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By Nancy Lapid
Feb 3 (Reuters) - The following is a roundup of some of the
latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts
to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused
by the virus.
COVID-19 attacks the pancreas
The new coronavirus directly targets the pancreas, infecting
and damaging its insulin producing cells, according to a new
study. The findings may help explain why blood sugar problems
develop in many COVID-19 patients, and why there have been
reports of diabetes developing as a result of the virus. The
pancreas has two jobs: production of enzymes important to
digestion, and creation and release of the hormones insulin and
glucagon that regulate blood sugar levels. In a paper published
on Wednesday in Nature Metabolism, researchers report that lab
and autopsy studies show the new coronavirus infects pancreas
cells involved in these processes and changes their shape,
disturbs their genes, and impairs their function. The new data
"identify the human pancreas as a target of SARS-CoV-2 infection
and suggest that beta-cell infection could contribute to the
metabolic dysregulation observed in patients with COVID-19," the
authors conclude. (https://go.nature.com/36Cmtfy)
One vaccine dose might be enough for COVID-19 survivors
COVID-19 survivors might only need one shot of the new
vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer/BioNTech
, instead of the usual two doses, because their immune
systems have gotten a head start on learning to recognize the
virus, according to two separate reports posted this week on
medRxiv ahead of 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 higher than
levels usually seen after two doses in people without a history
of COVID-19. In a separate study, researchers found that 41
COVID-19 survivors developed "high antibody titers within days
of vaccination," and those levels were 10 to 20 times higher
than in uninfected, unvaccinated volunteers after just one
vaccine dose. "The antibody response to the first vaccine dose
in individuals with pre-existing immunity is equal to or even
exceeds" levels found in uninfected individuals after the second
vaccine dose, the authors of that paper said. "Changing the
policy to give these individuals only one dose of vaccine would
not negatively impact on their antibody titers, spare them from
unnecessary pain and free up many urgently needed vaccine
doses," they said. (https://bit.ly/3je4Zv4;
https://bit.ly/2YG0EYf)
Gout drug shows promise for mildly ill COVID-19 patients
Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat gout and
other rheumatic diseases, reduced hospitalizations and deaths by
more than 20% in COVID-19 patients in a large international
trial. COVID-19 patients with mild illness and at least one
condition that put them at high risk for complications, such as
diabetes or heart disease, received either colchicine or a
placebo for 30 days. Overall, the risk of hospitalization or
death was statistically similar in the two groups. But among the
4,159 patients whose coronavirus infections had been diagnosed
with a gold-standard PCR test, death or hospital admission
occurred in 4.6% of those on colchicine versus 60% of those who
got a placebo. After taking patients' other risk factors into
account, colchicine was associated with a statistically
significant 25% risk reduction, the researchers reported on
medRxiv ahead of peer review. Patients taking colchicine also
had fewer cases of pneumonia. "Given that colchicine is
inexpensive, taken by mouth, was generally safe in this study,
and does not generally need lab monitoring during use, it shows
potential as the first oral drug to treat COVID-19 in the
outpatient setting," the researchers said. (https://bit.ly/3oDSDgY)
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine might work better with doses
months apart
Among recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford
University and AstraZeneca, prolonging the interval
between the first and second doses led to better results,
researchers said in a paper posted on Monday ahead of
peer-review by The Lancet on its preprint site. For volunteers
aged 18 to 55, vaccine efficacy was 82.4% with 12 or more weeks
between doses, compared to 54.9% when the booster was given
within 6 weeks after the first dose. The longest interval
between doses given to older volunteers was 8 weeks, so there
were no data for the efficacy of a 12-week dosing gap in that
group. Europe's medicine regulator has said there is not enough
data to determine how well the vaccine will work in people over
55. Given their findings, the authors say "a second dose given
after a three-month period is an effective strategy ... and may
be the optimal for rollout of a pandemic vaccine when supplies
are limited in the short term." (https://bit.ly/3apMSyt)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a
Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Alistair Smout; Editing by Bill
Berkrot)
