Launch of an Open Access peer-reviewed journal on the treatment of respiratory diseases with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine

We launch “Integrative Respiratory Medicine (IRM)” a new peer-reviewed Open Access journal treating the progress in diagnostic methods as well as comprehensive treatment of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine on respiratory diseases. The editorial team believes that IRM will receive a wide readership and soon become a recognized source of innovative and exciting papers in the integrative respiratory medical disciplines.

To explore the material basis and mechanism of Lianhua Qingwen Prescription against COVID-19 based on network pharmacology

Objective: In the treatment of COVID-19, the application of Lianhua Qingwen Prescription has become growingly widespread, however, the mechanism of action is still unclear. To explore the material basis and mechanism of Lianhua Qingwen Prescription against SARS-CoV-2, to provide a reference for the treatment of COVID-19. Methods: Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), SwissTargetPrediction, and Similarity Ensemble Approach (SEA) database were used to search the chemical constituents and targets of Lianhua Qingwen Prescription. The targets of COVID-19 were screened by GeneCards, Therapeutic Target Database (TTD), and Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). Cytoscape software was used to construct a “drug-component-target” network diagram and the mechanism of action was predicted by enrichment analysis. Results: Two hundred and twenty four active components, 246 drug therapeutic targets, and 16,611 potential targets of Lianhua Qingwen Prescription were mined out. Moreover, 163 common targets were obtained, including PTGS2, IL6, CASP3, mapk1, EGFR, ACE2, etc. Thirty seven items were obtained by Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, mainly involving T-cell activation, virus receptor, and inflammatory reaction, etc. One hundred and forty items were obtained by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enriched analysis, including TNF signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and IL-17 signaling pathway. Conclusion: Compounds such as quercetin and kaempferol play an important role in anti-COVID-19 through the TNF signaling pathway and MAPK signaling pathway.

Advances in treatment of COVID-19

The novel coronavirus pneumonia is an acute infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The global pandemic of this novel coronavirus pneumonia has greatly threatened human health and brought enormous economy losses. By the end of May 20, 2020, the pandemic of this disease had caused more than 2.70 million infections and more than 320 thousand deaths. This paper reviewed the recent advances in the treatment of the novel coronavirus pneumonia to provide basic references for disease control.

A new strategy for treatment of Anosmia and Ageusia in COVID-19 patients

Introduction: The sudden onset of smell and taste loss has been reported as a symptom related to COVID-19. There is new evidence for the loss of smell and taste as a symptom of COVID-19 infection. Objectives: This study aims to examine the influence of coffee on the smell and taste of patients with Covid-19. Methods: In order to investigate the effect of coffee consumption on the taste and smell of COVID-19 patients, we attempted to sample in 20 provinces of the country, COVID-19 patients were separated by gender and underlying and non-underlying disease, doses of 15–20 mg for non-underlying patients and 25–30 mg for underlying patients. The reason for determining this amount of coffee is that every coffee we want to prepare needs a scoop of 14 g of coffee, which we determine. For some people, it was determined 14 g and for some people 28 g of coffee was determined due to consumed in two cups of coffee. Results: Patients with COVID-19 had reversibility on the first and second day. It was clear that there is a small gap between the proportion of recovered patients in the underlying and non-underlying patients, but due to the high volume of observations, this small difference is evident. Discussion: The effectiveness time of coffee is debatable by prescribing its amount. The time efficiency of improving the sense of smell and taste with coffee consumption was lower in non-background patients than in patients. Conclusions: Anosmia and Ageusia are more prevalent in COVID-19 patients. Caffeine in coffee reduced the reversibility of the sense of smell and taste of people with COVID-19. It was concluded that the chances of recovery are higher for those who do not have the underlying disease than for the other groups and for those who suffer from all three types of the underlying disease than for the other groups.