scholarly journals Novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) as threat to general and reproductive health: Challenges and research needs

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 19-25
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kumar ◽  
Rajeev Singh

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and emerged as a major threat to global public health. Along with the respiratory system, COVID-19 may also affect male fertility, family planning, and pregnancy. Expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 in testis on the entry of viral particle and fever is two major factors responsible for reduced fertility. Children, pregnant women, and older people are more susceptible to infection. Males are more susceptible to infection and morbidity caused due to COVID-19. In this review, the current global scenario, clinical infestations, possible effect on reproductive health, and future prospects of COVID-19 are elaborated.

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Ashok Arasu ◽  
Pavithra Balakrishnan ◽  
Thirunavukkarasu Velusamy ◽  
Thiagarajan Ramesh

The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection is an emerging pandemic that poses a severe threat to global public health. This pandemic started from the Wuhan City of Hubei Province in China, and is speculated to have originated from bats and spread among humans with an unknown intermediate transmitter. The virus binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is abundantly expressed on various human cells, including lung epithelial and intestinal cells, thereby entering into these cells and causing infection. It is transmitted to other humans through airborne droplets from infected patients. Presently there are no specific treatments or vaccines that are available to curtail the spread of this disease. There are few indirect reports that explain the potential importance of the mandated BCG vaccine as a protective factor against COVID-19. There is a speculation that a live attenuated vaccine (BCG vaccine) can be beneficial against COVID-19 to develop the initial immune response, and can also spread in the community, thereby boosting herd immunity to fight against COVID-19. This review summarizes the conclusions of various reports on the BCG vaccine, and is an attempt to establish BCG-vaccination mediated herd immunity as an effective instant intermediate approach in curbing COVID-19 spread in highly populous countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 318 (6) ◽  
pp. E878-E880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny S. Younis ◽  
Zaid Abassi ◽  
Karl Skorecki

The viral pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), generated by a novel mutated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has become a serious worldwide public health emergency, evolving exponentially. While the main organ targeted in this disease is the lungs, other vital organs, such as the heart and kidney, may be implicated. The main host receptor of the SARS-CoV-2 is angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a major component of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). The ACE2 is also involved in testicular male regulation of steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis. As the SARS-CoV-2 may have the potential to infect the testis via ACE2 and adversely affect male reproductive system, it is essential to commence with targeted studies to learn from the current pandemic, with the possibility of preemptive intervention, depending on the findings and time course of the continuing pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saguna Verma ◽  
Sarini Saksena ◽  
Hooman Sadri-Ardekani

Expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, receptor of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is high in the testes, therefore SARS-CoV-2 infection and its association with male reproductive health should be investigated in male coronavirus disease 2019 patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Alexander Kamyshnyi ◽  
Inna Krynytska ◽  
Victoriya Matskevych ◽  
Mariya Marushchak ◽  
Oleh Lushchak

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an ongoing global public health challenge. Current clinical data suggest that, in COVID-19 patients, arterial hypertension (AH) is one of the most common cardiovascular comorbidities; it can worsen outcomes and increase the risk of admission to intensive care unit (ICU). The exact mechanisms through which AH contributes to the poor prognosis in COVID-19 are not yet clear. The putative relationship between AH and COVID-19 may be linked to the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a key element of the AH pathophysiology. Another mechanism connecting AH and COVID-19 is the dysregulation of the immune system resulting in a cytokine storm, mediated by an imbalanced response of T helper cells subtypes. Therefore, it is essential to optimize blood pressure control in hypertensive patients and monitor them carefully for cardiovascular and other complications for the duration of COVID-19 infection. The question whether AH-linked ACE2 gene polymorphisms increase the risk and/or worsen the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection should also receive further consideration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (03) ◽  
pp. 366-369
Author(s):  
Rooh Ullah ◽  
Muhammad Suleman Rana ◽  
Mehmood Qadir ◽  
Muhammad Usman ◽  
Niaz Ahmed

Pandemic of novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections in China is now become global public health crisis. At present 87.64% of the world is infected by this deadly illness. The risk from this epidemic depends on the nature of the virus, including how well it transmits from person to person, and the complications resulting from this current illness. The novel coronavirus has killed thousands of people in China and other countries as well; its rate of mortality is increasing day by day. There is an urgent need to control the virus by developing vaccine or any other antiviral drugs to save the world from this deadly viral infection.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Rajvi Dave ◽  
Bhavesh Jarwani ◽  
Sanket Nandani ◽  
Tirth Patel

BACKGROUND : Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID 19) is an illness which is associated with the novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV -2).On December 2019, Wuhan City in China, became the epicenter of this pandemic. On March 17 2020 Ahmedabad reported its first positive case. On January 2020, Chinese scientists identified this as a novel coronavirus, temporarily labelled as, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1]. Its name was then changed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization in February 2020 as the disease spread worldwide [2]. COVID 19 pandemic has posed a huge threat to global public health .The clinical features of COVID-19 are very diverse, ranging from asymptomatic state to acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi organ dysfunction. The common clinical features include fever, cough, sore throat, headache, fatigue, headache, myalgia and breathlessness. Emergency workers carry a huge responsibility in this pandemic. We have to provide early triage and management of patients with suspected or confirmed infection in which inflammatory markers play an important role. More importantly we have to try to prevent the spread of infection and also be prepared to tackle such large footfalls in ED


2006 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 813-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul B. McCray ◽  
Lecia Pewe ◽  
Christine Wohlford-Lenane ◽  
Melissa Hickey ◽  
Lori Manzel ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV), resulted in substantial morbidity, mortality, and economic losses during the 2003 epidemic. While SARS-CoV infection has not recurred to a significant extent since 2003, it still remains a potential threat. Understanding of SARS and development of therapeutic approaches have been hampered by the absence of an animal model that mimics the human disease and is reproducible. Here we show that transgenic mice that express the SARS-CoV receptor (human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 [hACE2]) in airway and other epithelia develop a rapidly lethal infection after intranasal inoculation with a human strain of the virus. Infection begins in airway epithelia, with subsequent alveolar involvement and extrapulmonary virus spread to the brain. Infection results in macrophage and lymphocyte infiltration in the lungs and upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in both the lung and the brain. This model of lethal infection with SARS-CoV should be useful for studies of pathogenesis and for the development of antiviral therapies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (14) ◽  
pp. 6984-6991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Li

ABSTRACT It is believed that a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), was passed from palm civets to humans and caused the epidemic of SARS in 2002 to 2003. The major species barriers between humans and civets for SARS-CoV infections are the specific interactions between a defined receptor-binding domain (RBD) on a viral spike protein and its host receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). In this study a chimeric ACE2 bearing the critical N-terminal helix from civet and the remaining peptidase domain from human was constructed, and it was shown that this construct has the same receptor activity as civet ACE2. In addition, crystal structures of the chimeric ACE2 complexed with RBDs from various human and civet SARS-CoV strains were determined. These structures, combined with a previously determined structure of human ACE2 complexed with the RBD from a human SARS-CoV strain, have revealed a structural basis for understanding the major species barriers between humans and civets for SARS-CoV infections. They show that the major species barriers are determined by interactions between four ACE2 residues (residues 31, 35, 38, and 353) and two RBD residues (residues 479 and 487), that early civet SARS-CoV isolates were prevented from infecting human cells due to imbalanced salt bridges at the hydrophobic virus/receptor interface, and that SARS-CoV has evolved to gain sustained infectivity for human cells by eliminating unfavorable free charges at the interface through stepwise mutations at positions 479 and 487. These results enhance our understanding of host adaptations and cross-species infections of SARS-CoV and other emerging animal viruses.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rana AL-Zaidi ◽  
Nasir AL-Noor ◽  
Adel Habbash

Abstract The ongoing novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is principally defined by its respiratory symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can affect the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and although the pathogenesis of COVID-19 is understood, the exact pathological alterations following infection require further investigation. Here, we report our histopathological findings from a right hemicolectomy specimen from a patient coinfected with COVID-19 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our observations showed that the novel SARS-CoV-2 can affect the GIT, causing epithelial injury and pathological alterations attributed to its ability to infect absorptive enterocytes by interacting with the angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor. These pathological findings are regarded as viral cytopathic changes and should be considered when evaluating gastrointestinal specimens from COVID-19-infected patients.


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