In vitro broad-spectrum antiviral activity of MIT-001, a mitochondria-targeted reactive oxygen species scavenger, against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and multiple zoonotic viruses.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 becomes a serious threat to global health and requires the development of effective antiviral therapies. Current therapies that target viral proteins have limited efficacy with side effects. In this study, we investigated the antiviral activity of MIT-001, a small molecule reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger targeting mitochondria, against SARS-CoV-2 and other zoonotic viruses in vitro. The antiviral activity of MIT-001 was quantified by RT-qPCR and plaque assay. We also evaluated the functional analysis of MIT-001 by JC-1 staining to measure mitochondrial depolarization, total RNA sequencing to investigate gene expression changes, and immunoblot to quantify protein expression levels. The results showed that MIT-001 effectively inhibited the replication of B.1.617.2 and BA.1 strains, Zika virus, Seoul virus, and Vaccinia virus. Treatment with MIT-001 restored the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX1) and NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NqO1) genes, anti-oxidant enzymes reduced by SARS-CoV-2, to normal levels. The presence of MIT-001 also alleviated mitochondrial depolarization caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings highlight the potential of MIT-001 as a broad-spectrum antiviral compound that targets for zoonotic RNA and DNA viruses, providing a promising therapeutic approach to combat viral infection.

VirPipe: an easy-to-use and customizable pipeline for detecting viral genomes from Nanopore sequencing.

Detection and analysis of viral genomes with Nanopore sequencing has shown great promise in the surveillance of pathogen outbreaks. However, the number of virus detection pipelines supporting Nanopore sequencing is very limited. Here, we present VirPipe, a new pipeline for the detection of viral genomes from Nanopore or Illumina sequencing input featuring streamlined installation and customization. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: VirPipe source code and documentation are freely available for download at https://github.com/KijinKims/VirPipe, implemented in Python and Nextflow.

Effect of sinus opacification on the severity of obstructive sleep apnea.

PURPOSE: The association between rhinosinusitis and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains unclear. Here, we aimed to elucidate the association between sinus opacification and OSA severity. METHODS: Patients with snoring problems who visited our clinic from April 2018 to December 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. Among these patients, we included those who underwent a physical examination, overnight polysomnography, and osteomeatal-unit computed tomography. We evaluated the association between apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and Lund-Mackay score (LMS). LMS ≥ 5 was considered indicative of sinus opacification. RESULTS: Among the 122 patients included in the study, LMS exhibited an increasing trend based on OSA severity. The LMS in the moderate OSA group was significantly higher than that in the no OSA group (P = 0.002), and the LMS in the severe OSA group was significantly higher than that in the no OSA (P < 0.001) and mild OSA (P = 0.006) groups. A correlation analysis revealed that AHI was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.367, P < 0.001) and LMS (r = 0.255, P = 0.005). A multivariate analysis revealed that sinus opacification was associated with moderate and severe OSA [Adjusted odds ratio = 11.986 (P = 0.005) and 3.756 (P = 0.044), respectively] after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, smoking, hypertension, atopy, tonsil size, and palatal position. The effect of sinus opacification on OSA severity was comparable to that of overweight. CONCLUSION: Sinus opacification may increase OSA severity since moderate and severe OSA is independently associated with it.

Effect of healthcare benefits on short-term adherence of positive airway pressure therapy.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of healthcare benefits on adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. METHODS: Medical records of OSA patients at the Veterans Health Service Medical Center were retrospectively reviewed. OSA patients were assigned to two groups as the date of prescribing PAP: after (=Group A) and before (=Group B) July 1, 2018 when PAP therapy starts to be included in healthcare insurance coverage for OSA patients in South Korea. PAP adherence was compared over a 3-month period between the two groups; subjective improvement after therapy was evaluated using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores. In addition, we evaluated a number of OSA patients who chose to start PAP therapy without healthcare benefit (from July 2018 to December 2018). RESULTS: Each of the 50 patients in the Group A and B exhibited PAP adherence rates of 82% and 26%, respectively (P < .001). Age did not affect PAP adherence in the Group A. The mean apnea-hypopnea index (from 36.7 to 1.34, P < .001) and ESS (from 7.6 to 5.6, P = .004) scores of patients in the Group A had significantly improved within the first three months. Twenty-three (23 out of 334, 6.9%) OSA patients did not have any healthcare insurance, but they medically needed PAP therapy. However, only one of the 23 patients began PAP treatment. CONCLUSION: Short-term PAP adherence significantly improved after PAP therapy was included in healthcare insurance coverage.