). The pooled percentage of asymptomatic infections among the confirmed population was 40.50% (95% CI, 33.50%-47.50%), which was higher in pregnant women (54.11% [95% CI, 39.16%-69.05%]), air or cruise travelers (52.91% [95% CI, 36.08%-69.73%]), and nursing home residents or staff (47.53% [95% CI, 36.36%-58.70%]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this meta-analysis of the percentage of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections among populations tested for and with confirmed COVID-19, the pooled percentage of asymptomatic infections was 0.25% among the tested population and 40.50% among the confirmed population. The high percentage of asymptomatic infections highlights the potential transmission risk of asymptomatic infections in communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuyue Ma
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jue Liu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Qiao Liu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Liangyu Kang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Runqing Liu
- School of Health Humanities, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Wenzhan Jing
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yu Wu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Min Liu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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Venturelli A, Vitolo M, Albini A, Boriani G. How did COVID-19 affect medical and cardiology journals? A pandemic in literature. J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) 2021; 22:840-847. [PMID: 34482327 PMCID: PMC10100635 DOI: 10.2459/jcm.0000000000001245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS The spreading speed of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the medical community to produce efforts in updating and sharing the evidence about this new disease, trying to preserve the accuracy of the data but at the same time avoiding the potentially harmful delay from discovery to implementation. The aim of our analysis was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical literature in terms of proportion of COVID-19-related published papers and temporal patterns of publications within a sample of general/internal medicine and cardiology journals. METHODS We searched through PubMed scientific papers published from 1 January 2020 to 31 January 2021 about COVID-19 in ten major medical journals, of which five were in general/internal medicine and five in the cardiology field. We analyzed the proportion of COVID-19-related papers, and we examined temporal trends in the number of published papers. RESULTS Overall, the proportion of COVID-19-related papers was 18.5% (1986/10 756). This proportion was higher among the five selected general/internal medicine journals, compared with cardiology journals (23.8% vs 9.5%). The vast majority of papers were not original articles; in particular, in cardiology journals, there were 28% 'original articles', 17% 'review articles' and 55.1% 'miscellaneous', compared with 20.2%, 5.1% and 74.7% in general/internal medicine journals, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our analysis highlights the big impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international scientific literature. General and internal medicine journals were mainly involved, with cardiology journals only at a later time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Venturelli
- Cardiology Division, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Policlinico di Modena
| | - Marco Vitolo
- Cardiology Division, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Policlinico di Modena
- Clinical and Experimental Medicine PhD Program, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Alessandro Albini
- Cardiology Division, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Policlinico di Modena
| | - Giuseppe Boriani
- Cardiology Division, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Policlinico di Modena
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Lip GYH, Genaidy A, Tran G, Marroquin P, Estes C. Incident atrial fibrillation and its risk prediction in patients developing COVID-19: A machine learning based algorithm approach. Eur J Intern Med 2021; 91:53-58. [PMID: 34023150 PMCID: PMC8118660 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejim.2021.04.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The elderly multi-morbid patient is at high risk of adverse outcomes with COVID-19 complications, and in the general population, the development of incident AF is associated with worse outcomes in such patients. There is therefore the need to identify those patients with COVID-19 who are at highest risk of developing incident AF. We therefore investigated incident AF risks in a large prospective population of elderly patients with/without incident COVID-19 cases and baseline cardiovascular/non-cardiovascular multi-morbidities. We used two approaches: main effect modeling and secondly, a machine-learning (ML) approach, accounting for the complex dynamic relationships among comorbidity variables. METHODS We studied a prospective elderly US cohort of 280,592 patients from medical databases in an 8-month investigation of with/without newly incident COVID19 cases. Incident AF outcomes were examined in relationship to diverse multi-morbid conditions, COVID-19 status and demographic variables, with ML accounting for the dynamic nature of changing multimorbidity risk factors. RESULTS Multi-morbidity contributed to the onset of confirmed COVID-19 cases with cognitive impairment (OR 1.69; 95%CI 1.52-1.88), anemia (OR 1.41; 95%CI 1.32-1.50), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.35; 95%CI 1.27-1.44) and vascular disease (OR 1.30; 95%CI 1.21-1.39) having the highest associations. A main effect model (C-index value 0.718) showed that COVID-19 had the highest association with incident AF cases (OR 3.12; 95%CI 2.61-3.710, followed by congestive heart failure (1.72; 95%CI 1.50-1.96), then coronary artery disease (OR 1.43; 95%CI 1.27-1.60) and valvular disease (1.42; 95%CI 1.26-1.60). The ML algorithm demonstrated improved discriminatory validity incrementally over the statistical main effect model (training: C-index 0.729, 95%CI 0.718-0.740; validation: C-index 0.704, 95%CI 0.687-0.72). Calibration of the ML based formulation was satisfactory and better than the main-effect model. Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the clinical utility for the ML based formulation was better than the 'treat all' strategy and the main effect model. CONCLUSION COVID-19 status has major implications for incident AF in a cohort with diverse cardiovascular/non-cardiovascular multi-morbidities. Our ML approach accounting for dynamic multimorbidity changes had good prediction for new onset AF amongst incident COVID19 cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Y H Lip
- Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool and Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
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Grant R, Dub T, Andrianou X, Nohynek H, Wilder-Smith A, Pezzotti P, Fontanet A. SARS-CoV-2 population-based seroprevalence studies in Europe: a scoping review. BMJ Open 2021; 11:e045425. [PMID: 33795310 PMCID: PMC8021754 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We aimed to review SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies conducted in Europe to understand how they may be used to inform ongoing control strategies for COVID-19. DESIGN Scoping review of peer-reviewed publications and manuscripts on preprint servers from January 2020 to 15 September 2020. PRIMARY MEASURE Seroprevalence estimate (and lower and upper CIs). For studies conducted across a country or territory, we used the seroprevalence estimate and the upper and lower CIs and compared them to the total number of reported infections to calculate the ratio of reported to expected infections. RESULTS We identified 23 population-based seroprevalence studies conducted in Europe. Among 12 general population studies, seroprevalence ranged from 0.42% among residual clinical samples in Greece to 13.6% in an area of high transmission in Gangelt, Germany. Of the eight studies in blood donors, seroprevalence ranged from 0.91% in North-Western Germany to 23.3% in a high-transmission area in Lombardy region, Italy. In three studies which recruited individuals through employment, seroprevalence ranged from 0.5% among factory workers in Frankfurt, Germany, to 10.2% among university employees in Milan, Italy. In comparison to nationally reported cases, the extent of infection, as derived from these seroprevalence estimates, is manyfold higher and largely heterogeneous. CONCLUSION Exposure to the virus in Europe has not reached a level of infection that would prevent further circulation of the virus. Effective vaccine candidates are urgently required to deliver the level of immunity in the population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Grant
- Emerging Diseases Epidemiology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
- Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Timothée Dub
- Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Xanthi Andrianou
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), Rome, Italy
- Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
| | - Hanna Nohynek
- Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Annelies Wilder-Smith
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
- Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Patrizio Pezzotti
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), Rome, Italy
| | - Arnaud Fontanet
- Emerging Diseases Epidemiology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
- PACRI Unit, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France
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Milani GP, Dioni L, Favero C, Cantone L, Macchi C, Delbue S, Bonzini M, Montomoli E, Bollati V. Serological follow-up of SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic subjects. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20048. [PMID: 33208819 PMCID: PMC7674414 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77125-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 symptoms are non-specific and can range from asymptomatic presentation to severe pneumonia. Asymptomatic subjects carrying SARS-CoV-2 often remain undiagnosed and it is still debated whether they develop immunoglobulins (Ig) and how long they persist. The aim of this study was to investigate the development and persistence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic subjects infected by the virus. This follow-up study was performed on the 31 asymptomatic subjects who presented a positive nasal swab or serology against SARS-CoV-2 (Ig against Spike-RBD) in the first part of the UNICORN study (March 2020) aimed at attesting previous or current contacts with the virus in the personnel of the University of Milan. Eight weeks after the first Ig measure, these subjects were invited to donate a second blood sample for testing serum antibodies (IgM, IgG and total antibodies) and to fill-in a structured questionnaire. About 80% of asymptomatic subjects did not present circulating immunoglobulins against SARS-CoV-2 after 8 weeks from a positive nasal swab against the virus. Moreover, in more than 40% of these subjects, no Ig against SARS-CoV-2 were detected at any time. Finally, about two third of subjects with immunoglobulins at baseline did not present IgG against SARS-CoV-2 after 8 weeks. The majority of subjects who developed an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection do not present antibodies against the RBD-spike protein after 8 weeks of follow-up. These data should be taken into account for the interpretation of the serological evidences on SARS-CoV-2 that are emerging nowadays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregorio Paolo Milani
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
- Pediatric Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Dioni
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Favero
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Cantone
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Macchi
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences (DiSFeB), Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Serena Delbue
- Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, Laboratory of Translational Research, Via Carlo Pascal 36, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Matteo Bonzini
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
- Occupational Health Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuele Montomoli
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Valentina Bollati
- EPIGET Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
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Hyseni I, Molesti E, Benincasa L, Piu P, Casa E, Temperton NJ, Manenti A, Montomoli E. Characterisation of SARS-CoV-2 Lentiviral Pseudotypes and Correlation between Pseudotype-Based Neutralisation Assays and Live Virus-Based Micro Neutralisation Assays. Viruses 2020; 12:E1011. [PMID: 32927639 PMCID: PMC7551040 DOI: 10.3390/v12091011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The recent outbreak of a novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and its rapid spread across the continents has generated an urgent need for assays to detect the neutralising activity of human sera or human monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and to evaluate the serological immunity in humans. Since the accessibility of live virus microneutralisation (MN) assays with SARS-CoV-2 is limited and requires enhanced bio-containment, the approach based on "pseudotyping" can be considered a useful complement to other serological assays. After fully characterising lentiviral pseudotypes bearing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, we employed them in pseudotype-based neutralisation assays in order to profile the neutralising activity of human serum samples from an Italian sero-epidemiological study. The results obtained with pseudotype-based neutralisation assays mirrored those obtained when the same panel of sera was tested against the wild type virus, showing an evident convergence of the pseudotype-based neutralisation and MN results. The overall results lead to the conclusion that the pseudotype-based neutralisation assay is a valid alternative to using the wild-type strain, and although this system needs to be optimised and standardised, it can not only complement the classical serological methods, but also allows serological assessments to be made when other methods cannot be employed, especially in a human pandemic context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inesa Hyseni
- VisMederi Research s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.H.); (L.B.); (E.C.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
| | - Eleonora Molesti
- VisMederi Research s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.H.); (L.B.); (E.C.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
| | - Linda Benincasa
- VisMederi Research s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.H.); (L.B.); (E.C.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
| | | | - Elisa Casa
- VisMederi Research s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.H.); (L.B.); (E.C.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
- VisMederi s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy;
| | - Nigel J Temperton
- Viral Pseudotype Unit, Medway School of Pharmacy, The Universities of Kent and Greenwich at Medway, Chatham ME7 4TB, UK;
| | - Alessandro Manenti
- VisMederi Research s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.H.); (L.B.); (E.C.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
- VisMederi s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy;
| | - Emanuele Montomoli
- VisMederi Research s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.H.); (L.B.); (E.C.); (A.M.); (E.M.)
- VisMederi s.r.l., 53100 Siena, Italy;
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
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