Identification of a novel coronavirus causing severe pneumonia in human: a descriptive study / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Human infections with zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, have raised great public health concern globally. Here, we report a novel bat-origin CoV causing severe and fatal pneumonia in humans.@*METHODS@#We collected clinical data and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens from five patients with severe pneumonia from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Hubei province, China. Nucleic acids of the BAL were extracted and subjected to next-generation sequencing. Virus isolation was carried out, and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees were constructed.@*RESULTS@#Five patients hospitalized from December 18 to December 29, 2019 presented with fever, cough, and dyspnea accompanied by complications of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Chest radiography revealed diffuse opacities and consolidation. One of these patients died. Sequence results revealed the presence of a previously unknown β-CoV strain in all five patients, with 99.8% to 99.9% nucleotide identities among the isolates. These isolates showed 79.0% nucleotide identity with the sequence of SARS-CoV (GenBank NC_004718) and 51.8% identity with the sequence of MERS-CoV (GenBank NC_019843). The virus is phylogenetically closest to a bat SARS-like CoV (SL-ZC45, GenBank MG772933) with 87.6% to 87.7% nucleotide identity, but is in a separate clade. Moreover, these viruses have a single intact open reading frame gene 8, as a further indicator of bat-origin CoVs. However, the amino acid sequence of the tentative receptor-binding domain resembles that of SARS-CoV, indicating that these viruses might use the same receptor.@*CONCLUSION@#A novel bat-borne CoV was identified that is associated with severe and fatal respiratory disease in humans.

Identification of a novel coronavirus causing severe pneumonia in human: a descriptive study / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Background: Human infections with zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, have raised great public health concern globally. Here, we report a novel bat-origin CoV causing severe and fatal pneumonia in humans. Methods: We collected clinical data and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens from five patients with severe pneumonia from Jin Yin-tan Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Nucleic acids of the BAL were extracted and subjected to next-generation sequencing. Virus isolation was carried out, and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees were constructed. Results: Five patients hospitalized from December 18 to December 29, 2019 presented with fever, cough, and dyspnea accompanied by complications of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Chest radiography revealed diffuse opacities and consolidation. One of these patients died. Sequence results revealed the presence of a previously unknown β-CoV strain in all five patients, with 99.8–99.9% nucleotide identities among the isolates. These isolates showed 79.0% nucleotide identity with the sequence of SARS-CoV (GenBank NC_004718) and 51.8% identity with the sequence of MERS-CoV (GenBank NC_019843). The virus is phylogenetically closest to a bat SARS-like CoV (SL-ZC45, GenBank MG772933) with 87.6–87.7% nucleotide identity, but is in a separate clade. Moreover, these viruses have a single intact open reading frame gene 8, as a further indicator of bat-origin CoVs. However, the amino acid sequence of the tentative receptor-binding domain resembles that of SARS-CoV, indicating that these viruses might use the same receptor. Conclusion: A novel bat-borne CoV was identified that is associated with severe and fatal respiratory disease in humans.

Therapeutic Effects of Transthoracic Pulmonary Artery Denervation in a Rat Model of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension / 中国循环杂志

Objectives:The aim of this study was to observe whether transthoracic pulmonary artery denervation (TPADN) could reduce the pulmonary arterial pressure and attenuate pulmonary vascular remodeling in rats with pulmonary arterial hypertension induced by monocrotaline. Methods:Twenty-four healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into control group, sham operation group and operation group (n=8 per group). Rats in sham operation group and operation group received single subcutaneous injection of monocrotaline (MCT, 60 mg/kg). After four weeks, the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) and other hemodynamic parameters were measured with the right heart catheter in rats of these two groups. Then, operation group received the surgery of TPADN, which included thoracotomy in left 2-3 rib, exposing pulmonary artery, and removing the near connective tissue of the pulmonary artery trunk. After two weeks of operation, the mPAP and other hemodynamic parameters were measured again by the right heart catheter. The microstructure changes of the heart and pulmonary vessels was observed by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Meanwhile, RV cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area (CSA) and the right hearthy pertrophy index (RVHI= RV/[LV+S]) were used to evaluate the degree of right ventricular hypertrophy. Results:After four weeks of injection of MCT, the mPAP was significantly higher in the operation group and the sham operation group than in control group (P＜0.01). Two weeks after the surgery of TPADN, the mPAP was significantly reduced in the operation group than compared in the sham group(P＜0.01). Meanwhile, the percentage of medial thickness to outer diameter of the small pulmonary arterioles, right ventricular myocardial cell cross-sectional area and RVHI were also significantly decreased in the operation group compared to sham operation group(all P＜0.01). Conclusions:Our results show that TPADN could reduce the mean pulmonary arterial pressure and attenuate the hypertrophy of medial thickness of small pulmonary arterioles and of right ventricle in PAH rats induced by monocrotaline.

The effects of CYP3A4*18A, CYP3A4*18B and MDR1 C3435T polymorphisms on plasma concentration and efficacy of atorvastatin / 中国药学杂志

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the interindividual variabilities of plasma concentration and lipid-regulating efficacy of atorvastatin in patients with hyperlipidemia through the genotyping of CYP3A4*18A, *18B and MDR1 C3435T genes. METHODS: One hundred and fifteen Chinese Han population with hyperlipidemia were genotyped by the PCR-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism). The steady-state plasma trough concentrations of atorvastatin were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-UV. The levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) were monitored by the homogeneous enzyme method before treatment and 1 month after medication. RESULTS: The mutation frequencies of CYP3A4*18A, *18B and MDR1 C3435T were 3.48%, 23.48% and 31.74% respectively. It shows no statistically significant difference for the SNPs frequencies between the normal population reported and patients selected. Patients with CYP3A4*18B homozygous mutant (AA) showed a significantly higher plasma concentration of ATV compared with the G/A heterozygous mutat patients or the G/G wild-type homozygous (P=0.016). However, no significant difference could be shown in the patients with CYP3A4*18A and MDR1 C3435T genotypes(P>0.05). Neither CYP3A4*18A nor MDR1 C3435T could be shown a significant difference in the lipid lowering efficiency(P>0.05). Patients carrying the homozygous mutant (AA) of the CYP3A4*18B gene showed a significantly higher TC lipid-regulating effect compared with patients with the GA or GG genetic variant (P=0.02). The LDL-C change rates among the three genotype groups were significantly different, with AA group >GA group >GG group (P=0.01) and the regulation of TG and HDL-C for AA, GA or GG was compared without finding any significant difference (P>0.05). The TC changerates and plasma concentration were significantly correlated (P=0.031) before and after treatment, while there was no statistical significance in the correlation of the other three lipid change rates with plasma concentration (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The SNPs MDR1 C3435T and CYP3A4*18A do not affect the plasma concentration and efficacy of ATV. In ATV therapy, patients with the CYP3A4*18B gene exhibit higher plasma concentrations than the non-carriers, and the lipid-lowering efficacy was more pronounced.