Comparative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 envelope viroporin mutations from COVID-19 deceased and surviving patients revealed implications on its ion-channel activities and correlation with patient mortality.

One major obstacle in designing a successful therapeutic regimen to combat COVID-19 pandemic is the frequent occurrence of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 resulting in patient to patient variations. Out of the four structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 namely, spike, envelope, nucleocapsid and membrane, envelope protein governs the virus pathogenicity and induction of acute-respiratory-distress-syndrome which is the major cause of death in COVID-19 patients. These effects are facilitated by the viroporin (ion-channel) like activities of the envelope protein. Our current work reports metagenomic analysis of envelope protein at the amino acid sequence level through mining all the available SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the GISAID and coronapp servers. We found majority of mutations in envelope protein were localized at or near PDZ binding motif. Our analysis also demonstrates that the acquired mutations might have important implications on its structure and ion-channel activity. A statistical correlation between specific mutations (e.g. F4F, R69I, P71L, L73F) with patient mortalities were also observed, based on the patient data available for 18,691 SARS-CoV-2-genomes in the GISAID database till 30 April 2021. Albeit, whether these mutations exist as the cause or the effect of co-infections and/or co-morbid disorders within COVID-19 patients is still unclear. Moreover, most of the current vaccine and therapeutic interventions are revolving around spike protein. However, emphasizing on envelope protein's (1) conserved epitopes, (2) pathogenicity attenuating mutations, and (3) mutations present in the deceased patients, as reported in our present study, new directions to the ongoing efforts of therapeutic developments against COVID-19 can be achieved by targeting envelope viroporin.

Evaluation of quantum of disability as sequelae of electric burn injuries.

BACKGROUND: All will agree that invention of electricity has changed the world. Today nobody can think of living without an uninterrupted supply. Electricity is definitely a boon to the mankind but this turns into a curse when it becomes a cause of disaster. Electrical burn injuries are the most destructive injuries with a potential of causing significant functional disability and extensive disfigurement in the survivors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out a retrospective observational study on the 110 patients of electric burns admitted to our hospital between January 2007 and October 2014. The aim of the study was to determine the demographic and clinical profile of patients who had sustained electrical burn injury, with a special emphasis on limb loss. Section-2 of Workman's Compensation Act 1923 was used for the calculation of an individual's disability due to amputation. All the data was analysed using method of simple percentages and presented in a tabular form. RESULT: Forty eight patients (43.63%) of electric burn belonged to the age group of 21-30 y, with male preponderance (M:F:: 93.6 : 6.4). This shows that the individual affected more often are invariably the breadwinners of the family.Twenty four, out of these 110 patients have undergone one or more than one amputation. Significantly the numbers of upper limb amputations have exceeded any other amputation in this study. Mortality in patients of electrical burns is 6.36% in comparison to mortality of 45.67% in all burn patients. CONCLUSION: Loss of upper limb completely reduces the earning capacity of an individual. Future and fortune of the individual's family is jeopardized. Such accidents can be prevented by following safety norms and simple precautions while using the electrical equipment.