scholarly journals Histopathological features of relapse cases in leprosy

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 4099
Author(s):  
Navdeep Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Skin Lesions ◽  
Etiologic Agent ◽  
World Health ◽  
Prolonged Treatment ◽  
Causative Organism ◽  
In Vitro Cultivation ◽  
Erythema Nodosum Leprosum ◽  
Immunological Tests ◽  
Health Organization

Leprosy is unique in terms of the nature of the causative organism (Mycobacterium leprae), the chronicity of the disease, its prolonged treatment and the definitions of “cure” and “relapse.” The principal mode of assessing the efficacy of therapeutic regimens in leprosy is the “relapse rate.” There are wide variations in estimates of relapse rates after the World Health Organization (WHO) multidrug therapy in different regions. The important predisposing factors for relapse include the presence of “persister” bacilli, monotherapy, inadequate/irregular therapy, presence of multiple skin lesions/thickened nerves and lepromin negativity. The conventional methods of confirming activity or relapse in an infectious disease (demonstration and/or culture of the etiologic agent) have limited utility in leprosy because of the difficulty in demonstrating bacilli in paucibacillary (PB) cases and absence of a method of in vitro cultivation of M. leprae. Bacteriological parameters are useful in multibacillary (MB) leprosy, whereas in PB leprosy, the criteria for relapse depend primarily on clinical features. Although there are no widely available serologic tests for leprosy other than in a research setting, various immunological tests may be useful for monitoring patients on chemotherapy as well as for confirming suspected cases of relapse. The main differential diagnoses for relapse are reversal reactions, erythema nodosum leprosum and reactivation/resistance/reinfection. The most reliable criteria for making an accurate diagnosis of relapse include clinical, bacteriological and therapeutic criteria. Additional ones that may be used, depending on the setting, are histopathological and serologic criteria.

scholarly journals Advances in Human Norovirus Vaccine Research

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 732
Author(s):  
Mudan Zhang ◽  
Ming Fu ◽  
Qinxue Hu
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Development ◽  
World Health ◽  
In Vitro Cultivation ◽  
Vaccine Research ◽  
Human Norovirus ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Cultivation System ◽  
Virus Particles ◽  
Health Organization

Human norovirus (HuNoV) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) worldwide, which is highly stable and contagious, with a few virus particles being sufficient to establish infection. Although the World Health Organization in 2016 stated that it should be an absolute priority to develop a HuNoV vaccine, unfortunately, there is currently no licensed HuNoV vaccine available. The major barrier to the development of an effective HuNoV vaccine is the lack of a robust and reproducible in vitro cultivation system. To develop a HuNoV vaccine, HuNoV immunogen alone or in combination with other viral immunogens have been designed to assess whether they can simultaneously induce protective immune responses against different viruses. Additionally, monovalent and multivalent vaccines from different HuNoV genotypes, including GI and GII HuNoV virus-like particles (VLPs), have been assessed in order to induce broad protection. Although there are several HuNoV vaccine candidates based on VLPs that are being tested in clinical trials, the challenges to develop effective HuNoV vaccines remain largely unresolved. In this review, we summarize the advances of the HuNoV cultivation system and HuNoV vaccine research and discuss current challenges and future perspectives in HuNoV vaccine development.

Natural products from the traditional Moroccan pharmacopoeia: A potential lead for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1278-1285
Author(s):  
Mohamed Yafout ◽  
Amine Ousaid ◽  
Ibrahim Sbai El Otmani ◽  
Youssef Khayati ◽  
Amal Ait Haj Said
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Plant Extracts ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Treatment Protocol ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Promising Source

The new SARS-CoV-2 belonging to the coronaviruses family has caused a pandemic affecting millions of people around the world. This pandemic has been declared by the World Health Organization as an international public health emergency. Although several clinical trials involving a large number of drugs are currently underway, no treatment protocol for COVID-19 has been officially approved so far. Here we demonstrate through a search in the scientific literature that the traditional Moroccan pharmacopoeia, which includes more than 500 medicinal plants, is a fascinating and promising source for the research of natural molecules active against SARS-CoV-2. Multiple in-silico and in-vitro studies showed that some of the medicinal plants used by Moroccans for centuries possess inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-2. These inhibitory activities are achieved through the different molecular mechanisms of virus penetration and replication, or indirectly through stimulation of immunity. Thus, the potential of plants, plant extracts and molecules derived from plants that are traditionally used in Morocco and have activity against SARS-CoV-2, could be explored in the search for a preventive or curative treatment against COVID-19. Furthermore, safe plants or plant extracts that are proven to stimulate immunity could be officially recommended by governments as nutritional supplements.

Treatment Options in COVID-19: The Role of Bioavailable Antiviral Ribonucleoside Analog on NHC in vitro

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Bittmann
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organization ◽  
Clinical Picture ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
World Health ◽  
Wuhan City ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

On December 31, 2019, WHO was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan City, China. A novel coronavirus was identified as the cause by Chinese authorities on January 7, 2020 and was provisionally named "2019-nCoV". This new Coronavirus causes a clinical picture which has received now the name COVID-19. The virus has spread subsequently worldwide and was explained on the 11th of March, 2020 by the World Health Organization to the pandemic.

Antimicrobial peptides for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, allies or foes?

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1138-1147
Author(s):  
Bruno Rivas-Santiago ◽  
Flor Torres-Juarez
Keyword(s):  
Pulmonary Tuberculosis ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Drug Resistant Strains

Tuberculosis is an ancient disease that has become a serious public health issue in recent years, although increasing incidence has been controlled, deaths caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been accentuated due to the emerging of multi-drug resistant strains and the comorbidity with diabetes mellitus and HIV. This situation is threatening the goals of World Health Organization (WHO) to eradicate tuberculosis in 2035. WHO has called for the creation of new drugs as an alternative for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, among the plausible molecules that can be used are the Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs). These peptides have demonstrated remarkable efficacy to kill mycobacteria in vitro and in vivo in experimental models, nevertheless, these peptides not only have antimicrobial activity but also have a wide variety of functions such as angiogenesis, wound healing, immunomodulation and other well-described roles into the human physiology. Therapeutic strategies for tuberculosis using AMPs must be well thought prior to their clinical use; evaluating comorbidities, family history and risk factors to other diseases, since the wide function of AMPs, they could lead to collateral undesirable effects.

Detoxifying Action of Aqueous Extracts of Mucuna pruriens Seed and Mimosa pudica Root Against Venoms of Naja nigricollis and Bitis arietans

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Ameh ◽  
Mamman Mohammed ◽  
Yusuf P. Ofemile ◽  
Magaji G. Mohammed ◽  
Ada Gabriel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phospholipase A2 ◽  
Plant Extracts ◽  
Fibrinolytic Activity ◽  
Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Mucuna Pruriens ◽  
Phytochemical Analysis ◽  
Mimosa Pudica ◽  
Health Organization

Background: The World Health Organization included snakebite envenomation among Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2017. The importance of natural products from plants is enormous, given that most prescribed drugs originate from plants. Among this is Mucuna pruriens and Mimosa pudica, with many registered patents asserting their health benefits. Objective: This study investigated the in vitro neutralizing effects of Mucuna pruriens seed and Mimosa pudica root extracts on venoms of Naja nigricollis and Bitis arietans. Methods: In mice, the LD50 and phytochemical analysis of M. pruriens and M. pudica plant extracts were carried out prior to the evaluation of their haemolytic and fibrinolytic effect. Their effects on the activities of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) were also assessed. Results: At a concentration of 50 mg/ml, both plant extracts were found to neutralize the fibrinolytic activity of N. nigricollis, but 400 mg/ml was required to neutralize the fibrinolytic activity of B. arietans. In haemolytic studies, 50 mg/ml concentration of M. pruriens extract suppressed haemolysis caused by N. nigricollis venom by 70% but at the same concentration, M. pudica extract reduced haemolysis by 49.4%. M. pruriens, at 50 mg/ml concentration, only inhibited phospholipase A2 activity by 7.7% but higher concentrations up to 400mg/ml had no effect against the venom of N. nigricollis; at 200 mg/ml. M. pudica extract inhibited PLA2 activity by 23%. Conclusion: The results suggest that M. pruriens and M. pudica may be considered as promising antivenom agents for people living in a snake-bite prone environment.

scholarly journals Assessment of Antimalarial Activity againstPlasmodium falciparumand Phytochemical Screening of Some Yemeni Medicinal Plants

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed A. Alshawsh ◽  
Ramzi A. Mothana ◽  
Hassan A. Al-shamahy ◽  
Salah F. Alsllami ◽  
Ulrike Lindequist
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Antimalarial Activity ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Antiplasmodial Activity ◽  
World Health ◽  
Moderate Activity ◽  
Phytochemical Screening ◽  
Cissus Rotundifolia ◽  
Health Organization

Developing countries, where malaria is one of the most prevalent diseases, still rely on traditional medicine as a source for the treatment of this disease. In the present study, six selected plants (Acalypha fruticosa,Azadirachta indica,Cissus rotundifolia,Echium rauwalfii,Dendrosicyos socotranaandBoswellia elongata) commonly used in Yemen by traditional healers for the treatment of malaria as well as other diseases, were collected from different localities of Yemen, dried and extracted with methanol and water successfully. The antiplasmodial activity of the extracts was evaluated against fresh clinical isolates ofPlasmodium falciparum. The selectivity parameters to evaluate the efficacy of these medicinal plants were measured byin vitromicro test (Mark III) according to World Health Organization (WHO) 1996 & WHO 2001 protocols of antimalarial drug tests. Among the investigated 12 extracts, three were found to have significant antiplasmodial activity with IC50values less than 4 µg/ml, namely the water extracts ofA. fruticosa,A. indicaandD. socotrana. Six extracts showed moderate activity with IC50values ranging from 10 to 30 µg/ml and three appeared to be inactive with IC50values more than 30 µg/ml. In addition, preliminary phytochemical screening of the methanolic and aqueous extracts indicated the presence of saponins, tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, polysaccharides and peptides.

scholarly journals Virtual Screening and Statistical Analysis in the Design of New Caffeine Analogues Molecules with Potential Epithelial Anticancer Activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 576-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josivan da Silva Costa ◽  
Karina da Silva Lopes Costa ◽  
Josiane Viana Cruz ◽  
Ryan da Silva Ramos ◽  
Luciane Barros Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anticancer Activity ◽  
Binding Free Energy ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Parametric Models ◽  
World Health ◽  
Pharmacokinetic Properties ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
Health Organization

About 132 thousand cases of melanoma (more severe type of skin cancer) were registered in 2014 according to the World Health Organization. This type of cancer significantly affects the quality of life of individuals. Caffeine has shown potential inhibitory effect against epithelial cancer. In this study, it was proposed to obtain new caffeine-based molecules with potential epithelial anticancer activity. For this, a training set of 21 molecules was used for pharmacophore perception procedures. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to propose mono-, bi-, tri-, and tetra-parametric models applied in the prediction of the activity. The generated pharmacophore was used to select 350 molecules available at the ZINCpharmer server, followed by reduction to 24 molecules, after selection using the Tanimoto index, yielding 10 molecules after final selection by predicted activity values > 1.5229. These ten molecules had better pharmacokinetic properties than the other ones used as reference and within the clinically significant limits. Only two molecules show minor hits of toxicity and were submitted to molecular docking procedures, showing BFE (binding free energy) values lower than the reference values. Statistical analyses indicated strong negative correlations between BFE and pharmacophoric properties (high influence on BFE lowering) and practically null correlation between BFE and BBB. The two most promising molecules can be indicated as candidates for further in vitro and in vivo analyzes.

scholarly journals A framework for the assessment and implementation of diagnostics in outbreak situations

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliot P. Cowan
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Agent ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Us ◽  
Health Need ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Test Requirements ◽  
Regulatory Evaluation ◽  
Development Assessment ◽  
Outbreak Situation

Observation: Outbreak situations require in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) to identify those who are infected and to track the infectious agent in the population. However, such IVDs are typically not available and must be developed. In addition, the process of IVD development, assessment, and implementation are very time and resource intensive. Recognising the extraordinary public health need for IVDs in an outbreak situation, streamlined processes are needed to provide tests that meet the standard of a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness in the shortest amount of time. These IVDs are designated for outbreak use.Addressing Issues: This paper presents a pathway to the outbreak use of IVDs that can be considered by countries experiencing an outbreak situation. It takes into account recognition of the outbreak, product development, regulatory evaluation, implementation, and monitoring of the outbreak-use test. Streamlined assessment programmes for emergency-use tests have been established by the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization. These programmes take into account test requirements for the country in which the outbreak exists. Therefore, countries can consider adopting these tests without the need to conduct expensive and time consuming assessments, such as performance studies. Key responsible parties are identified for each step of the pathway, recognising that transparency and communication among all parties are critical.

scholarly journals Immunochromatographic assays for COVID-19 epidemiological screening: our experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Bartolini ◽  
Margherita Scapaticci ◽  
Marina Bioli ◽  
Tiziana Lazzarotto ◽  
Maria Carla Re ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
World Health ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Serological Screening ◽  
Rapid Assays ◽  
In Vitro Diagnostic ◽  
Biomedical Prevention ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Performance Validation

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to the absence of effective treatment or biomedical prevention, understanding potential post infection immunity has important implications for epidemiologic assessments. For this reason, increasing number of in vitro diagnostic companies are developing serological assays to detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, but most of them lack the validation by third parties in relation to their quality, limiting their usefulness. We submitted to serological screening by two different immunochromatographic (IC) rapid testing for detection of IgG and IgM against SARS-CoV-2, 151 asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic healthcare workers previously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR in order to evaluate the performance of rapid assays. Results showed discrepancies between molecular and IC results, and an inconsistency of immunoglobulins positivity patterns when compared to ELISA/CLIA results, highlighting the absolute necessity of assays performance validation before their marketing and use, in order to avoid errors in the results evaluation at both clinical and epidemiological level.

scholarly journals Chickenpox Mimicking Monkeypox in Adult with Diabetes Mellitus and Acute Kidney Injury: Diagnosis and Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Maya Wardiana ◽  
Rahmadewi Rahmadewi ◽  
Dwi Murtiastutik ◽  
Sawitri Sawitri ◽  
Damayanti Damayanti
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Acute Kidney Injury ◽  
Renal Function ◽  
Kidney Injury ◽  
Skin Lesions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Varicella Zoster ◽  
Intravenous Acyclovir ◽  
Acute Kidney Injury Diagnosis ◽  
Health Organization

Background: Chickenpox caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in diabetes mellitus patients might exhibit similar clinical features with monkeypox, caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV). In May 2019, Singapore notified World Health Organization (WHO) of one laboratory-confirmed case of monkeypox. Considering Singapore is located near Indonesia, awareness about the possibility of an outbreak in Indonesia should be raised. Purpose: To report a case of chickenpox mimicking monkeypox in an adult with diabetes mellitus and acute kidney injury. Case: A 51-year-old male with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus was suspected to have a chickenpox differential diagnosis with monkeypox. His chief complaint was multiple blisters on his body and vomiting. There was a history of feeding a monkey. From dermatological status on facial, trunk, and extremities there were multiple pleomorphic vesicles. Laboratory results showed elevated renal function. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) examination using VZV as primer revealed a positive result in the range of 810 bp. He was treated with intravenous acyclovir for 3 days and oral acyclovir for 7 days then discharged with improvement in skin lesions and normal renal function. Discussion: Chickenpox in adult and diabetes mellitus patients can give severe clinical manifestation mimicking monkeypox. PCR has a significant role especially when diagnosis could not be established from the physical examination. Acyclovir can be given as the therapy. Conclusion: Adult and poorly controlled diabetes mellitus are important risk factors associated with the severity and complication of chickenpox. A careful diagnostic approach and management are needed.

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