ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 vaccine acceptance is a psychological behavior influenced by many factors, including fear of an adverse effect on the reproductive system. Aims: The aim of this study is to assess the COVID-19 vaccines effect on reproductive parameters among the male population of northern Saudi Arabia. Patients and Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study among 100 volunteers who received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. A pre- and post-vaccination blood sample was collected and analyzed for testosterone, prolactin, and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Semen samples were also collected and analyzed. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the values between pre- and post-vaccination. Results: Of the 100 samples analyzed, there was a significant increase in progressive sperm motility after the second dose of vaccination, but the increase was within the physiological limits (pre-55.03 [42.00-61.75] vs. post-57.50 [42.25-63.00], P = 0.008). Similarly, a significant increase in serum testosterone level after the second vaccination dose was observed (pre-380.65 [301.60-485.73] vs. post-410 [318.18-505.35], P = 0.016). Conclusion: These preliminary results show that the COVID-19 vaccines do not have any adverse effect on the reproductive parameters of men. A prospective long-term follow-up study will be necessary on all WHO -approved COVID vaccines to determine their long-term effect on men's reproductive health. The future follow-up study could strengthen our findings and encourage the men who have vaccine hesitancy to take due to fear of its effect on reproductive parameters.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 Vaccines , COVID-19 , Humans , Male , Semen Analysis , Prospective Studies , Follow-Up Studies , Saudi Arabia , Sperm Motility , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , TestosteroneABSTRACT
Since the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) protein is abundant on the surface of respiratory cells in the lungs, it has been confirmed to be the entry-point receptor for the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. As such, gold nanorods (AuNRs) functionalized with ACE2 ectodomain (ACE2ED) act not only as decoys for these viruses to keep them from binding with the ACE2-expressing cells but also as agents to ablate infectious virions through heat generated from AuNRs under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Using plasmid containing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein gene (with a D614G mutation), spike protein pseudotyped viral particles with a lentiviral core and green fluorescent protein reporter were constructed and used for transfecting ACE2-expressing HEK293T cells. Since these viral particles behave like their coronavirus counterparts, they are the ideal surrogates of native virions for studying viral entry into host cells. Our results showed that, once the surrogate pseudoviruses with spike protein encounter ACE2ED-tethered AuNRs, these virions are entrapped, resulting in decreased viral infection to ACE2-expressing HEK293T cells. Moreover, the effect of photothermolysis created by ACE2ED-tagged AuNRs under 808-nm NIR laser irradiation for 5 min led to viral breakdown. In summary, ACE2ED-tethered AuNRs with dual functions (virus decoy and destruction) could have an intriguing advantage in the treatment of diseases involving rapidly mutating viral species such as SARS-CoV-2.
ABSTRACT
Background: During the period of COVID-19 and as number of cases increase. shortages in healthcare workers (HCWs) is a concern. Subsequently, the workload of HCWs may be substantial. Objective: to assess prevalence of Musculoskeletal disorders among health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in the western region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional design of the study was steered between July 2020 and July 2021 at Western region in Saudi Arabia. It was permitted by the research ethics committee unit of Taif University. An online questionnaire was used. Results: In our study, 19.3% of HCWs reported MSDs after COVID-19 duty. The prevalence of MSDs in HCWs who change their work shift due to COVID-19 duty (71.6%) and also not due to COVID-19 (60%) was comparatively more than who didn't change their work shift at all (27.7%) that showed a statistically significant association (p<0.001). It was reported that 34.1% of HCWs treated an excess number of patients as a result of COVID-19 duty had an incidence of MSDs compared to those who didn't treat an excess number of patients (7.1%) and who treated excess number not attributable to COVID-19 (17.5%). Insufficient breaks during workdays due to COVID-19 duty were reported by 39.1% of HCWs. Conclusion: COVID-19 duty had put some extra workload on many HCWs, which lead to the development of work-related MSDs. Significant predictors included change in work shift due to COVID-19, working in awkward and cramped positions as a matter of COVID-19 duty and lifting heavy materials/equipment during COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus helicase is an essential enzyme required for viral replication/transcription pathways. Structural studies revealed a sulphate moiety that interacts with key residues within the nucleotide-binding site of the helicase. Compounds with a sulphoxide or a sulphone moiety could interfere with these interactions and consequently inhibit the enzyme. The molecular operating environment (MOE) was used to dock 189 sulphoxide and sulphone-containing FDA-approved compounds to the nucleotide-binding site. Zafirlukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist used to treat chronic asthma, achieved the lowest docking score at -8.75 kcals/mol. The inhibitory effect of the compounds on the SARS-CoV-2 helicase dsDNA unwinding activity was tested by a FRET-based assay. Zafirlukast was the only compound to inhibit the enzyme (IC50 = 16.3 µM). The treatment of Vero E6 cells with 25 µM zafirlukast prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection decreased the cytopathic effects of SARS-CoV-2 significantly. These results suggest that zafirlukast alleviates SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity by inhibiting the viral helicase and impairing the viral replication/transcription pathway. Zafirlukast could be clinically developed as a new antiviral treatment for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronavirus diseases. This discovery is based on molecular modelling, in vitro inhibition of the SARS-CoV helicase activity and cell-based SARS-CoV-2 viral replication.