Clinical, Serological, and Histopathological Similarities Between Severe COVID-19 and Acute Exacerbation of Connective Tissue Disease-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease (CTD-ILD).

Background And Objectives: Understanding the pathophysiology of respiratory failure in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is indispensable for development of therapeutic strategies. Since we observed similarities between COVID-19 and interstitial lung disease in connective tissue disease (CTD-ILD), we investigated features of autoimmunity in SARS-CoV-2-associated respiratory failure.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 22 patients with RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and 10 patients with non-COVID-19-associated pneumonia.

Discovery of Zika Virus NS2B/NS3 Inhibitors That Prevent Mice from Life-Threatening Infection and Brain Damage.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, which initially was endemic only in Africa and Asia, is rapidly spreading throughout Europe, Oceania, and the Americas. Although there have been enormous efforts, there is still no approved drug to treat ZIKV infection. Herein, we report the synthesis and biological evaluation of agents with noncompetitive mechanism of the ZIKV NS2B/NS3 protease inhibition through the binding to an allosteric site.

The value of colour Doppler sonography of the knee joint: a useful tool to discriminate inflammatory from non-inflammatory disease?

Objective: To determine the diagnostic value of colour Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) vs non-inflammatory disease (e.g. OA) of the knee joint.