SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: From the Bench to the Bedside

Abstract

<jats:p> First isolated in China in early 2020, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the novel coronavirus responsible for the ongoing pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The disease has been spreading rapidly across the globe, with the largest burden falling on China, Europe, and the United States. COVID-19 is a new clinical syndrome, characterized by respiratory symptoms with varying degrees of severity, from mild upper respiratory illness to severe interstitial pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, aggravated by thrombosis in the pulmonary microcirculation. Three main phases of disease progression have been proposed for COVID-19: an early infection phase, a pulmonary phase, and a hyperinflammation phase. Although current understanding of COVID-19 treatment is mainly derived from small uncontrolled trials that are affected by a number of biases, strong background noise, and a litany of confounding factors, emerging awareness suggests that drugs currently used to treat COVID-19 (antiviral drugs, antimalarial drugs, immunomodulators, anticoagulants, and antibodies) should be evaluated in relation to the pathophysiology of disease progression. Drawing upon the dramatic experiences taking place in Italy and around the world, here we review the changes in the evolution of the disease and focus on current treatment uncertainties and promising new therapies. </jats:p>

COVID-19-associated coagulopathy and disseminated intravascular coagulation

“…3 ). In addition, therapeutic methods and drugs have been listed in various candidate steps, starting from the first-step therapeutic strategy to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from invading the host cell, to final-stage cytokine storm control [ 62 – 65 ].

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Efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy for asymptomatic infection of COVID-19: Retracted

“…Since its emergence in December 2019, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world and become a serious public health event endangering human life. [ 1 – 3 ] The main symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, fatigue, and ground-glass opacities on computed tomography. [ 4 – 6 ] As the epidemic is gradually brought under control, asymptomatic infections are also becoming a concern.…”

The answer lies in the energy: how simple atomistic molecular dynamics simulations may hold the key to epitope prediction on the fully glycosylated SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

“…As was the case with its human predecessors SARS-CoV and MERS, critical players regulating cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 are the homotrimeric viral Spike protein (S) ( Figure 1) and the host cell docking point, the protein receptor angiotensinconverting enzyme 2 (ACE2) 7 . The CoV S protein is then cleaved by a series of serine proteases, including trypsin, cathepsins, elastase, the host type 2 transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2, DPP4 for MERS), and plasmin, which promote virus entry into epithelial cells 4 .…”

“…Indeed, a number of currently ongoing trials focus on developing vaccines (see for instance https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html) or on repurposing drugs already developed for other disorders [1][2][3][4] .…”