Exploring the multi-gene regulatory molecular mechanism of Saudi Arabian flora against epilepsy based on data mining, network pharmacology and docking analysis

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder marked by recurrent seizures, significantly affecting the population in Saudi Arabia across all age demographics. The global prevalence of active epilepsy is around 6.38/1,000 persons and in the Arabian region, the median prevalence of active epilepsy is 4.4/1,000 persons. However, over 75% of individuals are untreated. Consequently, the development of therapeutic strategies with increased efficacy and safety profiles is essential to improve the survival rate among epilepsy patients. The current study integrates network pharmacology along with Bioinformatics approaches to explore the potential molecular mechanisms of local flora of Saudi Arabia including Solanum incanum, Abrus precatorius, Withania somnifera, and Azadirachta indica in epilepsy treatment. In the preliminary phase, data related to the bioactive components of the local plants and the associated target genes of both these plants and epilepsy were gathered from scientific literature and open-source databases. This data was then analyzed to identify common targets between the plants and ovarian cancer. Based on these common targets, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed utilizing the STRING database, which was subsequently incorporated into the Cytoscape software for identification of hub genes based on their degree of connectivity. Lastly, an interplay network depicting the associations between the compounds and the overlapping genes was formulated via Cytoscape, to study the potential network pharmacology implications of these active compounds in relation to ovarian cancer. Following that, a compound-target protein-pathway network was constructed which uncovered that namely abrectorin, genistin, (+)-catechin, precatorine, (+)-ascorbic acid, licoflavanone, skrofulein, stigmasterone, 5,7-Dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-8,3'-di-C-prenylflavanone could potentially be used as antagonists for the therapeutic management of epilepsy by targeting TNF and TP53 proteins. Furthermore, the implementation of molecular docking reinforces the binding affinity of the compound, indicating a robust stability of the forecasted compounds at the docked site. This research lays both a theoretical and experimental groundwork for more profound investigations and establishes a practical method for the strategic employment of active compounds in the development of anti-epileptic therapeutics.

A Transcription Regulatory Sequence in the 5' Untranslated Region of SARS-CoV-2 Is Vital for Virus Replication with an Altered Evolutionary Pattern against Human Inhibitory MicroRNAs

Our knowledge of the evolution and the role of untranslated region (UTR) in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity is very limited. Leader sequence, originated from UTR, is found at the 5' ends of all encoded SARS-CoV-2 transcripts, highlighting its importance. Here, evolution of leader sequence was compared between human pathogenic and non-pathogenic coronaviruses. Then, profiling of microRNAs that can inactivate the key UTR regions of coronaviruses was carried out. A distinguished pattern of evolution in leader sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was found. Mining all available microRNA families against leader sequences of coronaviruses resulted in discovery of 39 microRNAs with a stable thermodynamic binding energy. Notably, SARS-CoV-2 had a lower binding stability against microRNAs. hsa-MIR-5004-3p was the only human microRNA able to target the leader sequence of SARS and to a lesser extent, also SARS-CoV-2. However, its binding stability decreased remarkably in SARS-COV-2. We found some plant microRNAs with low and stable binding energy against SARS-COV-2. Meta-analysis documented a significant (p < 0.01) decline in the expression of MIR-5004-3p after SARS-COV-2 infection in trachea, lung biopsy, and bronchial organoids as well as lung-derived Calu-3 and A549 cells. The paucity of the innate human inhibitory microRNAs to bind to leader sequence of SARS-CoV-2 can contribute to its high replication in infected human cells.

The relationship between some biochemical and hematological changes in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate various biochemical and hematological parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and compare those with non-diabetic subjects (control group). Subjects: The study was conducted on 405 subjects (ages ranging from 26-65 years old; sex matched) who were classified into two groups: diabetic (n=205 subjects; males-105, females-100) and non-diabetic  subjects (n=200; males-100, females-100). The study was carried out during the period of November 2016 to April 2017 in the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the College of Applied Medical Science Al-Dawadmi, Shaqra University in Saudi Arabia (with the collaboration of the General Hospital Al-Dawadmi). Methods: The following various parameters were assessed for all subjects: body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP-DBP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatise (ALP), total cholesterol (T. Ch), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), hemoglobin (HB), red blood cell count (RBC), hematocrit (Ht), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscle hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), red cell distribution width (RDW), platelet count (Plt), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), total white blood cell count (WBC), lymphocyte count (L), neutrophil count (N),  eosinophil count (E), monocyte count (M), basophil count (B), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (N/L), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (P/L). Results: The results showed an increase in the mean values of SGPT, alkaline phosphatase, urea, serum creatinine, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL in the T2DM group relative to the control group. Meanwhile, the mean value of HDL was significantly decreased in the T2DM group compared to the control group (p<0.05). The mean values of hemoglobin, RBC, MCV, MCHC and MCH were significantly decreased in the T2DM group compared to the control group. In contrast, the red cell distribution width significantly increased in the T2DM group versus control group (p<0.05). The mean platelet count was not significantly changed in the T2DM group compared to the control group (p> 0.05), but the mean values of PDW and MPV were significantly higher in the T2DM group compared to the control group (p<0.05). The mean white blood cell count and differential white blood cell was significantly higher in the T2DM group compared to control group (p<0.05). Lastly, the mean neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio was not significantly different in the T2DM group compared to control group (p>0.05). Conclusion: In diabetes mellitus type 2 patients, certain biochemical and hematological changes are distinct from healthy subjects. It is important to follow up and monitor these parameters carefully in diabetic patients. Peer Review Details Peer review method: Single-Blind (Peer-reviewers: 02) Peer-review policy Plagiarism software screening?: Yes Date of Original Submission: 30 September 2017 Date accepted: 05 November 2017 Peer reviewers approved by: Dr. Lili Hami Editor who approved publication: Dr. Phuc Van Pham