Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

Safety of Moxifloxacin following repeated intramuscular administration in Wistar rats

Moxifloxacin is a novel fourth generation fluoroquinolone with broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. The study was conducted to evaluate the safety of Moxifloxacin (5.0 mg/kg) after repeated intramuscular administration at 24 h interval for 14 days in male and female wistar rats. Hematological (Haemoglobin, RBC, WBC, MCV, MCH, MCHC, HCT and DLC), blood biochemical parameters (AST, ALT, ALP, Total Bilirubin, Total Serum Protein, Serum Albumin, Globulin, Serum Creatinine, Urea, Uric acid and Blood glucose) and histopathological examination of various tissues were carried out in the present study. Male and female animals of any group did not reveal any clinical symptoms and mortality attributable to the 14 days intramuscular administration of Moxifloxacin. The data were compared by unpaired two tail `t` test using Graph Pad Prism (Version 4.00). All above hematological and blood biochemical parameters were found to fluctuate within normal range during treatment period and the mean values were not significantly differ (p < 0.05) from corresponding control values. Moreover, no gross or microscopic changes were found in the liver, kidney, heart, spleen, stomach, intestine and joint cartilages of the treated wistar rats. Results indicate that daily administration of Moxifloxacin for 14 days seems to be safe and well tolerated in rats. [Veterinary World 2010; 3(10.000): 449-452