Role of Probiotics in the Management of COVID-19: A Computational Perspective

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic at the beginning of 2020, causing millions of deaths worldwide. Millions of vaccine doses have been administered worldwide; however, outbreaks continue. Probiotics are known to restore a stable gut microbiota by regulating innate and adaptive immunity within the gut, demonstrating the possibility that they may be used to combat COVID-19 because of several pieces of evidence suggesting that COVID-19 has an adverse impact on gut microbiota dysbiosis. Thus, probiotics and their metabolites with known antiviral properties may be used as an adjunctive treatment to combat COVID-19. Several clinical trials have revealed the efficacy of probiotics and their metabolites in treating patients with SARS-CoV-2. However, its molecular mechanism has not been unraveled. The availability of abundant data resources and computational methods has significantly changed research finding molecular insights between probiotics and COVID-19. This review highlights computational approaches involving microbiome-based approaches and ensemble-driven docking approaches, as well as a case study proving the effects of probiotic metabolites on SARS-CoV-2.

Combination of Clomipramine and Carbamazepine for Treatment of Patients with Methamphetamine Dependence

Objective: There are few new approaches to the pharmacotherapeutic treatment of methamphetamine dependence in the literature. The publications contain abundant data on various methods of pharmacotherapeutic treatment of methamphetamine dependence. However, no pharmacotherapeutic therapy for methamphetamine dependence is sufficient. Materials and Methods: This was a double-blind study in patients diagnosed with methamphetamine dependence according to DSM-5. A total of 100 patients who met the DSM-5 criteria for methamphetamine dependence were examined. All male patients from 18 to 60 years old. The patients were divided into two groups of 50 people: the first group received clomipramine (anafranil) 300 mg / day (100 mg 3 times a day) and carbamazepine 600 mg / day (200 mg 3 times a day) orally. The second group received an indifferent drug (placebo) Results: as shown by follow-up data (12 months), among 50 patients who received anaphrani and carbamazepine only, 10 had short-term breakdowns associated with exposure to microsocial causes. The rest of the patients were in remission. Among patients receiving placebo, only 5 patients experienced remission, all the rest had cases of relapse. Responder analysis was performed using chi-square (x2) and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Conclusion. Clinical statistics indicate the high efficiency of the use of anaphrani and carbamazepine in the treatment of methamphetamine dependence. The mechanisms of action of the drug are being discussed.

DrugDevCovid19: An Atlas of Anti-COVID-19 Compounds Derived By Computer-Aided Drug Design

Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, numerous compounds against COVID-19 have been derived by computer-aided drug design (CADD) studies. They are valuable resources for the development of COVID-19 therapeutics. In this work, we reviewed these studies and analyzed 779 compounds against 16 target proteins from 181 CADD publications. We performed unified docking simulations and neck-to-neck comparison with the solved co-crystal structures. We computed their chemical features and classified these compounds aiming to provide insights for subsequent drug design. Through detailed analyses, we recommended a batch of compounds that are worth further study. Moreover, we organized all the abundant data and constructed a freely available database, DrugDevCovid19 (http://clab.labshare.cn/covid/php/index.php), to facilitate the development of COVID-19 therapeutics.

Understanding the Functional Activity of Polyphenols Using Omics-Based Approaches

Plant polyphenols are the main category of natural active substances, and are distributed widely in vegetables, fruits, and plant-based processed foods. Polyphenols have a beneficial performance in preventing diseases and maintaining body health. However, its action mechanism has not been well understood. Foodomics is a novel method to sequence and widely used in nutrition, combining genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, microbiome, and metabolomics. Based on multi-omics technologies, foodomics provides abundant data to study functional activities of polyphenols. In this paper, physiological functions of various polyphenols based on foodomics and microbiome was discussed, especially the anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities and gut microbe regulation. In conclusion, omics (including microbiomics) is a useful approach to explore the bioactive activities of polyphenols in the nutrition and health of human and animals.

Melioidosis: Laboratory Investigations and Association with Patient Outcomes

Melioidosis is an infection caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. The most common presentation is bacteremia occurring in 38–73% of all patients, and the mortality rate ranges from 9% to 42%. Although there is abundant data representing risk factors for infection and patient outcomes, there is limited information regarding laboratory investigations associated with bacteremia and mortality. We assessed a range of baseline and diagnostic investigations and their association with patient outcomes in a retrospective cohort study in Townsville, Australia. About 124 patients’ medical and laboratory records were reviewed between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2020. Twenty-seven patients died and 87 patients were bacteremic. The presence of lymphopenia (< 1.5 × 109 cells/L) was the highest risk for bacteremia (relative risk [RR] 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3–3.7, P < 0.001). Factors associated with mortality included lymphopenia, (RR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.2–1.6, P = 0.004); uremia (RR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1–2.5, P = 0.03); and an elevated international normalized ratio (RR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.2–2.0, P = 0.006). Median incubation to positive blood culture result was 28 hours with 15/82 (18%) positive in ≤ 24 hours. For serological testing during admission only 53/121 (44%) were indirect hemagglutination assay positive, 67/120 (56%) enzyme immunoassay IgG positive, and 23/89 (26%) IgM positive. Simple baseline investigations at time of presentation may be used to stratify patients at high risk for both bacteremia and mortality. This information can be used as a decision aid for early intensive management.

Bit Reduction based Compression Algorithm for DNA Sequences

Deoxyribonucleic acid called DNA is the smallest fundamental unit that bears the genetic instructions of a living organism. It is used in the up growth and functioning of all known living organisms. Current DNA sequencing equipment creates extensive heaps of genomic data. The Nucleotide databases like GenBank, size getting 2 to 3 times larger annually. The increase in genomic data outstrips the increase in storage capacity. Massive amount of genomic data needs an effectual depository, quick transposal and preferable performance. To reduce storage of abundant data and data storage expense, compression algorithms were used. Typical compression approaches lose status while compressing these sequences. However, novel compression algorithms have been introduced for better compression ratio. The performance is correlated in terms of compression ratio; ratio of the capacity of compressed file and compression/decompression time; time taken to compress/decompress the sequence. In the proposed work, the input DNA sequence is compressed by reconstructing the sequence into varied formats. Here the input DNA sequence is subjected to bit reduction. The binary output is converted to hexadecimal format followed by encoding. Thus, the compression ratio of the biological sequence is improved.

Will I die of coronavirus? Google Trends data reveal that politics determine virus fears

Is Google Trends (GT) useful to survey populations? Extant work has shown that certain search queries reflect the attitudes of hard-to-survey populations, but we do not know if this extends to the general population. In this article, we leverage abundant data from the Covid-19 pandemic to assess whether people’s worries about the pandemic match epidemiological trends as well as political preferences. We use the string ‘will I die from coronavirus’ on GT as the measure for people’s level of distress regarding Covid-19. We also test whether concern for coronavirus is a partisan issue by contrasting GT data and 2016 election results. We find strong evidence that (1) GT search volume close matches epidemiological data and (2) significant differences exist between states that supported Clinton or Trump in 2016.

Impoliteness Addressed to Different Genders and their Responses in The Kitchen Nightmares, a TV Reality Show

This paper reveals the impoliteness strategies addressed to different genders and their corresponding responses. The data source is the video transcript of a TV reality show, The Kitchen Nightmares season 6 episode 2 for substantial and technical considerations. As it contains impolite expressions, abundant data can be gained to clarify the focal points. The subjects are the host and male and female participants in that show. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach. In collecting the data, the researcher identifies the utterances containing impoliteness and their responses in the transcript. Then, they are classified and compared to discover the impoliteness strategies and their responses related to gender differences. It is discovered that, in this show, the types of impoliteness strategies addressed to male addressees are not different from those of female participants. Regarding responses, it is found out that male participants respond to the impoliteness differently from the females. It can be concluded from the show that gender difference is not effective as recipients of impoliteness, but it is operative as producers of the response towards impoliteness. Keywords: entertainment, gender, impoliteness, responses to impoliteness

Recovery of new-onset kidney disease in COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a major global health threat with a great number of deaths worldwide. Despite abundant data on that many COVID-19 patients also displayed kidney disease, there is limited information available about the recovery of kidney disease after discharge. Methods Retrospective and prospective cohort study to patients with new-onset kidney disease during the COVID-19 hospitalization, admitted between January 28 to February 26, 2020. The median follow-up was 4 months after discharge. The follow-up patients were divided into the recovery group and non-recovery group. Descriptive statistics and between-groups comparison were used. Results In total, 143 discharged patients with new-onset kidney disease during the COVID-19 hospitalization were included. Patients had a median age was 64 (IQR, 51–70) years, and 59.4% of patients were men. During 4-months median follow-up, 91% (130 of 143) patients recovered from kidney disease, and 9% (13 of 143) patients haven’t recovered. The median age of patients in the non-recovery group was 72 years, which was significantly higher than the median age of 62 years in the recovery group. Discharge serum creatinine was significantly higher in the non-recovery group than in the recovery group. Conclusions Most of the new-onset kidney diseases during hospitalization of COVID-19 patients recovered 4 months after discharge. We recommend that COVID-19 patients with new-onset kidney disease be followed after discharge to assess kidney recovery, especially elderly patients or patients with high discharge creatinine.

Regulatory T Cells in the Mosaic of Liver Transplantation Tolerance

The success of transplantation depends on multiple factors, but the establishment of immune tolerant milieu is of critical importance. Hepatic environment consists of different cellular populations with prominent capacity to tolerate a huge range of antigens. Among them, regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an important role. They control the strength of immune reactions against non-self antigens and were shown to have an impact on the establishment of immune tolerance in the post-transplantation period. Furthermore, they impact a particular state after transplantation – operational tolerance. The abundant data show that Tregs might be manipulated, which suggests their further implementation as a treatment strategy. Tregs are also a very attractive target as a biomarker in the monitoring of post-transplantation period. Here, we review the particular role of Tregs among the broad spectrum of immune tolerance mechanisms of the liver in the light of the current directions of medical research.