Resp Res
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Comparative Study
From SARS and MERS to COVID-19: a brief summary and comparison of severe acute respiratory infections caused by three highly pathogenic human coronaviruses.
Within two decades, there have emerged three highly pathogenic and deadly human coronaviruses, namely SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. The economic burden and health threats caused by these coronaviruses are extremely dreadful and getting more serious as the increasing number of global infections and attributed deaths of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV. Unfortunately, specific medical countermeasures for these hCoVs remain absent. ⋯ Lessons learnt from SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, timely updated information of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, and summarized specific knowledge of these hCoVs are extremely invaluable for effectively and efficiently contain the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV. By gaining a deeper understanding of hCoVs and the illnesses caused by them, we can bridge knowledge gaps, provide cultural weapons for fighting and controling the spread of MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, and prepare effective and robust defense lines against hCoVs that may emerge or reemerge in the future. To this end, the state-of-the-art knowledge and comparing the biological features of these lethal hCoVs and the clinical characteristics of illnesses caused by them are systematically summarized in the review.
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An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.
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In chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) impaired pulmonary hemodynamics lead to right heart failure. Natriuretic peptides reflect hemodynamic disease severity. Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) might address another aspect of CTEPH - chronic tissue injury and inflammation. This study assessed dynamics of PAPP-A in CTEPH patients who undergo therapy with pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) or balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA). ⋯ PAPP-A is overexpressed in CTEPH and decrease significantly after surgical or interventional therapy, however without association to hemodynamics. Further investigation is needed to define the underlying mechanism of PAPP-A expression and changes after therapy in CTEPH.