Search

Adenosine is a neuro- and immunomodulator that functions via G protein-coupled cell surface receptors. Several microbes, including viruses, use the adenosine signaling pathway to escape from host defense systems. Since the recent research developments in its role in health and disease, adenosine and its signaling pathway have attracted attention for targeting to treat many diseases. The therapeutic role of adenosine has been extensively studied for neurological, cardiovascular, and inflammatory disorders and bacterial pathophysiology, but published data on the role of adenosine in viral infections are lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this review article was to explain in detail the therapeutic role of adenosine signaling against viral infections, particularly COVID-19 and HIV. Several therapeutic approaches targeting A2AR-mediated pathways are in development and have shown encouraging results in decreasing the intensity of inflammatory reaction. The hypoxia-adenosinergic mechanism provides protection from inflammation-mediated tissue injury during COVID-19. A2AR expression increased remarkably in CD39 + and CD8 + T cells harvested from HIV patients in comparison to healthy subjects. A combined in vitro treatment performed by blocking PD-1 and CD39/adenosine signaling produced a synergistic outcome in restoring the CD8 + T cells funstion in HIV patients. We suggest that A2AR is an ideal target for pharmacological interventions against viral infections because it reduces inflammation, prevents disease progression, and ultimately improves patient survival., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Among other diseases, Covid 19 creates a critical situation around the world. Five layers have been recorded so far, resulting in the loss of millions of lives in different countries. The virus was thought to be contagious, so the government initially severely forced citizens to keep a distance from each other. Since then, several vaccines have been developed that play an important role in controlling mortality. In the case of Covid-19 mortality, the government should be forced to take significant steps in the form of lockdown, keeping you away or forcing citizens to vaccinate. In this paper, modeling of Covid-19 death rates is discussed via probability distributions. To delineate the performance of the best fitted model, the mortality rate of Pakistan and Afghanistan is considered. Numerical results conclude that the NFW model can be used to predict the mortality rate for Covid-19 patients more accurately than other probability models., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Human respiratory infections caused by coronaviruses can range from mild to deadly. Although there are numerous studies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), few have been published on its Omicron variant. In order to remedy this deficiency, this study undertook a bibliometric analysis of the publishing patterns of studies on the Omicron variant and identified hotspots. Automated transportation, environmental protection, improved healthcare, innovation in banking, and smart homes are just a few areas where machine learning has found use in tackling complicated problems. The sophisticated Scopus database was queried for papers with the term "Omicron" in the title published between January 2020 and June 2022. Microsoft Excel 365, VOSviewer, Bibliometrix, and Biblioshiny from R were used for a statistical analysis of the publications. Over the study period, 1917 relevant publications were found in the Scopus database. Viruses was the most popular in publications for Omicron variant research, with 150 papers published, while Cell was the most cited source. The bibliometric analysis determined the most productive nations, with USA leading the list with the highest number of publications (344) and the highest level of international collaboration on the Omicron variant. This study highlights scientific advances and scholarly collaboration trends and serves as a model for demonstrating global trends in Omicron variant research. It can aid policymakers and medical researchers to fully grasp the current status of research on the Omicron variant. It also provides normative data on the Omicron variant for visualization, study, and application.

COVID-19 virus is a causative agent of viral pandemic in human beings which specifically targets respiratory system of humans and causes viral pneumonia. This unusual viral pneumonia is rapidly spreading to all parts of the world, currently affecting about 105 million people with 2.3 million deaths. Current review described history, genomic characteristics, replication, and pathogenesis of COVID-19 with special emphasis on Nigella sativum (N. sativum) as a treatment option. N. sativum seeds are historically and religiously used over the centuries, both for prevention and treatment of different diseases. This review summarizes the potential role of N. sativum seeds against COVID-19 infection at levels of in silico, cell lines and animal models., (© 2020. The Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The objective of this qualitative study was to explore how the medicine sales staff responded to presumptive COVID-19 patients in Pakistan. The data were obtained from the medicine sales staff working at drug retail outlets of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan, through in-depth face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. A two-step sampling strategy was used, including purposive and convenient sampling techniques. Sample size was determined by applying the saturation point criteria. A total of 17 interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the thematic analysis. Analysis of data yielded six themes and seven sub-themes. The themes included (1) knowledge about various aspects of COVID-19, (2) practices of sales staff in response to COVID-19 pandemic, (3) attitude of sales staff towards COVID-19 pandemic, (4) services offered to presumptive COVID-19 patients, (5) challenges encountered during pandemic and (6) suggestions to improve delivery of pharmacy services by sales staff. In Pakistan, non-pharmacist sales staff had superficial knowledge about COVID-19. Presumptive COVID-19 patients were provided with only basic pharmacy services. Professional training is advised among pharmacy sales staff as a short-term solution to improve their knowledge. As a long-term goal, the availability of pharmacists at drug retail outlets is warranted., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel respiratory disease that has led to a global pandemic and created a havoc. The COVID-19 disease severity varies among individuals, depending on fluctuating symptoms. Many infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and dengue hemorrhagic fever have been associated with ABO blood groups. The aim of this study was to explore whether ABO blood groups might serve as a risk or a protective factor for COVID-19 infection. Moreover, the symptomatic variations of COVID-19 infection among the individuals with different blood groups were also analyzed. An online questionnaire-based survey was conducted in which 305 partakers were included, who had successfully recovered from coronavirus infection. The ABO blood groups of 1294 healthy individuals were also taken as a control. The results of the current study demonstrated that antibody A containing blood groups (blood group B, p-value: 0.049 and blood group O, p-value: 0.289) had a protective role against COVID-19 infection. The comparison of symptomatic variations among COVID-19-infected subjects showed that blood group O subjects had lower chances of experiencing severe symptoms relating to respiratory distress, while subjects with AB blood group were more prone to develop symptoms, but the differences in both groups were found to be statistically non-significant. In conclusion, subjects who do not have anti-A antibodies in their serum (i.e., subjects with group A and AB) are more likely to be infected with COVID-19. The current data showed that there was no significant association of signs and symptoms variations of COVID-19 infection among individuals with different blood groups., (© 2021 Scandinavian Societies for Medical Microbiology and Pathology.)

SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 disease, has proven to be a disastrous pandemic due to its contagious nature. This study has been planned to theoretically explore some antidotes against this virus from natural compounds. A total of 150 compounds from the shogaol class and shogaol derivatives (SDs) have been screened whereas 50 among those, which obeyed Lipinski's Rule of Five (Ro5), have further been investigated using molecular docking techniques. Furthermore, reference antiviral drug chloroquine (ChQ) and Co-Crystallized inhibitor have also been studied against Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 for comparing the potential of our docked ligands. Surprisingly, 78% of our docked ligands have shown binding energies and inhibition constants lower than ChQ and all ligands showed these values lower than an inhibitor. We further visualized the nature of intermolecular interactions for the best docked six ligands, which have shown higher binding affinities. We have also assessed ADMET properties for three ligands that displayed visually the best intermolecular interactions. Quantum analysis of three selected ligands L4, L5, and L9 has proved their reactivity and kinetic stability. Moreover, molecular dynamic simulations over 60 ns have been run for free Mpro and its selected three ligand-protein complexes for evaluating conformational stability and residual flexibility of docked complexes. Furthermore, 100 ns the MD simulations have been performed for two ligand complexes L4, L5 (with negative binding free energy), and inhibitor. Available parameters suggest stable complexes for our ligands and could be active drugs against SARS-CoV-2 in near future. A total of 50 shogaol derivatives (SDs) which obeyed Lipinski's rule of five (Ro5) have been investigated using molecular docking and dynamic techniques. We have also assessed intermolecular interactions, ADMET properties, quantum chemical analysis for the best complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of atrocious rise in COVID-19 cases, developed countries are leveraging a range of community pharmacy services with the goal of improving access to essential medication and healthcare services. While in the developing nations, including Pakistan, pharmacists are unable to perform COVID-19 containment roles in community, since presence of pharmacists at community pharmacy settings and delivery of pharmacy services have historically been plagued by shortcomings at various levels. In this document, we identified these shortcomings which need to be resolved on many fronts. Broadly, a number of intertwined government related, public related, academic curricula and pharmacist related, and drug retailers' related factors refrain community pharmacists from performing and facilitating Pakistan's fragile public and healthcare system in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. Government led multifaceted approaches are urgently needed to strengthen this unrecognized domain and thereby effectively combat COVID-19 by utilizing community pharmacy services, as evidenced in the developed world. [Note: Part of this article is published in Pakistan Observer Newspaper; dated 17 May 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After World Health Organization named COVID-19 pandemic as a "Pandemic of Misinformation", a common man has to cope with superfluous advices, remedies and, most of all, conspiracy theories, that seem undermining even the genuine recommendations of experts and authorities. This is a high time that timely corrective action, preaching social responsibility, relying on science and technology, and using mass media as channels to communicate the truth, may be used as weapons by the government in the battle against COVID-19 infodemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]