Covid-19 also attacks the pancreas and damages insulin-producing cells

Covid-19 attacks the pancreas

According to new research, the new coronavirus directly targets the pancreas and infects and damages its insulin-producing cells. The results of this study may help explain why many Covid-19 patients have blood sugar problems and why diabetes has been reported to result from the virus.

The pancreas has two jobs. The production of enzymes important for digestion and the production and release of insulin and glucagon, the hormones that regulate blood sugar levels.

In a paper published Wednesday at Nature Metabolism, researchers show that the new coronavirus infects pancreatic cells involved in these processes, altering their shape, disrupting genes, and impairing their function. I am reporting.

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New data “identify human pancreas as a target for SARS-CoV-2 infection and suggest that beta-cell infection may contribute to the metabolic dysregulation observed in Covid-19 patients.” The authors conclude.

A single vaccination may be sufficient for Covid-19 survivors

Survivors of Covid-19 only need one dose of the new Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines instead of the usual two doses, as the immune system has made a good start in learning to recognize the virus. I will. Week of medRxiv prior to peer review.

In one study of 59 healthcare workers who recovered from Covid-19 and received one of the vaccines, antibody levels after the first shot were given twice in people without a history of Covid-19. It was higher than the level normally seen later. In another study, 41 Covid-19 survivors showed “high antibody titers within a few days after vaccination”, and those levels were vaccinated with only one vaccination and no infection. It was 10 to 20 times higher than the unvaccinated volunteers.

“The antibody response to the first vaccination of an individual with existing immunity is equal to or greater than the level seen in uninfected individuals after the second vaccination,” the authors of the paper said.

“A change in the policy of giving these individuals a single dose of vaccine will not adversely affect antibody titers, freeing them from unnecessary pain and releasing many of the urgently needed vaccines.” They said.

Gout remedies are promising for Covid-19 patients with mild illness

Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat gout and other rheumatoid diseases, has reduced hospitalization and mortality in Covid-19 patients by more than 20% in large international trials. Covid-19 At least one patient with mild illness who was at high risk for complications such as diabetes and heart disease was given either colchicine or placebo for 30 days.

Overall, the risk of hospitalization or death was statistically similar between the two groups. However, of the 4,159 patients whose coronavirus infection was diagnosed by the gold standard PCR test, death or hospitalization occurred in 60% of patients receiving placebo and 4.6% of patients receiving colchicine. It has occurred.

After considering other risk factors for the patient, colchicine was associated with a statistically significant 25% reduction in risk, the researchers reported on medRxiv prior to peer review. Patients taking colchicine also had fewer cases of pneumonia.

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“Colchicine is cheap, taken orally, is generally safe in this study, and does not require laboratory monitoring during use, making it the first oral drug to treat Covid-19 outpatiently. It shows the possibility of this, “the researchers said. ..

Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine may work better at doses several months apart

Better results were obtained by increasing the interval between the first and second doses between the recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, the researchers said in a paper posted Monday. So, prior to the peer review on the preprint site by The Lancet.

For volunteers aged 18-55 years, the effectiveness of the vaccine was 82.4% for 12-week or longer dosing intervals, compared to 54.9% for booster immunization within 6 weeks of the first dose. There were no data on the effectiveness of the 12-week dosing gap in that group, as the longest interval between dosing to older volunteers was 8 weeks.

European health regulators say there is not enough data to determine how well the vaccine works in people over the age of 55. In light of their findings, the authors wrote, “A second dose given after a three-month period is an effective strategy … and perhaps best suited for the deployment of pandemic vaccines when supply is short-term limited. is.”