Natural Products and Nanotechnology Against Coronavirus Disease 2019

Plausibility of natural immunomodulators in the treatment of COVID-19-A comprehensive analysis and future recommendations

The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted millions of deaths worldwide. Despite the availability of several vaccines and some special drugs approved for emergency use to prevent or treat this disease still, there is a huge concern regarding their effectiveness, adverse effects, and most importantly, their efficacy against the new variants. A cascade of immune-inflammatory responses is involved with the pathogenesis and severe complications with COVID-19. People with dysfunctional and compromised immune systems display severe complications, including acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, multiple organ failure etc., when they get infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Plant-derived natural immune-suppressant compounds, such as resveratrol, quercetin, curcumin, berberine, luteolin, etc., have been reported to inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Therefore, natural products with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory potential could be plausible targets to treat this contagious disease. This review aims to delineate the clinical trials status and outcomes of natural compounds with immunomodulatory potential in COVID-19 patients along with the outcomes of their in-vivo studies. In clinical trials several natural immunomodulators resulted in significant improvement of COVID-19 patients by diminishing COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, and breathlessness. Most importantly, they reduced the duration of hospitalization and the need for supplemental oxygen therapy, improved clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19, especially weakness, and eliminated acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. This paper also discusses many potent natural immunomodulators yet to undergo clinical trials. In-vivo studies with natural immunomodulators demonstrated reduction of a wide range of proinflammatory cytokines. Natural immunomodulators that were found effective, safe, and well tolerated in small-scale clinical trials are warranted to undergo large-scale trials to be used as drugs to treat COVID-19 infections. Alongside, compounds yet to test clinically must undergo clinical trials to find their effectiveness and safety in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Repositioned Natural Compounds and Nanoformulations: A Promising Combination to Counteract Cell Damage and Inflammation in Respiratory Viral Infections

Respiratory viral diseases are among the most important causes of disability, morbidity, and death worldwide. Due to the limited efficacy or side effects of many current therapies and the increase in antiviral-resistant viral strains, the need to find new compounds to counteract these infections is growing. Since the development of new drugs is a time-consuming and expensive process, numerous studies have focused on the reuse of commercially available compounds, such as natural molecules with therapeutic properties. This phenomenon is generally called drug repurposing or repositioning and represents a valid emerging strategy in the drug discovery field. Unfortunately, the use of natural compounds in therapy has some limitations, due to their poor kinetic performance and consequently reduced therapeutic effect. The advent of nanotechnology in biomedicine has allowed this limitation to be overcome, showing that natural compounds in nanoform may represent a promising strategy against respiratory viral infections. In this narrative review, the beneficial effects of some promising natural molecules, curcumin, resveratrol, quercetin, and vitamin C, which have been already studied both in native form and in nanoform, against respiratory viral infections are presented and discussed. The review focuses on the ability of these natural compounds, analyzed in in vitro and in vivo studies, to counteract inflammation and cellular damage induced by viral infection and provide scientific evidence of the benefits of nanoformulations in increasing the therapeutic potential of these molecules.

Novel targeted pH-responsive drug delivery systems based on PEGMA-modified bimetallic Prussian blue analogs for breast cancer chemotherapy

The development of novel nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems (nano-DDSs) with high loading capacity, low toxicity, precise targeting, and excellent biocompatibility remains urgent and important for the treatment of breast cancer (BC). Herein, novel BC-targeted nano-DDSs based on bimetallic Prussian blue analogs (PBA-DDSs) for intracellular doxorubicin (DOX) delivery and pH-responsive release were developed. Two kinds of bimetallic PBA, namely CuFe (copper-iron) PBA and CoFe (cobalt-iron) PBA, were synthesized by a coprecipitation method, followed by modification with polyethyleneglycol methacrylate (PEGMA) via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization and immobilization with the AS1411 aptamer to obtain two kinds of novel BC-targeted nano-DDS. CuFePBA@PEGMA@AS1411 and CoFePBA@PEGMA@AS1411 showed high drug loading efficiency of 80% and 84%, respectively, for DOX, while 56.0% and 75.9% DOX release could be achieved under acidic pH conditions. In vitro cell viability and in vivo experiments proved the good biocompatibility of both PBA-DDSs. Cellular uptake and in vivo distribution suggested that both PBA-DDSs had efficient nucleolin-targeting capability, indicating the targeted delivery of DOX in tumor tissues. In vivo evaluation of anti-BC efficacy further confirmed that the obtained PBA-DDSs exhibited excellent therapeutic efficacy with limited side-effects. Therefore, the proposed novel PBA-DDSs can be used as secure and effective drug nano-DDSs for BC chemotherapy.

Tripterin liposome relieves severe acute respiratory syndrome as a potent COVID-19 treatment

For coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 15-30% of patients are likely to develop COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). There are still few effective and well-understood therapies available. Novel variants and short-lasting immunity are posing challenges to vaccine efficacy, so finding antiviral and antiinflammatory treatments remains crucial. Here, tripterin (TP), a traditional Chinese medicine, was encapsulated into liposome (TP lipo) to investigate its antiviral and antiinflammatory effects in severe COVID-19. By using two severe COVID-19 models in human ACE2-transgenic (hACE2) mice, an analysis of TP lipo's effects on pulmonary immune responses was conducted. Pulmonary pathological alterations and viral burden were reduced by TP lipo treatment. TP lipo inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and hyperinflammation in infected cells and mice, two crucial events in severe COVID-19 pathophysiology, it is a promising drug candidate to treat SARS-CoV-2-induced ARDS.

Injectable Nano Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed type of cancer, with 2.26 million cases and 685,000 deaths recorded in 2020. If left untreated, this deadly disease can metastasize to distant organs, which is the reason behind its incurability and related deaths. Currently, conventional therapies are used to treat breast cancer, but they have numerous shortcomings such as low bioavailability, short circulation time, and off-target toxicity. To address these challenges, nanomedicines are preferred and are being extensively investigated for breast cancer treatment. Nanomedicines are novel drug delivery systems that can improve drug stability, aqueous solubility, blood circulation time, controlled release, and targeted delivery at the tumoral site and enhance therapeutic safety and effectiveness. Nanoparticles (NPs) can be administered through different routes. Although the injectable route is less preferred than the oral route for drug administration, it has its advantages: it helps tailor drugs with targeted moiety, boosts payload, avoids first-pass metabolism, and improves the pharmacokinetic parameters of the active pharmaceutical ingredients. Targeted delivery of nanomedicine, closer to organelles such as the mitochondria and nuclei in breast cancer, reduces the dosage requirements and the toxic effects of chemotherapeutics. This review aims to provide the current status of the recent advances in various injectable nanomedicines for targeted treatment of breast cancer.

Nanomaterials in Animal Husbandry: Research and Prospects

Anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-cancer treatments are potential applications of nanomaterials in biology. To explore the latest discoveries in nanotechnology, we reviewed the published literature, focusing on co-assembled nanoparticles for anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties, and their applications in animal husbandry. The results show that nanoparticles have significant anti-inflammation and anti-tumor effects, demonstrating broad application prospects in animal breeding. Furthermore, pooled evidence suggests that the mechanism is to have a positive impact on inflammation and tumors through the specific drug loading by indirectly or directly targeting the disease sites. Because the precise regulatory mechanism remains unclear, most studies have focused on regulating particular sites or even specific genes in the nucleus by targeting functional co-assembled nanoparticles. Hence, despite the intriguing scenarios for nanotechnology in farmed animals, most results cannot yet be translated into field applications. Overall, nanomaterials outperformed similar materials in terms of anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor. Nanotechnology also has promising applications in animal husbandry and veterinary care, and its application and development in animal husbandry remain an exciting area of research.

Smart Nanoparticles for Breast Cancer Treatment Based on the Tumor Microenvironment

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant tumor in women. There are different risk characteristics and treatment strategies for different subtypes of BC. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is of great significance for understanding the occurrence, development, and metastasis of tumors. The TME plays an important role in all stages of BC metastasis, immune monitoring, immune response avoidance, and drug resistance, and also plays an important role in the diagnosis, prevention, and prognosis of BC. Smart nanosystems have broad development prospect in the regulation of the BC drug delivery based on the response of the TME. In particular, TME-responsive nanoparticles cleverly utilize the abnormal features of BC tissues and cells to achieve targeted transport, stable release, and improved efficacy. We here present a review of the mechanisms underlying the response of the TME to BC to provide potential nanostrategies for future BC treatment.