Assessment of SARS-Coronavirus-2 Levels and Genetics in Vivo

我们研究了匹兹堡大学医学中心10名患者的全血、血浆和外周血单个核细胞。在与匹兹堡大学（University of Pittsburgh）的研究人员的合作下，约翰·梅勒斯和贾娜·雅各布斯，我们在来自住院供体的大多数样本和来自门诊患者的少数样本中检测到CoV-2 RNA。我们发现血浆中CoV-2 RNA水平与疾病发病机制高度相关，并且CoV-2 RNA可以被包装在血液中的病毒颗粒中。我们还对美国CoV-2的群体遗传学进行了表征，以建立病毒遗传多样性的预防接种基线，并在向公众引入疫苗之前描述突变的出现。这样的基线将允许识别可能通过引入疫苗而选择的突变。_____成就：血浆中SARS-CoV-2 RNA水平与疾病发病机制相关（Jacobs等人，Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, 2021）。_____ 2020年，SARS-CoV-2的遗传多样性在美国增加了两倍，其中包括人群中54个氨基酸变化的出现和持续（Capoferri et al., medRxiv, 2021）。

We investigated whole blood, plasma, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In collaboration with investigators at the University of Pittsburgh, including Drs. John Mellors and Jana Jacobs, we detected CoV-2 RNA in the majority of samples from hospitalized donors and in few of the samples from outpatients. We found that levels of CoV-2 RNA in blood plasma are highly associated with disease pathogenesis and that CoV-2 RNA can be packaged in virus particles in the blood. We also characterized the population genetics of CoV-2 in the U.S. to establish a prevaccination baseline for viral genetic diversity and to profile the emergence of mutations prior to the introduction of the vaccines to the general public. Such a baseline will allow for the identification of mutations that may be selected for by the introduction of the vaccine. _____ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in blood plasma are associated with disease pathogenesis (Jacobs et al., Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, 2021). _____The genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 tripled in the U.S. in 2020 and included the emergence and persistence of 54 amino acid changes in the population (Capoferri et al., medRxiv, 2021).