Herbs that might be effective for the management of COVID-19: A bioinformatics analysis on anti-tyrosine kinase property

Enhancing the efficacy of Hypericum perforatum in the treatment of an experimental model of multiple sclerosis using gold nanoparticles: an in vivo study

Objective

Hypericum perforatum is a herbal medicine used in traditional medicine for the treatment of depression due to its antidepressant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of H. perforatum extract (HPE) in combination with gold nanoparticles (HPE-GNP) against experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis.

Materials and Methods

EAE was induced in C57BL/6 mice with subcutaneous injection of MOG35-55 emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant, and intraperitoneal pertussis toxin. Mice were treated with drugs in free (HPE) and nano-form (HPE-GNP) preparations. Splenocytes were isolated from all mice and the level of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were evaluated by ELISA. The expression of T cells' transcription factors was also assessed using Real-Time PCR.

Results

Clinical score was reduced after HPE-GNP treatment. This change was associated with a decrease in the incidence and infiltration of inflammatory cells into the central nervous system. Additionally, treatment with HPE-GNP decreased the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-17A and IL-6) and increased anti-inflammatory cytokines (TGF-β, IL-10 and IL-4). The real-time analysis revealed a decrease in the level of T-bet and ROR-γt but an increase in FoxP3 and GATA3 expression.

Conclusion

The current study demonstrated that HPE-GNP could potentially reduce clinical and pathological complications of EAE, but laboratory data showed that HPE-GNP was significantly more effective than HPE in the treatment of EAE.

The real-time reproduction number, impact of interventions and prediction of the epidemic size of COVID-19 in the center of Iran

Background:

The monitoring of reproduction number over time provides feedback on the effectiveness of interventions and on the need to intensify control efforts. Hence, we aimed to compute basic (R₀) and real-time (Rt) reproduction number and predict the trend and the size of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the center of Iran.

Materials and Methods:

We used the 887 confirmed cases of COVID-19 from February 20, 2020, to April 17, 2020 in the center of Iran. We considered three scenarios for serial intervals (SIs) with gamma distribution. R_t was calculated by the sequential Bayesian and time-dependent methods. Based on a branching process using the Poisson distributed number of new cases per day, the daily incidence and cumulative incidence for the next 30 days were predicted. The analysis was applied in R packages 3.6.3 and STATA 12.0.

Results:

The model shows that the R_t of COVID-19 has been decreasing since the onset of the epidemic. According to three scenarios based on different distributions of SIs in the past 58 days from the epidemic, R_t has been 1.03 (0.94, 1.14), 1.05 (0.96, 1.15), and 1.08 (0.98, 1.18) and the cumulative incidence cases will be 360 (180, 603), 388 (238, 573), and 444 (249, 707) for the next 30 days, respectively.

Conclusion:

Based on the real-time data extracted from the center of Iran, R_t has been decreasing substantially since the beginning of the epidemic, and it is expected to remain almost constant or continue to decline slightly in the next 30 days, which is consequence of the schools and universities shutting down, reduction of working hours, mass screening, and social distancing.

Epidemiology of COVID-19: An updated review

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a zoonotic infection, is responsible for COVID-19 pandemic and also is known as a public health concern. However, so far, the origin of the causative virus and its intermediate hosts is yet to be fully determined. SARS-CoV-2 contains nearly 30,000 letters of RNA that allows the virus to infect cells and hijack them to make new viruses. On the other hand, among 14 detected mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 S protein that provide advantages to virus for transmission and evasion form treatment, the D614G mutation (substitution of aspartic acid [D] with glycine [G] in codon 614 was particular which could provide the facilitation of the transmission of the virus and virulence. To date, in contrary to the global effort to come up with various aspects of SARS-CoV-2, there are still great pitfalls in the knowledge of this disease and many angles remain unclear. That's why, the monitoring and periodical investigation of this emerging infection in an epidemiological study seems to be essential. The present study characterizes the current epidemiological status (i.e., possible transmission route, mortality and morbidity risk, emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, and clinical feature) of the SARS-CoV-2 in the world during these pandemic.

Potentials of Antitussive Traditional Persian Functional Foods for COVID-19 Therapy†

Coronavirus disease 2019 is a worldwide pandemic resulting in a severe acute respiratory syndrome. Remdesivir is the only FDA-approved drug for hospitalized patients older than age 12. It shows the necessity of finding new therapeutic strategies. Functional foods (FFs) could have co-therapeutic and protective effects against COVID-19 infection. Traditional Persian medicine (TPM), one of the safest and most popular schools of medicine for hundreds of years, has recommended potential FF candidates to manage such a global pandemic. To reveal the potential of TPM in terms of antitussive FFs, traditional Persian pharmacopoeia "Qarabadin-e-Salehi" was searched using the keywords "Soaal" and "Sorfeh." Also, a search of MEDLINE, PubMed Central, Google Scholar, and Science Direct was performed for the relevant literature published from the inception up to March 2021. A combination of search terms including "cough, antitussive, antioxidant, anti-inflammation, antiviral, COVID-19, mucoactive, mucolytic, expectorant, and mucoregulatory" was also applied. The potential mechanism of action in SARS-CoV-2 infection was discussed. Twelve TPM FFs were found including Laooqs, Morabbas, a Saviq, a soup, and a syrup. They are combinations of two to seven ingredients. Natural compounds of mentioned formulations have the main pharmacological mechanisms including antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihistamine, bronchodilator, immunomodulatory, and mucoactive effects as well as central or peripheral antitussive activities. FFs are cost-effective, easily accessible, and safe options for both treatment and prevention of COVID-19. They might have positive psychological effects along with their pharmacological effects and nutritional virtues. They could also manage persistent respiratory discomforts after recovery from COVID-19.

Current status of COVID-19 pandemic; characteristics, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment

Humans have always been encountered to big infectious diseases outbreak throughout the history. In December 2019, novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was first noticed as an agent causing insidious pneumonia in Wuhan, China. COVID-19 was spread rapidly from Wuhan to the rest of the world. Until late June 2020, it infected more than 10,000,000 people and caused more than 500,000 deaths in almost all of countries in the world, creating a global crisis worse than all previous epidemics and pandemics. In the current review, we gathered and summarized the results of various studies on characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this pandemic crisis.