COVID-19 vulnerability: the potential impact of genetic susceptibility and airborne transmission

Pollitt, Krystal J. Godri; Peccia, Jordan; Ko, Albert I.; Kaminski, Naftali; Cruz, Charles S. Dela; Nebert, Daniel W.; Reichardt, Juergen K.V.; Thompson, David C.; Vasiliou, Vasilis

doi:10.1186/s40246-020-00267-3

Cited by 121 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…routes [8], although some recent studies suggest that airborne transmission might also be possible [9][10]. The incubation period typically ranges between 2 and 14 days, although longer incubation times have been also reported [11].…”

Section: Covid-19 Is Primarily Transmitted Between People Through Resmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative genomics provides an operational classification system and reveals early emergence and biased spatio-temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2

Chiara

Horner

Gissi

et al. 2020

Preprint

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AbstractEffective systems for the analysis of molecular data are of fundamental importance for real-time monitoring of the spread of infectious diseases and the study of pathogen evolution. While the Nextstrain and GISAID portals offer widely used systems for the classification of SARS-CoV-2 genomes, both present relevant limitations. Here we propose a highly reproducible method for the systematic classification of SARS-CoV-2 viral types. To demonstrate the validity of our approach, we conduct an extensive comparative genomic analysis of more than 20,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes. Our classification system delineates 12 clusters and 4 super-clusters in SARS-CoV-2, with a highly biased spatio-temporal distribution worldwide, and provides important observations concerning the evolutionary processes associated with the emergence of novel viral types. Based on the estimates of SARS-CoV-2 evolutionary rate and genetic distances of genomes of the early pandemic phase, we infer that SARS-CoV-2 could have been circulating in humans since August-November 2019. The observed pattern of genomic variability is remarkably similar between all clusters and super-clusters, being UTRs and the s2m element, a highly conserved secondary structure element, the most variable genomic regions. While several polymorphic sites that are specific to one or more clusters were predicted to be under positive or negative selection, overall, our analyses also suggest that the emergence of novel genome types is unlikely to be driven by widespread convergent evolution and independent fixation of advantageous substitutions. While, in the absence of rigorous experimental validation, several questions concerning the evolutionary processes and the phenotypic characteristics (increased/decreased virulence) remain open, we believe that the approach outlined in this study can be of relevance for the tracking and functional characterization of different types of SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

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Section: Covid-19 Is Primarily Transmitted Between People Through Resmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative genomics provides an operational classification system and reveals early emergence and biased spatio-temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2

Chiara

Horner

Gissi

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Moreover, advanced age, male sex and preexisting conditions such as cardiovascular, pulmonary, and renal diseases make a subject more vulnerable to the more severe health consequences of COVID-19 [ 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Pathogenesis Of Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathogenesis and treatment of idiopathic and rheumatoid arthritis-related interstitial pneumonia. The possible lesson from COVID-19 pneumonia

Manfredi

Luppi

Cassone

et al. 2020

Expert Review of Clinical Immunology

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Introduction Main clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection are characterized by fever, dyspnea, and interstitial pneumonia, frequently evolving in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Areas covered Features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents some common points with interstitial lung disease (ILD) both idiopathic and related to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), typically characterized by a chronic progression over time and possibly complicated by acute exacerbation (AE). The study of common pathogenetic mechanisms, such as the involvement of toll-like receptor 4, could contribute to the knowledge and treatment of idiopathic and RA-ILD. Moreover, hyperinflammation, mainly characterized by increase of effector T-cells and inflammatory cytokines, and activation of coagulation cascade, observed in COVID-19 related ARDS have been already shown in patients with AE of idiopathic and RA-ILD. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science, together with a manual search in COVID-resource centers of the main journals. Expert opinion Despite the uncertainty about pathogenetic aspects about COVID-19- pneumonia, it could be a possible model for other forms of ILD and AE. The great amount of data from studies on COVID-19 could be helpful in proposing safe therapeutic approaches for RA-ILD, in understanding pathogenesis of usual interstitial pneumonia and to develop new therapeutic strategies for AE.

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“…(2) Diagnostic variability: Although there may be a negative diagnosis after repeated tests, it may become positive unexpectedly [ 8 ]. (3) Multiple transmission routes: It is mainly transmitted through droplets or direct contact, but some studies have even found that it can be transmitted by air [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], feces [ 13 , 14 , 15 ], and asymptomatic carriers [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Moreover, its basic reproductive number (R0) has been determined to range between 2–3 2 , and the spreading region is probably wide enough to trigger a pandemic [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, its basic reproductive number (R0) has been determined to range between 2–3 2 , and the spreading region is probably wide enough to trigger a pandemic [ 19 ]. (4) Genome mutation possibility: The mutation of the viral RNA genome is possible [ 12 , 19 ]; hence, the research and development of vaccines and drugs are great challenges. Even if the discovery is successful and products are approved for marketing, the effective period of the vaccine products and approved drugs may be limited due to mutation and resistance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Antiviral Strategies in the Treatment of COVID-19: A Review

2020

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS–CoV-2), is still a global public health problem for humans. It has caused more than 10,000,000 infections and more than 500,000 deaths in the world so far. Many scientists have tried their best to discover safe and effective drugs for the treatment of this disease; however, there are still no approved standard therapeutics or effective antiviral drugs on the market. Many new drugs are being developed, and several traditional drugs that were originally indicated or proposed for other diseases are likely to be effective in treating COVID-19, but their safety and efficacy are controversial, under study, or in clinical trial phases. Fortunately, some novel antiviral strategies, such as convalescent plasma, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy, potentially offer an additional or alternative option or compassionate use for the people suffering from COVID-19, especially for critically ill patients, although their safety and efficacy are also under study. In this review, we explore the applications, possible mechanisms, and efficacy in successful cases using convalescent plasma, CRISPR, and MSC therapy for COVID-19 treatment, respectively. Furthermore, the perspectives and limitations of these novel antiviral strategies are evaluated.

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COVID-19 vulnerability: the potential impact of genetic susceptibility and airborne transmission

Cited by 121 publications

References 56 publications

Comparative genomics provides an operational classification system and reveals early emergence and biased spatio-temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2

Comparative genomics provides an operational classification system and reveals early emergence and biased spatio-temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2

Pathogenesis and treatment of idiopathic and rheumatoid arthritis-related interstitial pneumonia. The possible lesson from COVID-19 pneumonia

Novel Antiviral Strategies in the Treatment of COVID-19: A Review

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