Worldwide association of lifestyle related factors and COVID-19 mortality

BackgroundSeveral lifestyle related factors such as obesity and diabetes have been identified as risk factors for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality. The objective of this study was to examine the global association between lifestyle related factors and COVID-19 mortality using data from each individual country. MethodsThe association between prevalence of seven lifestyle related factors (overweight, insufficient physical activity, smoking, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and age over 65) and COVID-19 mortality was assessed by linear and multivariable regression among 186 countries. The cumulative effect of lifestyle related factors on COVID-19 mortality was assessed by dividing countries into four categories according to the number of lifestyle related factors in the upper half range and comparing the mean mortality between groups. ResultsIn linear regression, COVID-19 mortality was significantly associated with overweight, insufficient physical activity, hyperlipidemia, and age [≥]65. In multivariable regression, overweight and age [≥]65 demonstrated significant association with COVID-19 mortality (P = 0.0039, 0.0094). Countries with more risk factors demonstrated greater COVID-19 mortality (P for trend <0.001). ConclusionLifestyle related factors, especially overweight and elderly population, were associated with increased COVID-19 mortality on a global scale. Global effort to reduce burden of lifestyle related factors along with protection and vaccination of these susceptible groups may help reduce COVID-19 mortality.

Japan COVID-19 Task Force: a nation-wide consortium to elucidate host genetics of COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

To elucidate the host genetic loci affecting severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is an emerging issue in the face of the current devastating pandemic. Here, we report a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of COVID-19 in a Japanese population led by the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, as one of the initial discovery GWAS studies performed on a non-European population. Enrolling a total of 2,393 cases and 3,289 controls, we not only replicated previously reported COVID-19 risk variants (e.g., LZTFL1, FOXP4, ABO, and IFNAR2), but also found a variant on 5q35 (rs60200309-A at DOCK2) that was associated with severe COVID-19 in younger (<65 years of age) patients with a genome-wide significant p-value of 1.2 x 10-8 (odds ratio = 2.01, 95% confidence interval = 1.58-2.55). This risk allele was prevalent in East Asians, including Japanese (minor allele frequency [MAF] = 0.097), but rarely found in Europeans. Cross-population Mendelian randomization analysis made a causal inference of a number of complex human traits on COVID-19. In particular, obesity had a significant impact on severe COVID-19. The presence of the population-specific risk allele underscores the need of non-European studies of COVID-19 host genetics.

Nasal delivery of single-domain antibodies improve symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection in an animal model

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the disease COVID-19 can lead to serious symptoms, such as severe pneumonia, in the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. While vaccines are now available, they do not work for everyone and therapeutic drugs are still needed particularly for treating life-threatening conditions. Here, we showed nasal delivery of a new, unmodified camelid single-domain antibody (VHH), termed K-874A, effectively inhibited SARS-CoV-2 titers in infected lungs of Syrian hamsters without causing weight loss and cytokine induction. In vitro studies demonstrated that K-874A neutralized SARS-CoV-2 in both VeroE6/TMPRSS2 and human lung-derived alveolar organoid cells. Unlike other drug candidates, K-874A blocks viral membrane fusion rather than viral attachment. Cryo-electron microscopy revealed K-874A bound between the receptor binding domain and N-terminal domain of the virus S protein. Further, infected cells treated with K-874A produced fewer virus progeny that were less infective. We propose that direct administration of K-874A to the lung via a nebulizer could be a new treatment for preventing the reinfection of amplified virus in COVID-19 patients. Author summaryVaccines for COVID-19 are now available but therapeutic drugs are still needed to treat life-threatening cases and those who cannot be vaccinated. We discovered a new heavy-chain single-domain antibody that can effectively neutralize the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19. Unlike other drug candidates, which prevent the virus from attaching to the receptor on the host cell, this new antibody acts by blocking the virus membrane from fusing with the host cell membrane. We studied the behavior of the new antibody in vitro using VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells and human lung organoids. When delivered through the nose to infected Syrian hamsters, we found that this antibody could prevent the typical symptoms caused by SARS-CoV-2. Our results are significant because delivering simple drugs directly to infected lungs using a nebulizer could increase the potency of the drugs while reducing the risk of immune reaction that could occur if the drugs escape or are delivered through the blood stream.

COVID-19 reinfection: A Rapid Systematic Review of Case Reports and Case Series

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected millions of people worldwide and many countries have been suffering from a large number of deaths. Acknowledging the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to mutate into distinct strains as an RNA virus and investigating its potential to cause reinfection is important for future health policy guidelines. It was thought that individuals who recovered from COVID-19 generate a robust immune response and develop protective immunity, however, since the first case of documented reinfection of COVID-19 in August 2020, there have been a number of cases with reinfection. Many cases are lacking genomic data of the two infections and it remains unclear whether they were caused by different strains. In the present study, we undertook a rapid systematic review to identify cases infected with different genetic strains of SARS-CoV-2 confirmed by polymerase-chain reaction and viral genome sequencing. A total of 17 cases of genetically confirmed COVID-19 reinfection were found. One immunocompromised patient had mild symptoms with the first infection, but developed severe symptoms resulting in death with the second infection. Overall, 68.8% (11/16) had similar severity, 18.8% (3/16) had worse symptoms, and 12.5% (2/16) had milder symptoms with the second episode. Our case series shows that reinfection with different strains is possible and some cases may experience more severe infections with the second episode. The findings also suggest that COVID-19 may continue to circulate even after achieving herd immunity through natural infection or vaccination suggesting the need for longer term transmission mitigation efforts.

Relationship between health and physical fitness, and the contribution of each element in physical fitness to health for middle-aged and elderly women / 体力科学

This study determined the relationship between health and physical fitness, and the contribution of each element in physical fitness to health for middle-aged and elderly women. A total of 1, 220 females aged 35 to 64 years participated in physical fitness tests and medical check ups. According to health status, the subjects were divided into two groups ; the healthy group (HG) and the unhealthy group (UG) . Multiple discriminant analysis was applied to the multivariate data. Correct discriminant probabilities of multiple discriminant functions to discriminate the HG and UG ranged from 63.9 to 83.3% among 6 age groups. These results suggested that there was a relatively strong relationship between health status and the level of physical fitness for middle-aged and elderly women. The change in correct discriminant probabilities indicated that degree of relationship would decrease stepwise with age. The contribution of each element of physical fitness to health status was also evaluated by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Age-related changes in the correlation coefficients between the discriminant score representing health status and performance on each physical fitness test demonstrated four different patterns. Therefore, special consideration should be given to the degree of contribution of each physical fitness element at each age level when developing exercise programs to promote health among middle-aged and elderly women.

Relationship of health and physical fitness in middle-aged elderly men and women / 体力科学

This study was carried out to determine the relationship between health status and physical fitness, and the contribution of each element of physical fitness to the health status of middle-aged and elderly men and women. The subjects were 889 males and females aged 30 to 69 years. Physical fitness tests and medical check ups were performed. According to health status, the subjects were divided into two groups ; the healthy group (HG, n=348) and the unhealthy group (UG, n=207) . Multiple discriminant analysis was applied to the multivariate data. Correct discriminant probabilities of multiple discriminant functions to discriminate the HG and UG were 70.2% and 68.2% for men and women, respectively. These results suggested that there was a relatively strong relationship between health status and the level of physical fitness in both men and women. The contribution of each element of physical fitness to health status was evaluated by correlation coefficients between the discriminant score representing health status, and performance on each element of the physical fitness test and age. Age and muscle endurance contributed significantly to health status in both men and women. In addition, close relationship was seen between health status and elements of cardiorespiratory endurance, balance, and muscle strength in men, while change in physique correlated with health status in women. From these findings, it was concluded that exercise programs for health promotion in middle-aged and elderly people should be provided separately with consideration of the degree to which these specific elements contribute to health status.

Effect of acupuncture treatment on the castric acid secretion / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

This Study was performed to evaluate the effect of acupuncture stimulations on meridian points on gastric function.<br>Gastric juice of healthy volunteers was examined, and the effect of acupuncture stimulations at the trunk and remote positions on the gastric acid output was observed.<br>The followiag results were obtained:<br>1) Gastric juice secretion and acid output were suppressed in basal secretion but facilitated in maximal secretion.<br>2) The variation of gastric function was closely related to the location of stimulation; the effect of stimulation was more conspicuous at remote positions than trunk positions.<br>3) The variations of effect depending on the number of stimulations were conspicuous in remote positions, where a larger effect was obtained, and there was a significant difference in effect between single and consecutive stimulations.

Effect of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment on exocrin function of pancreas / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

This paper covers our recent study of the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion treatments on the exocrine function of the pancreas. The study consisted of pancereatic function diagnos-tant (PFD) tests on healthy adults. Stimulations with acupun-cture and moxibustion have been deeply concerned with “hi-no-zo, ” which is called the pancreas in current terminology, so they were applied to the meridian points in the dermatome referring to the pancreas. Measurements were made before giving a stimulus. after 6 consecutive stimuli were givem, after 12 consecutive stimuli were given, and 7 days atfer ceasing stimulation. No significant change in urinary output was obserued after the treatment. The p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) excretion rate in urine showed conflicting results between acupuncture and moxibustion. Acupuneture increased the excretion rate while moxibustion suppressed it after single stimulus of each was applied. The excretion rate increased after either type of stimuli was applied repeatedly.<br>Based on these results, we believe that the effect of stimuli to the meridian points which effect “hi-no-zo” in Oriental medicine on the exocrine function has been confirmed, although some fluctuations of vital reactions which depended on the number of stimuli were observed.