July 2020

Corticosteroid treatment for severe COVID-19 could be regarded as a “heavy approach” to relieving the devastating effects of acute respiratory distress syndrome, and would potentially inhibit the signalling pathways leading…

There are a number of studies emerging that show people infected with SARS-CoV-2 make robust T cell responses that target the spike protein, membrane antigens and nucleocapsid, with immunodominant responses…

A recent correspondence in NEJM shows that antibodies to SAR-CoV-2 wane rapidly in mild disease, raising the question around the durability of potential protective immunity. Blood samples were analysed longitudinally…

A recent article in Science used high dimensional cytometry to investigate the network of immune cell interactions and how they are connected in patients with COVID-19. Peripheral immune cells were…

In a pre-peer reviewed publication in MedRxiv, investigators found in critically ill COVID-19 patients that heightened extrafollicular B cells responses which lead to rapid activation of B cells resulting in…

One of the hallmarks of COVID-19 immunopathology is cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and T cell dysfunction. These immune functions are partly triggered by SARS-CoV-2 activation of the mTOR pathway. Omarjee…

Professor Adrian Hayday shares an overview of a completed deep immunophenotyping of 100 COVID-19 patients and controls (figure below), in the 13th IUIS webinar. Highlights of the webinar include the…

In addition to pulmonary pathology, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) symptoms have also been observed in COVID-19 patients and are more associated with severe compared to mild pathology. How does SARS-CoV-2 infection…

Recent Pre-print by Jouan and colleagues analysed the biology of innate T cells: mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, γδ T and invariant natural killer (iNK) T cells in critically…

Dysregulated immune responses along with metabolic dysfunction can lead to multiple organ failure, which seems to be a hallmark of COVID-19 severity. In a recent pre-peer reviewed paper, authors used…

Since the first case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020 in South Africa, the epidemic grew exponentially with a doubling time of 2 days for the first 3 weeks until…

The SARS-CoV-2 uses the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to enter a variety of cell types, notably in the upper and lower respiratory tract, although many cell types express…