Development of a rapid immunochromatographic assay for detection of antibodies against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus

Assessment and Management of Diabetic Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has become a great challenge across the globe, particularly in developing and densely populated countries, such as India. COVID-19 is extremely infectious and is transmitted via respiratory droplets from infected persons. DM, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease are highly prevalent comorbidities associated with COVID-19. It has been observed that COVID-19 is associated with high blood-glucose levels, mainly in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Several studies have shown DM to be a significant risk factor affecting the severity of various kinds of infection. Dysregulated immunoresponse found in diabetic patients plays an important role in exacerbating severity. DM is among the comorbidities linked with mortality and morbidity in COVID-19 patients. Chronic conditions like obesity, cardiovascular disorders, and hypertension, together with changed expression of ACE2, dysregulated immunoresponse, and endothelial dysfunction, may put diabetic patients at risk of greater COVID-19 severity. Therefore, it is important to study specific characteristics of COVID-19 in diabetic people and treat these comorbidities along with COVID-19 infection, mainly among old individuals who are already suffering from serious and critical infections. This review will be helpful in understanding the mechanisms involved in COVID-19 and DM, the role of ACE2 in COVID-19 pathogenesis, management of DM, and associated complications in COVID-19 patients.

Laboratory Testing Methods for Novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Following the first reports of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) by China to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31st December 2019, more than 4,302,774 novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases have been reported by authorities in 212 countries and territories by 12th May 2020. The outbreak and spread of COVID-19 worldwide, highlights the critical need for developing rapid and accurate diagnostic testing methods for emerging human coronavirus (CoV) infections. Testing is crucial to track the spread of disease during a pandemic, and to swiftly permit public health interventions including isolation, quarantine, and appropriate clinical management of afflicted individuals. The key components of viral diagnostic tests are (1) collection of the appropriate sample (blood, nasal swab, and throat swab), (2) availability of the genetic and proteomic sequences of the novel virus for analysis, and (3) rapid and accurate laboratory testing methods. The current gold standard for the molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is the real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the qualitative and quantitative detection of viral nucleic acids. Other relevant laboratory methods include enzyme-linked immunoassays (EIA) for viral antibody and antigen detection, and serum viral neutralization (SVN) assays for antibody neutralization determination. The challenges faced in developing a diagnostic test for a novel pathogen are the ability to measure low viral loads for early detection, to provide low or no cross-reactivity with other viral strains and to deliver results rapidly. Several point-of-care molecular devices are currently being integrated for fast and accurate diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infections. This review discusses the current laboratory methods available to test for coronaviruses by focusing on the present COVID-19 outbreak.