Background: The global pandemic COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has already caused about 1.4 million deaths, and to date, there are no effective or direct antiviral vaccines. Some vaccines are in the last stages of testing. Overall mortality rates vary between countries, for example, from a minimum of 0.05% in Singapore to a maximum of 9.75 in Mexico; however, mortality and severity of COVID-19 are higher in the elderly and in those with comorbidities already present such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Main text: Recent evidence has shown that an underlying liver disease can also be a risk factor, and SARS-CoV-2 itself can cause direct or indirect damage to liver tissue through multisystem inflammation generated especially in the more severe stages. In the current pandemic, liver dysfunction has been observed in 14–53% of patients with severe COVID-19. In addition, drugs administered during infection may be an additional factor of liver damage. The mechanism of cellular penetration of the virus that occurs by viral entry is through the receptors of the angiotensin 2 conversion enzyme (ACE-2) host that are abundantly present in type II pneumocytes, heart cells, but also liver cholangiocytes. Conclusion: In this manuscript, we describe the clinical management aimed at preserving the liver or reducing the damage caused by COVID-19 and anti-COVID-19 drug treatments.

Endometriosis is a relatively common chronic gynecologic disorder that usually presents with chronic pelvic pain or infertility. It results from implantation of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Despite its frequency and its impact on quality of life, the understanding of pathogenesis of endometriosis remains incomplete and its treatment remains controversial. In this work, we established a suitable in vitro model system of immortalized human endometriotic cell line taking advantage of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase. The results demonstrate that these cells retain the natural characteristics of endometrial cells in term of phenotype and of functional expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors, without chromosomal abnormalities. In conclusion, these cells are potentially useful as an experimental model to investigate endometriosis biology. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 1292–1301, 2012.