Can transgenic mice studies illuminate neurological complications associated with SARS-CoV-2 in humans?
The potentially deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has swept the world over the last 12 months has not affected animals with corresponding severity. In order to understand the mechanism of severe disease, animal models have been used. This includes a mouse model that expresses human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) under the cytokeratin 18 promoter (K18-hACE2). A new preprint appearing on the
bioRxiv server indicates that this may not be a faithful model of human lethal infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
In most cases, COVID-19 causes respiratory disease with a wide spectrum of symptom severity, from mild to severe. Critical disease usually terminates in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), often with multi-organ dysfunction. A subset of infected patients also have neurological features, including headache, a
Researchers receive $5.1 million to expand clinical trial of drug to prevent ARDS in COVID-19 patients
Researchers evaluating whether an investigational oral drug, vadadustat, can help prevent acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients were awarded $5.1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to expand the Phase II clinical trial at The University of Texas Health Science Center at HoustonQ (UTHealth).
Vadadustat is an investigational oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, or HIF-PHI, designed to mimic the physiologic effect of altitude on oxygen availability. At higher altitudes, the body responds to lower oxygen availability with stabilization of HIF, which can lead to improved oxygen delivery to tissues. Stabilization of HIF can help to dampen alveolar inflammation, a key problem that patients with COVID-19-associated lung disease are facing when they develop ARDS. The drug is investigational in the U.S. but has been
There is particular interest in monoclonal antibody agents to determine whether their immune suppressive effects can reduce the immediate and long-term impact of COVID-19.
Ford “Finish Strong” ad campaign invokes nationalist mythology as cover for company’s “herd immunity” policies
Ford Motor Company has unleashed a multi-million-dollar ad campaign, under the tagline “Finish Strong,” which calls on viewers to unite across the country to continue wearing masks and observing social distancing measures during what it presents as the final months of the pandemic. Self-consciously cast in the mold of World War II propaganda filmstrips, Ford implores Americans to band together and push through hardship to defeat the coronavirus.
Ford s #FinishStrong ad campaign
In a 30-second TV commercial, narration by former
Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston assures people that soon everything will be back to normal, while a montage of health care workers and vaccines rolling down the assembly line plays. “Let s hold the line,” Cranston reads, “protect it, fight for it, sacrifice it. Let s look out for each other. soon we will be what we were.”