Coronaviruses - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2022

The COVID19 pandemic that started in late 2019 has already killed millions people, it is yet far from over and the road to the COVID-free world is much tougher than we all imagined; however, it ends at a vaccine functional against all coronaviruses. In this article, we try to present the aetiology behind evolution of superior pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 and point out fundamental and highly hazardous loopholes in the current vaccination regimens and propose new vaccination strategies. We also suggest societal and personal level management that are necessary to ensure prevention and better recovery outcomes until the arrival of the vaccine. In turn, we apprise the physician for long-term and stringent management of certain chronic diseases, avoiding prescribing certain drugs and suggesting physical exercises and diets that are fortified with specific micronutrients.

Background: Currently, the present world is facing a new deadly challenge from a pandemic disease called COVID-19, which is caused by a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2. To date, no drug or vaccine can treat COVID-19 completely, but some drugs have been used primarily, and they are in different stages of clinical trials. This review article discussed and compared those drugs which are running ahead in COVID-19 treatments. Methods: We have explored PUBMED, SCOPUS, WEB OF SCIENCE, as well as press releases of WHO, NIH and FDA for articles related to COVID-19 and reviewed them. Results: Drugs like favipiravir, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, ivermectin, corticosteroids and interferons have been found effective to some extent, and partially approved by FDA and WHO to treat COVID-19 at different levels. However, some of these drugs have been disapproved later, although clinical trials are going on. In parallel, plasma therapy has been found fruitful to some extent too, and a number of vaccine trials are going on. Conclusions: This review article discussed the epidemiologic and mechanistic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, and how drugs could act on this virus with the comparative discussion on progress and drawbacks of major drugs used till date, which might be beneficial for choosing therapies against COVID-19 in different countries.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, China, in the month of December 2019. Further, in March 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic was described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a global pandemic. COVID-19 quickly spread around the world in the following months, affecting about 2.5 million individuals by April 2020. World markets, including the pharmaceutical industry, were devastated by this pandemic. Although no specific solution for this emerging infectious disease is currently available, the pharmaceutical industry is helping policymakers meet unmet COVID-19 desires, ranging from research and advancement initiatives on possible prevention methods to the management of the supply chain of drugs in times of crisis. Changes in demand, commodity shortages, contact adjustments, etc., are hindering developments in the mechanism of technology, research and development and are putting an impact on the health market of COVID-19. Other implications of COVID-19 on the physical condition and pharmaceutical market may include acceptance delays, heading to self-sufficiency in the delivery chain, etc. In addition, the pharmaceutical markets are battling to sustain natural consumer flows, as the latest pandemic has had an effect on access to essential drugs at reasonable rates, which is the key priority of all pharmaceutical systems.

Background: Since December 2019, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus infection has been reported, drawing immediate attention from the World Health Organization. SARS-CoV-2, as the cause of COVID-19 with extra potency of transmission, has led to global concern. Currently, more than a thousand clinical trials have focused on achieving a protective or preventive approach against the virus, among which cell-based therapies seem to be significantly applicable. Objective: We aimed to summarize cell-based therapy against COVID-19 and compare the applicable methods and possible outcomes. Methods: The current clinical trials based on cell-based therapies are summarized according to the cell sorting applications. The possible approaches, advantages, and opinions are discussed. Results and Conclusion: Cell-based therapy has already brought some hope. It needs to meet the following features: 1) The long-term protection data after treatment must be provided by stem cell investigators. 2) A design of multivalent antigens based on immunoinformatic prediction is suggested to engineer T-cell and dendritic cell-based therapies in order to deliver the most immunogenic conserved epitopes. 3) According to the sophisticated procedure, the preparation of the cells must be supported by authorities in order to decrease the cost and the time of the whole process.

Purpose: As of, from 30th Jan to 31st May, 2020, more than 182,143 confirmed cases were reported in India along with 86,984 recovered cases and 5164 deceased cases of COVID-19. More than 53 countries are also affected with this pandemic virus. However, the lack of specific drugs to prevent/treat this pandemic disease is a major problem in this current scenario. In this regard, this systemic review was conducted to identify the therapeutic approaches and researches, which are ongoing in India against COVID-19. Methods: We had screened Google Scholar database with the keywords nCoV, corona virus in India, effect of SARS-CoV-2 in India, 2019-nCoV, treatment pattern in India for nCoV and therapy used to treat nCoV in India. In the final review, we had included a total of 49 articles. Results: As a result we had found that the Indian Council of Medical Research and NIH have given a standard guideline of Hydroxychloroquine and other antiviral drugs for nCoV, and also there are various researches going on related to nCoV treatment like, chemicals from natural products, herbs and spices commonly used in India, combination therapy of lopinavir and ritonavir, ultra-violet radiation therapy, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations of molecules for vaccine preparation, Convalescent plasma transfusion (CPT) therapy and many more. Conclusions: New drugs and therapy are in the premature stage for this hazardous pandemic. We need more time to gain the detailed knowledge of the life cycle of the nCoV, which can speed up the drug/vaccine development process against nCoV.

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic represents a major health issue caused by SARS CoV2, a human coronavirus. Since the outbreak of this pandemic, the literature on SARS CoV-2 has grown differentially, with increased awareness of extra-respiratory symptoms, including neurological symptoms. Methods: Review based on studies published from December 2019 to June 2020. Results and Discussion: This review discusses the neurological aspect of SARS CoV2, including the suggested mechanism involved. Neurological disorders are cited in addition to emerging experimental models with viral involvement. Conclusion: There is a need for further investigation to clarify how it can lead to the onset of acute and chronic neurological disorders, mentioning the importance of experimental studies in neuropsychopharmacology.

Background: We critically evaluated the risk of bias in published systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) pertaining to COVID-19 using ROBIS tool. Materials And Methods: MEDLINE and Cochrane Central Library were searched for SRs/MAs on 14th May 2020, including studies of all designs describing various facets of COVID-19 in humans; no restrictions were applied for interventions, comparators, and outcomes. Two reviewers independently assessed all the SRs/MAs with ROBIS. Results: Out of 204 identified records, 48 SRs/MAs were included. The most frequently reviewed topics were therapy outcomes, diagnosis, and comorbidities (15, 8, and 6 papers respectively). Only 29/48(60.41%) papers had made a mention of using PRISMA or other guidelines for drafting the SR/MA. Only 5/48(10.42%) of all included SRs/MAs had low overall risk of bias as per ROBIS tool; 41/48(85.42%) had high risk of bias, 2/48(4.17%) had unclear risk of bias. The highest proportion of bias was found in data synthesis and findings (30/48, 62.50% of studies had high risk of bias), followed by study identification and selection (29/48, 60.42%). The IRR for methodological quality assessment was substantial, with the Cohen’s kappa values being 0.64, 0.68, 0.62, and 0.75 for domains 1-4 of ROBIS tool, and 0.66 for overall risk of bias assessment. Conclusion: There are serious concerns about the methodology employed to generate the results of the SRs/ MAs pertaining to COVID-19, with ‘quantity’ seemingly being given more importance than ‘quality’ of the paper.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 has been a topic of discussion ever since the beginning of 2020. Every country is trying all possible steps to combat the disease ranging from shutting the complete economy of the country to the repurposing of drugs and vaccine development. The rapid data analysis and widespread tools have made bioinformatics capable of giving new insights to deal with the current scenario more efficiently through an emerging field, vaccinomics. Objective: The present in silico study was attempted to identify peptide fragments from spike surface glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 that can be efficiently used for the development of an epitope- based vaccine designing approach. Methods: The epitopes of B and T-cell are predicted using integrated computational tools. VaxiJen server, NetCTL, and IEDB tools were used to study, analyze, and predict potent T-cell epitopes, their subsequent MHC-I interactions, and B-cell epitopes. The 3D structure prediction of peptides and MHC-I alleles (HLA-C*03:03) was further made using AutoDock4.0. Results: Based on result interpretation, the peptide sequence from 1138-1145 amino acid and sequence WTAGAAAYY and YDPLQPEL were obtained as potential B-cell and T-cell epitopes, respectively. Conclusion: The peptide sequence WTAGAAAYY and the amino acid sequence from 1138-1145 of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 can be used as a probable B-cell epitope candidate. Also, the amino acid sequence YDPLQPEL can be used as a potent T-cell epitope. This in silico study will help us identify novel epitope-based peptide vaccine targets in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Further, the in vitro and in vivo study needed to validate the findings.

Background: The recent reemergence of the coronavirus (COVID-19) caused by the virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has prompted the search for effective treatments in the forms of drugs and vaccines. Aim: In this regard, we performed an in silico study on 39 active antidiabetic compounds of medicinal plants to provide insight into their possible inhibitory potentials against SARS-CoV-2 replications and post-translational modifications. Top 12 active antidiabetic compounds with potential for dual inhibition of the replications and post-translational modifications of SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed. Results: Boswellic acids, celastrol, rutin, sanguinarine, silymarin, and withanolides expressed binding energy for 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) (-8.0 to -8.9 Kcal/mol), papain-like protease (PLpro) (-9.1 to -10.2 Kcal/mol), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) (-8.5 to -9.1 Kcal/- mol) which were higher than the reference drugs (Lopinavir and Remdesivir) used in this study. Sanguinarine, silymarin, and withanolides are the most druggable phytochemicals among other phytochemicals as they follow Lipinski’s rule of five analyses. Sanguinarine, silymarin, and withanolides expressed moderate solubility with no hepatotoxicity, while silymarin and withanolides could not permeate the blood-brain barrier and showed no Salmonella typhimurium reverse mutation assay (AMES) toxicity, unlike sanguinarine from the predictive absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADMET) studies. Conclusion: Sanguinarine, silymarin, and withanolides could be proposed for further experimental studies for their development as possible phytotherapy for the COVID-19 pandemic.