Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) are two highly infectious and lethal viruses causing major economic losses to pig production. Here, we report generation of double-gene-knockout (DKO) pigs harboring edited knockout alleles for known receptor proteins CD163 and pAPN and show that DKO pigs are completely resistant to genotype 2 PRRSV and TGEV. We found no differences in meat-production or reproductive-performance traits between wild-type and DKO pigs, but detected increased iron in DKO muscle. Additional infection challenge experiments showed that DKO pigs exhibited decreased susceptibility to porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), thus offering unprecedented in vivo evidence of pAPN as one of PDCoV receptors. Beyond showing that multiple gene edits can be combined in a livestock animal to achieve simultaneous resistance to two major viruses, our study introduces a valuable model for investigating infection mechanisms of porcine pathogenic viruses that exploit pAPN or CD163 for entry.

The use of corticosteroids has been controversial in viral pneumonia. In most cases, application of methylprednisolone in severe and critical viral pneumonia patients can quickly alleviate the symptoms of dyspnea and prevent disease progression. However, some scholars have confirmed that corticosteroids delayed the body's clearance of the virus. In our retrospective non-randomized study, 34 patients under 50 years old and diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were included. According to the given methylprednisolone treatment (n = 18) or not (n = 16), they were separated into two groups. By comparing the clinical data we concluded that corticosteroids therapy can effectively release COVID-19 symptoms such as persistent fever and difficult in breathing, improve oxygenation, and prevent disease progression. However, it can prolong the negative conversion of nucleic acids.

Both procedures are equally effective in pain relief, but DPPHR is superior to PD in operative data, postoperative morbidity, improving quality of life, and preservation of exocrine and endocrine function.