COVID-19
Children unlikely to be the main drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic
It is highly likely that children can transmit the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, but several factors suggest that children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the pandemic. Opening up schools and kindergartens is unlikely to impact COVID-19 mortality rates in older people, according to a systematic review that spanned 47 publications and was conducted by researchers at KI. The paper is published in Acta Paediatrica.
KI researchers to evaluate effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment against COVID-19
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet are coordinating a recently initiated multi-national clinical trial that will evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO) in severe cases of COVID-19. A total of 200 adults admitted to hospital with moderately severe COVID-19 pneumonia will be recruited. The trial could start as early as next week at a hospital in Region Blekinge, Sweden.
KI researcher coordinates large international coronavirus project
EU-financed Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) has boosted funding for research on diagnostics, medicines and vaccines against the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Ali Mirazimi, researcher at Karolinska Institutet and Sweden’s National Veterinary Institute (SVA), coordinates one of eight projects provisionally selected among 144 applicants.
Overlooked protein could play important part in pneumonia and COVID-19, researchers say
In severe cases of COVID-19, a massive release of the endogenous protein HMGB1 in the lungs may contribute to pulmonary inflammation and tissue damage, according to a recent review article published in the journal Molecular Medicine. The researchers conclude that the inflammation could hypothetically be treated with an HMGB1 inhibitor.
Soo Aleman, national coordinator of WHO study: “A global study will give us better answers”
Sweden can contribute solid data to Solidarity, a global study run by the WHO to test the efficacy and safety of drugs considered for use in the treatment of COVID-19, says Soo Aleman, docent and consultant, and coordinator of the Swedish arm of the study.
Top-publications list
A limited selection of recent publications in high impact journals to which researchers at KI have contributed.
Hopeful result of stem cell therapy for Parkinson's disease in rats
Single cell transcriptomics identifies stem cell-derived graft composition in a model of Parkinson’s disease, Tiklová K et al, Nature Communications, May 2020.
Environmental factors do not explain increased prevalence of autism
Etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Autistic Traits Over Time, Taylor MJ et al, JAMA Psychiatry, May 2020.
Greater benefit of rituximab earlier in the disease course of Myasthenia gravis
Comparison Between Rituximab Treatment for New-Onset Generalized Myasthenia Gravis and Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis, Brauner S et al, JAMA Neurology, May 2020.
Cells in the nose and lungs wide-open to the new coronavirus
SARS-CoV-2 entry factors are highly expressed in nasal epithelial cells together with innate immune genes, Sungnak W et al, Nature Medicine, April 2020.