Potential specific therapies in COVID-19

COVID-19 has grown into a global pandemic that has strained healthcare throughout the world. There is a sense of urgency in finding a cure for this deadly virus. In this study, we reviewed the empiric options used in common practice for COVID-19, based on the literature available online, with an emphasis on human experiences with these treatments on severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-COV-1) and other viruses. Convalescent blood products are the most promising potential treatment for use in COVID-19. The use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), remdesivir, and tocilizumab are some of the other promising potential therapies; however, they are yet to be tested in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). The use of lopinavir-ritonavir did not prove beneficial in a large RCT. The use of corticosteroids should be avoided in COVID-19 pneumonia unless used for other indications, based on the suggestion of harm in patients with SARS-COV-1 and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) infection. The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.

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An Overview on Covid-19: Clinical Features, Treatment and Prevention

Coronaviruses ◽

10.2174/2666796701999200818145609 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 01 ◽

Author(s):

Shahid Ud Din Wani ◽

Surya Prakash Gautam ◽

Zulfkar Latief Qadrie

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

Viral Disease ◽

Pharmaceutical Products ◽

The Other ◽

Wuhan City ◽

Treatment And Prevention ◽

The World ◽

Control And Prevention ◽

Respiratory Droplets

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a transmissible illness produced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has now quickly expanded since its outbreak in Wuhan City of Hubei region of China to the other parts of the world. In accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the spread of COVID-19 emerges typically human-to-humans through respiratory droplets within an area of 1-2 meters. Aim/ Objective: In the present perspective, we have discussed some of the measures taken to prevent and treat the patient suffering from COVID-19, and how to restrict the further spread of COVID-19 due to SARS-CoV-2. Findings/results: The general clinical properties are fever, cough, sore throat, headache, tiredness, myalgia and difficulty in breathing. Presently no approved treatments for COVID-19, as of now no pharmaceutical products have been revealed to be harmless & efficient for the management of COVID-19. Various anti-viral medicines e.g. ribavirin, lopinavir, and ritonavir have been utilized supported on the familiarity with SARS and MERS. Many drugs and vaccines are currently being studied in clinical trials, jointly with the (Solidarity trial) co-sponsored by the WHO. Conclusion: The use of a mask by fit people in community areas to guard against respiratory viral disease is presently recommended by WHO. Patients must be kept in individual rooms, the rooms, surfaces and equipment should go through standard sanitization possibly with sodium hypochlorite. Consequently, apart from restricting this epidemic, efforts should be made to plan wide-ranging procedures to thwart potential outbreaks of the zoonotic sources.

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The COVID-19 Vaccines: Recent Development, Challenges and Prospects

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9040349 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 349

Author(s):

Yuxin Yan ◽

Yoongxin Pang ◽

Zhuoyi Lyu ◽

Ruiqi Wang ◽

Xinyun Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

World Population ◽

Advanced Stage ◽

Vaccine Candidates ◽

Stage Of Development ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

The World ◽

Hygienic Measures ◽

Repurposed Drugs

The highly infectious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated with the pathogenic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread to become a global pandemic. At present, the world is relying mainly on containment and hygiene-related measures, as well as repurposed drugs to control the outbreak. The development of COVID-19 vaccines is crucial for the world to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, and a collective global effort has been invested into protection against SARS-CoV-2. As of March 2021, thirteen vaccines have been approved for application whilst over 90 vaccine candidates are under clinical trials. This review focuses on the development of COVID-19 vaccines and highlights the efficacy and vaccination reactions of the authorised vaccines. The mechanisms, storage, and dosage specification of vaccine candidates at the advanced stage of development are also critically reviewed together with considerations for potential challenges. Whilst the development of a vaccine is, in general, in its infancy, current progress is promising. However, the world population will have to continue to adapt to the “new normal” and practice social distancing and hygienic measures, at least until effective vaccines are available to the general public.

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The relevance of dietetic approach of Ayurveda from the perspective of COVID-19 pandemic

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences ◽

10.26452/ijrps.v11ispl1.3077 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽

pp. 748-752

Author(s):

Swapnali Khabade ◽

Bharat Rathi ◽

Renu Rathi

Keyword(s):

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

Healthy Person ◽

World Health ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Leading Role ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

The People ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization ◽

The Individual

A novel, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causes severe acute respiratory syndrome and spread globally from Wuhan, China. In March 2020 the World Health Organization declared the SARS-Cov-2 virus as a COVID- 19, a global pandemic. This pandemic happened to be followed by some restrictions, and specially lockdown playing the leading role for the people to get disassociated with their personal and social schedules. And now the food is the most necessary thing to take care of. It seems the new challenge for the individual is self-isolation to maintain themselves on the health basis and fight against the pandemic situation by boosting their immunity. Food organised by proper diet may maintain the physical and mental health of the individual. Ayurveda aims to promote and preserve the health, strength and the longevity of the healthy person and to cure the disease by properly channelling with and without Ahara. In Ayurveda, diet (Ahara) is considered as one of the critical pillars of life, and Langhana plays an important role too. This article will review the relevance of dietetic approach described in Ayurveda with and without food (Asthavidhi visheshaytana & Lanhgan) during COVID-19 like a pandemic.

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COVID-19: Role of Nutrition and Supplementation

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13030976 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 976

Author(s):

Fiorenzo Moscatelli ◽

Francesco Sessa ◽

Anna Valenzano ◽

Rita Polito ◽

Vincenzo Monda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Randomized Clinical Trials ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Overweight And Obesity ◽

Shortness Of Breath ◽

Nutritional Interventions ◽

The World ◽

Diet Regimen ◽

Specific Diet

At the end of 2019, a new coronavirus (COVID-19) appeared on the world scene, which mainly affects the respiratory system, causing pneumonia and multi-organ failure, and, although it starts with common symptoms such as shortness of breath and fever, in about 2–3% of cases it leads to death. Unfortunately, to date, no specific treatments have been found for the cure of this virus and, therefore, it is advisable to implement all possible strategies in order to prevent infection. In this context, it is important to better define the role of all behaviors, in particular nutrition, in order to establish whether these can both prevent infection and improve the outcome of the disease in patients with COVID-19. In the literature, it is widely shown that states of malnutrition, overweight, and obesity negatively affect the immune system, leading to viral infections, and several studies have shown that nutritional interventions can act as immunostimulators, helping to prevent viral infections. Even if several measures, such as the assumption of a specific diet regimen, the use of dietary supplements, and other similar interventions, are promising for the prevention, management, and recovery of COVID-19 patients, it is important to highlight that strong data from randomized clinical trials are needed to support any such assumption. Considering this particular scenario, we present a literature review addressing several important aspects related to diet and SARS-CoV-2 infection, in order to highlight the importance of diet and supplementation in prevention and management of, as well as recovery from COVID-19.

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Deepening of In Silico Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Detection RT-qPCR Assays in the Context of New Variants

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12040565 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 565

Author(s):

Mathieu Gand ◽

Kevin Vanneste ◽

Isabelle Thomas ◽

Steven Van Gucht ◽

Arnaud Capron ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

In Silico ◽

The Other ◽

Viral Rna ◽

Potential Threat ◽

The World

For 1 year now, the world is undergoing a coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The most widely used method for COVID-19 diagnosis is the detection of viral RNA by RT-qPCR with a specific set of primers and probe. It is important to frequently evaluate the performance of these tests and this can be done first by an in silico approach. Previously, we reported some mismatches between the oligonucleotides of publicly available RT-qPCR assays and SARS-CoV-2 genomes collected from GISAID and NCBI, potentially impacting proper detection of the virus. In the present study, 11 primers and probe sets investigated during the first study were evaluated again with 84,305 new SARS-CoV-2 unique genomes collected between June 2020 and January 2021. The lower inclusivity of the China CDC assay targeting the gene N has continued to decrease with new mismatches detected, whereas the other evaluated assays kept their inclusivity above 99%. Additionally, some mutations specific to new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern were found to be located in oligonucleotide annealing sites. This might impact the strategy to be considered for future SARS-CoV-2 testing. Given the potential threat of the new variants, it is crucial to assess if they can still be correctly targeted by the primers and probes of the RT-qPCR assays. Our study highlights that considering the evolution of the virus and the emergence of new variants, an in silico (re-)evaluation should be performed on a regular basis. Ideally, this should be done for all the RT-qPCR assays employed for SARS-CoV-2 detection, including also commercial tests, although the primer and probe sequences used in these kits are rarely disclosed, which impedes independent performance evaluation.

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Recombinant Human Adenovirus-p53 Therapy for the Treatment of Oral Leukoplakia and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57050438 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 438

Author(s):

Jagadish Hosmani ◽

Shazia Mushtaq ◽

Shahabe Saquib Abullais ◽

Hussain Mohammed Almubarak ◽

Khalil Assiri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Oral Cancer ◽

Adverse Events ◽

Randomized Clinical Trials ◽

Oral Leukoplakia ◽

Research Articles ◽

Original Research ◽

Therapeutic Effects ◽

The World

Background and Objectives: Oral cancer is the 6th most common cancer in the world and oral leukoplakia is an oral potentially malignant disorder that could develop into oral cancer. This systematic review focusses on randomized clinical trials for recombinant adenovirus p-53 (rAD-p53) therapy for the treatment of oral leukoplakia and cancer. Materials and Methods: We searched for research articles on various databases such as Pubmed/Medline, Embase, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infra-structure), Springerlink, cochrane and Web of sciences from 2003 to 2020. MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms were used for the search. Inclusion criteria included original research, randomized clinical trials and articles only in English language. Exclusion criteria were any articles that were not research articles, not randomized trials, non-human studies, etc. The articles were further graded on the Jadad scale. Results: 578 articles were assessed from various databases; only 3 articles were found to be appropriate for this review. Thus, meta-analysis was not performed because of heterogeneity and lack of data. In the three studies, whether rAD-p53 was used as a standalone therapy or with other therapies, there was a beneficial effect of the therapy. Furthermore, there were no serious adverse events and the only adverse events reported were fever, pain at the local injection site, flu-like symptoms and lowered WBC count. Conclusions: Thus, we can conclude that this therapy has a potential for beneficial therapeutic effects and further clinical trials with more patients need to be performed to get better understanding of the effect of rAD-p53 therapy, which probably will pave the way to its approval in other parts of the world.

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COVID-19: Are Experimental Drugs Cure or Ill?

Current Drug Safety ◽

10.2174/1574886316666210727150127 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

Author(s):

Bensu Karahalil ◽

Aylin Elkama

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Antiviral Treatment ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Death Rates ◽

Experimental Drugs ◽

Combined Use ◽

The World

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus. It is characterized by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It has quickly influenced all over the world since it spreads easily. Common symptoms are fever, cough, difficulty in breathing and muscle aches. Despite the urgent need to find an effective antiviral treatment, already available agents are being used alone or in combination all over the world. At the beginning of the pandemic, death rates of infection caused by COVID-19 are high but "is COVID-19 responsible for all deaths?", or “are there any contributions of the frequently used drugs in this period to these deaths?” Surely herd immunity plays a major role and has the contribution in the decline in mortality rates. Meanwhile, it is kept in mind that due to safety concerns, changes have also been made to the dosage and combined use of frequently used drugs. Objective: In this review, answers to two questions above and the safety of treatments, toxicities of agents involving chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, favipiravir, lopiravir/ritonavir, sarilumab, tocilizumab, siltuximab, corticosteroids and bromhexine which are the most frequently used in both Turkey and all over the world will be summarized. Conclusion: Among these drugs favipiravir seems the most promising drug due to more tolerable adverse effects. More clinical trials with large sample sizes are needed to find the most effective and safe drug for COVID-19 treatment.

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Does the novel coronavirus 2019 like heart more than the other family members of coronaviruses?

Journal of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Research ◽

10.34172/jcvtr.2020.27 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 156-157

Author(s):

Mohammad Mostafa Ansari Ramandi ◽

Mohammadreza Baay ◽

Nasim Naderi

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

Family Members ◽

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ◽

The Other ◽

The Novel ◽

The World ◽

Future Challenges ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

Coronavirus Infections

The disaster due to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) around the world has made investigators enthusiastic about working on different aspects of COVID-19. However, although the pandemic of COVID-19 has not yet ended, it seems that COVID-19 compared to the other coronavirus infections (the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome [MERS] and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome [SARS]) is more likely to target the heart. Comparing the previous presentations of the coronavirus family and the recent cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 can also help in predicting possible future challenges and taking measures to tackle these issues.

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The efficacy and safety of interferons for the treatment of patients with COVID-19: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials

Health Technology Assessment in Action ◽

10.18502/htaa.v4i3.6347 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Afsaneh Noormandi ◽

Mohammad Fathalipour ◽

Reza Daryabeygi-Khotbehsara ◽

Soheil Hassanipour

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

World Health ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Efficacy And Safety ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization ◽

Time Of Administration

Background and objective: COVID-19 has since been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), infecting millions worldwide. The use of Interferon (INF) subtypes previously examined in the treatment of SARS and MERS is also being initiated in some clinical trials. Although different clinical trials were evaluated IFNs in the treatment of COVID-19, their efficacy and safety remain unknown. Therefore, this study aims to systematically assess IFNs efficacy and safety in treating patients with COVID-19. Methods: The protocol has been registered in the PROSPERO International Prospective Register (CRD42020200643) on 24 July 2020. This protocol has been arranged according to the PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) 2015 checklist. Discussion: Due to lack of approved medication for the covid-19 treatment and also various mutations of this virus, evaluated the efficacy and safety of medications by various studies could help for finding treatments with high effectiveness. IFNs are one of the medications that have been administered in covid-19 infection. Moreover, the best time of administration and dose of this medication was unknown. Although meta-analysis is a potent source for assessing the accuracy of subjects, heterogeneity of articles is a potent limitation of our work.

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On the Evaluation of Treatments for Narcotics Addiction

Journal of Drug Issues ◽

10.1177/002204267900900206 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 205-211 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Vincent P. Dole ◽

Burton Singer

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Randomized Trial ◽

Observational Data ◽

Chronic Diseases ◽

Drug Addiction ◽

Randomized Trials ◽

Randomized Clinical Trials ◽

The Other ◽

Domain Of Applicability

This study is concerned with the domain of applicability of randomized clinical trials. For evaluation of well-defined treatments of acute diseases over limited periods of time, the randomized trial technique is unquestionably the best. However, in the field of chronic diseases (as illustrated by drug addiction) the physician's responsibility extends over periods of years, and his judgements involve consideration of many contingent factors which vary in the course of the disease. In this domain, randomized clinical trials, however ambitious in design, give only partial guidance. Observational data therefore must be used if treatment is to be optimized for individual patients. Two randomized trials in the treatment of narcotics addiction — one testing methadone and the other naltrexone — are reviewed, with comments on their conclusions and limitations.

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