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Gurukkalot K, Rajendran V. Repurposing Polyether Ionophores as a New-Class of Anti-SARS-Cov-2 Agents as Adjunct Therapy. Curr Microbiol 2023; 80:273. [PMID: 37414909 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-023-03366-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants have posed a significant threat to humankind in tackling the viral spread. Furthermore, currently repurposed drugs and frontline antiviral agents have failed to cure severe ongoing infections effectively. This insufficiency has fuelled research for potent and safe therapeutic agents to treat COVID-19. Nonetheless, various vaccine candidates have displayed a differential efficacy and need for repetitive dosing. The FDA-approved polyether ionophore veterinary antibiotic for treating coccidiosis has been repurposed for treating SARS-CoV-2 infection (as shown by both in vitro and in vivo studies) and other deadly human viruses. Based on selectivity index values, ionophores display therapeutic effects at sub-nanomolar concentrations and exhibit selective killing ability. They act on different viral targets (structural and non-structural proteins), host-cell components leading to SARS-CoV-2 inhibition, and their activity is further enhanced by Zn2+ supplementation. This review summarizes the anti-SARS-CoV-2 potential and molecular viral targets of selective ionophores like monensin, salinomycin, maduramicin, CP-80,219, nanchangmycin, narasin, X-206 and valinomycin. Ionophore combinations with Zn2+ are a new therapeutic strategy that warrants further investigation for possible human benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keerthana Gurukkalot
- Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, 605014, India
| | - Vinoth Rajendran
- Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, 605014, India.
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Campbell A, Millen S, Guo L, Jordan U, Taylor-Beswick A, Rintoul C, Diamond A. Reducing opioid related deaths for individuals who are at high risk of death from overdose: a co-production study with people housed within prison and hostel accommodation during Covid-19. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1080629. [PMID: 37404271 PMCID: PMC10316785 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1080629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background A record number of Opioid-related deaths occurred in Northern Ireland in 2021 and it is acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic compounded drugs related deaths crisis. This co-production study set out to refine the design of a wearable device for Opioid users to detect and subsequently prevent a potential overdose situation. Method Purposive sampling was used to recruit people who had substance use disorders and were living in a hostel and prison during the Covid-19 pandemic. Principles of co-production influenced the study, which encompassed a focus group phase and a wearable phase. The initial phase included three focus groups with participants who inject Opioids and one focus group with workers from a street injector support service. During the wearable phase, the participant group tested the feasibility of the wearable technology in a controlled environment. This included testing the transferability of data from the device to a backend server on the cloud. Results All focus group participants expressed an interest in the wearable technology when it was presented to them and agreed, that in principle, such a device would be extremely beneficial to help reduce the risk of overdose within the active drug using community. Participants outlined factors which would help or hinder the design of this proposed device and their decision to wear it, if it were readily available to them. Findings from wearable phase indicated that it was feasible to use a wearable device for monitoring Opioid users' biomarkers remotely. The provision of information regarding the specific functionality of the device was considered key and could be disseminated via front line services. The data acquisition and transfer process would not be a barrier for future research. Conclusion Understanding the benefit and disadvantages of technologies such as a wearable device to prevent Opioid-related deaths will be critical for mitigating the risk of overdose for people who use Heroin. It was also clear that this would be particularly relevant during Covid-19 lock-down periods, when the effects of the pandemic further exacerbated the isolation and solitude experienced by people who use Heroin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Campbell
- SSESW, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
| | - Sharon Millen
- SSESW, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
| | - Li Guo
- Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Uisce Jordan
- Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom
| | | | - Chris Rintoul
- Cranstoun, St. Andrew's House, Surbiton, United Kingdom
| | - Aisling Diamond
- Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Craigavon, United Kingdom
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Beukenhorst AL, Koch CM, Hadjichrysanthou C, Alter G, de Wolf F, Anderson RM, Goudsmit J. SARS-CoV-2 elicits non-sterilizing immunity and evades vaccine-induced immunity: implications for future vaccination strategies. Eur J Epidemiol 2023; 38:237-242. [PMID: 36738380 PMCID: PMC9898703 DOI: 10.1007/s10654-023-00965-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Neither vaccination nor natural infection result in long-lasting protection against SARS-COV-2 infection and transmission, but both reduce the risk of severe COVID-19. To generate insights into optimal vaccination strategies for prevention of severe COVID-19 in the population, we extended a Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed (SEIR) mathematical model to compare the impact of vaccines that are highly protective against severe COVID-19 but not against infection and transmission, with those that block SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our analysis shows that vaccination strategies focusing on the prevention of severe COVID-19 are more effective than those focusing on creating of herd immunity. Key uncertainties that would affect the choice of vaccination strategies are: (1) the duration of protection against severe disease, (2) the protection against severe disease from variants that escape vaccine-induced immunity, (3) the incidence of long-COVID and level of protection provided by the vaccine, and (4) the rate of serious adverse events following vaccination, stratified by demographic variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna L Beukenhorst
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
- Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK.
- Leyden Laboratories BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | | | | | - Galit Alter
- Ragon Institute of MGH MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Frank de Wolf
- Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Roy M Anderson
- Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Jaap Goudsmit
- Leyden Laboratories BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Departments of Epidemiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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Gravrand V, Mellot F, Ackermann F, Ballester MC, Zuber B, Kirk JT, Navalkar K, Yager TD, Petit F, Pascreau T, Farfour E, Vasse M. Stratification of COVID-19 Severity Using SeptiCyte RAPID, a Novel Host Immune Response Test. Viruses 2023; 15:419. [PMID: 36851633 PMCID: PMC9960895 DOI: 10.3390/v15020419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
SeptiCyte® RAPID is a gene expression assay measuring the relative expression levels of host response genes PLA2G7 and PLAC8, indicative of a dysregulated immune response during sepsis. As severe forms of COVID-19 may be considered viral sepsis, we evaluated SeptiCyte RAPID in a series of 94 patients admitted to Foch Hospital (Suresnes, France) with proven SARS-CoV-2 infection. EDTA blood was collected in the emergency department (ED) in 67 cases, in the intensive care unit (ICU) in 23 cases and in conventional units in 4 cases. SeptiScore (0-15 scale) increased with COVID-19 severity. Patients in ICU had the highest SeptiScores, producing values comparable to 8 patients with culture-confirmed bacterial sepsis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.81 for discriminating patients requiring ICU admission from patients who were immediately discharged or from patients requiring hospitalization in conventional units. SeptiScores increased with the extent of the lung injury. For 68 patients, a chest computed tomography (CT) scan was performed within 24 h of COVID-19 diagnosis. SeptiScore >7 suggested lung injury ≥50% (AUC = 0.86). SeptiCyte RAPID was compared to other biomarkers for discriminating Critical + Severe COVID-19 in ICU, versus Moderate + Mild COVID-19 not in ICU. The mean AUC for SeptiCyte RAPID was superior to that of any individual biomarker or combination thereof. In contrast to C-reactive protein (CRP), correlation of SeptiScore with lung injury was not impacted by treatment with anti-inflammatory agents. SeptiCyte RAPID can be a useful tool to identify patients with severe forms of COVID-19 in ED, as well as during follow-up.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Felix Ackermann
- Internal Medicine Department, Foch Hospital, 92150 Suresnes, France
| | | | - Benjamin Zuber
- Intensive Care Unit, Foch Hospital, 92150 Suresnes, France
| | | | | | | | - Fabien Petit
- Biology Department, Foch Hospital, 92150 Suresnes, France
| | - Tiffany Pascreau
- Biology Department, Foch Hospital, 92150 Suresnes, France
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), UMR-S1176, 94270 Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France
| | - Eric Farfour
- Biology Department, Foch Hospital, 92150 Suresnes, France
| | - Marc Vasse
- Biology Department, Foch Hospital, 92150 Suresnes, France
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), UMR-S1176, 94270 Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France
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Davis M, Voss K, Turnbull JB, Gustin AT, Knoll M, Muruato A, Hsiang TY, Dinnon KH, Leist SR, Nickel K, Baric RS, Ladiges W, Akilesh S, Smith KD, Gale M. A C57BL/6 Mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection recapitulates age- and sex-based differences in human COVID-19 disease and recovery. RESEARCH SQUARE 2022:rs.3.rs-2194450. [PMID: 36415465 PMCID: PMC9681052 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2194450/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
We present a comprehensive analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery in wild type C57BL/6 mice, demonstrating that this is an ideal model of infection and recovery that accurately phenocopies acute human disease arising from the ancestral SARS-CoV-2. Disease severity and infection kinetics are age- and sex-dependent, as has been reported for humans, with older mice and males in particular exhibiting decreased viral clearance and increased mortality. We identified key parallels with human pathology, including intense virus positivity in bronchial epithelial cells, wide-spread alveolar involvement, recruitment of immune cells to the infected lungs, and acute bronchial epithelial cell death. Moreover, older animals experienced increased virus persistence, delayed dispersal of immune cells into lung parenchyma, and morphologic evidence of tissue damage and inflammation. Parallel analysis of SCID mice revealed that the adaptive immune response was not required for recovery from COVID disease symptoms nor early phase clearance of virus but was required for efficient clearance of virus at later stages of infection. Finally, transcriptional analyses indicated that induction and duration of key innate immune gene programs may explain differences in age-dependent disease severity. Importantly, these data demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2-mediated disease in C57BL/6 mice accurately phenocopies human disease across ages and establishes a platform for future therapeutic and genetic screens for not just SARS-CoV-2 but also novel coronaviruses that have yet to emerge.
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