Development and evaluation of low-volume tests to detect and characterize antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.

Low-volume antibody assays can be used to track SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in settings where active testing for virus is limited and remote sampling is optimal. We developed 12 ELISAs detecting total or antibody isotypes to SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid, spike protein or its receptor binding domain (RBD), 3 anti-RBD isotype specific luciferase immunoprecipitation system (LIPS) assays and a novel Spike-RBD bridging LIPS total-antibody assay. We utilized pre-pandemic (n=984) and confirmed/suspected recent COVID-19 sera taken pre-vaccination rollout in 2020 (n=269).

Evaluation of perturbed iron-homeostasis in a prospective cohort of patients with COVID-19.

Marked reductions in serum iron concentrations are commonly induced during the acute phase of infection. This phenomenon, termed hypoferremia of inflammation, leads to inflammatory anemia, but could also have broader pathophysiological implications. In patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), hypoferremia is associated with disease severity and poorer outcomes, although there are few reported cohorts.

Predicting outcomes of COVID-19 from admission biomarkers: a prospective UK cohort study.

Introduction: COVID-19 has an unpredictable clinical course, so prognostic biomarkers would be invaluable when triaging patients on admission to hospital. Many biomarkers have been suggested using large observational datasets but sample timing is crucial to ensure prognostic relevance. The DISCOVER study prospectively recruited patients with COVID-19 admitted to a UK hospital and analysed a panel of putative prognostic biomarkers on the admission blood sample to identify markers of poor outcome.

The frequency and persistence of depressive symptoms in the alcohol abuser.

A survey of 61 outpatients admitted to a mental health center for the treatment of alcoholism determined that a majority of them (59 per cent) were clinically depressed. The depressive symptoms were rarely treated with anti-depressant agents and, at 1-year follow-up, were found to persist even though the patients had attended the standard treatment program for alcoholics. There is need for new treatment strategies that recognize the diagnostic heterogeneity of the alcoholic and that consider the use of appropriate psychopharmacological agents.