Research

Introduction A third dose of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine has been administered in several countries.1,2 Patients with end-stage kidney disease have a weak immune response to 2-sessional doses of the mRNA vaccine.3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Because patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) are at a high risk for COVID-19 severity and death, they have been prioritized in vaccination programs worldwide.8,9

Background A dose–response and nonlinear association between fruit and vegetable intake and mortality has been reported in Europe and the United States, but little is known about this association in Asia.

Background and objective A cytokine storm is caused by inflammatory cells, including pro-inflammatory macrophage phenotype (M1), and play a critical role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19, in which diffuse alveolar damage occurs in the lungs due to oxidative stress exposure. Heme oxygenase (HO)-1 is a stress-induced protein produced by the anti-inflammatory / anti-oxidative macrophage phenotype (M2), which also produces soluble CD163 (sCD163). In our study, we investigated and determined that serum HO-1 can be a predictive biomarker for assessing both the severity and the outcome of COVID-19 patients.