LONDON - hVIVO plc (AIM: HVO), a leading specialist contract research organization, announced the publication of a significant COVID-19 study in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications. The study, a collaborative effort with Imperial College London and other partners, has identified blood-based biomarkers that can distinguish between the early and late phases of respiratory viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2.
The research, titled "SARS-CoV-2 human challenge reveals single-gene blood transcriptional biomarkers that discriminate early and late phases of acute respiratory viral infections," represents a potential leap forward in diagnosing and managing infections. These findings could be instrumental in the development of new diagnostic techniques that may detect viral infections before traditional methods, like PCR testing, confirm their presence.
The study was part of the world's first COVID-19 characterisation trial, which was deemed safe for healthy young adults and provided detailed insights into the infection's progression. This trial had previously yielded clinical results published in Nature Medicine in March 2022.
Dr. Andrew Catchpole, Chief Scientific Officer at hVIVO, expressed enthusiasm about the study's implications for public health. He highlighted the utility of human challenge trials in observing infection progression, particularly in the early stages. According to Dr. Catchpole, the early-stage marker was sometimes observable even before PCR testing could confirm the virus, indicating its potential utility in early infection detection and patient stratification for antiviral therapy.
This study underscores the importance of blood-based biomarkers in the early and effective diagnosis of infections, which is crucial in managing and controlling the spread of diseases like COVID-19. The research's publication in Nature Communications, a journal known for its high-quality interdisciplinary research, adds to its credibility and significance.
The partnership for this study included the Vaccine Taskforce and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. This collaboration signifies a concerted effort to address the challenges posed by infectious diseases and to enhance the understanding of immune responses to such infections.
The information reported is based on a press release statement.
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