Publications by authors named "M Muenchhoff"
Courses of SARS-CoV-2 infections are highly variable, ranging from asymptomatic to lethal COVID-19. Though research has shown that host genetic factors contribute to this variability, cohort-based joint analyses of variants from the entire allelic spectrum in individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections are still lacking. Here, we present the results of whole genome sequencing in 1,220 mainly vaccine-naïve individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, including 827 hospitalized COVID-19 cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Researchers studied how mild SARS-CoV-2 infections during pregnancy affect fetal lung growth, especially during the omicron phase of the pandemic.
- They used MRI to check the lung volumes of 24 pregnancies and found no significant differences compared to normal values.
- This study shows that mild SARS-CoV-2 infections don't harm fetal lung development like earlier variants did, possibly due to the benefits of vaccination or prior infections.
In the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, many local collections of clinical data on patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 were initiated in Germany. As part of the National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON) of the University Medicine Network, the "Integration Core" was established to design the legal, technical and organisational requirements for the integration of inventory data into ongoing prospective data collections and to test the feasibility of the newly developed solutions using use cases (UCs). Detailed study documents of the data collections were obtained.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- CD74, traditionally known for its role in MHC II-mediated antigen presentation, also acts as a high-affinity receptor for the inflammatory cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), impacting various diseases, including cancer and COVID-19.
- Recent research shows that although CD74 is present intracellularly in resting human CD4 T cells, its expression increases upon T-cell activation, where it interacts with CXCR4 and facilitates MIF-induced T-cell migration.
- In a study of COVID-19 patients, elevated CD74 surface expression on CD4 and CD8 T cells was noted in those with severe symptoms, suggesting its potential role in disease severity and as a functional receptor linked to MIF signaling.
Under-reporting of COVID-19 and the limited information about circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants remain major challenges for many African countries. We analyzed SARS-CoV-2 infection dynamics in Addis Ababa and Jimma, Ethiopia, focusing on reinfection, immunity, and vaccination effects. We conducted an antibody serology study spanning August 2020 to July 2022 with five rounds of data collection across a population of 4723, sequenced PCR-test positive samples, used available test positivity rates, and constructed two mathematical models integrating this data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF