A new strategy to integrate silver nanowires with waterborne coating to improve their antimicrobial and antiviral properties

PurposeThis study aims to focus on the preparation and characterization of the silver nanowire (AgNWs), as well as their application as antimicrobial and antivirus activities either with incorporation on the waterborne coating formulation or on their own.Design/methodology/approachPrepared AgNWs are characterized by different analytical instruments, such as ultraviolet-visible spectroscope, scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction spectrometer. All the paint formulation's physical and mechanical qualities were tested using American Society for Testing and Materials, a worldwide standard test procedure. The biological activities of the prepared AgNWs and the waterborne coating based on AgNWs were investigated. And, their effects on pathogenic bacteria, antioxidants, antiviral activity and cytotoxicity were also investigated.FindingsThe obtained results of the physical and mechanical characteristics of the paint formulation demonstrated the formulations' greatest performance, as well as giving good scrub resistance and film durability. In the antimicrobial activity, the paint did not have any activity against bacterial pathogen, whereas the AgNWs and AgNWs with paint have similar activity against bacterial pathogen with inhibition zone range from 10 to 14 mm. The development of antioxidant and cytotoxicity activity of the paint incorporated with AgNWs were also observed. The cytopathic effects of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) were reduced in all three investigated modes of action when compared to the positive control group (HSV-1-infected cells), suggesting that these compounds have promising antiviral activity against a wide range of viruses, including DNA and RNA viruses.Originality/valueThe new waterborne coating based on nanoparticles has the potential to be promising in the manufacturing and development of paints, allowing them to function to prevent the spread of microbial infection, which is exactly what the world requires at this time.

A comprehensive insight into current control of COVID-19: Immunogenicity, vaccination, and treatment.

The healthy immune system eliminates pathogens and maintains tissue homeostasis through extraordinarily complex networks with feedback systems while avoiding potentially massive tissue destruction. Many parameters influence humoral and cellular vaccine responses, including intrinsic and extrinsic, environmental, and behavioral, nutritional, perinatal and administrative parameters. The relative contributions of persisting antibodies and immune memory as well as the determinants of immune memory induction, to protect against specific diseases are the main parameters of long-term vaccine efficacy. Natural and vaccine-induced immunity and monoclonal antibody immunotherapeutic, may be evaded by SARS-CoV-2 variants. Besides the complications of the production of COVID-19 vaccinations, there is no effective single treatment against COVID-19. However, administration of a combined treatment at different stages of COVID-19 infection may offer some cure assistance. Combination treatment of antiviral drugs and immunomodulatory drugs may reduce inflammation in critical COVID-19 patients with cytokine release syndrome. Molnupiravir, remdesivir and paxlovid are the approved antiviral agents that may reduce the recovery time. In addition, immunomodulatory drugs such as lactoferrin and monoclonal antibodies are used to control inflammatory responses in their respective auto-immune conditions. Therefore, the widespread occurrence of highly transmissible variants like Delta and Omicron indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done in designing efficient vaccines and medicines for COVID-19. In this review, we briefly discussed the immunological response against SARS-CoV-2 and the vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for COVID-19, their mechanisms, and side effects. Moreover, we mentioned various treatment trials and strategies for COVID-19.

Lectins purified from medicinal and edible mushrooms: Insights into their antiviral activity against pathogenic viruses.

For thousands of years, fungi have been a valuable and promising source of therapeutic agents for treatment of various diseases. Mushroom is a macrofungus which has been cultivated worldwide for its nutritional value and medicinal applications. Several bioactive molecules were extracted from mushroom such as polysaccharides, lectins and terpenoids. Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins with non-immunologic origin. Lectins were classified according to their structure, origin and sugar specificity. This protein has different binding specificity with surface glycan moiety which determines its activity and therapeutic applications. A wide range of medicinal activities such as antitumor, antiviral, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and antidiabetic were reported from sugar-binding proteins. However, glycan-binding protein from mushroom is not well explored as antiviral agent. The discovery of novel antiviral agents is a public health emergency to overcome the current pandemic and be ready for the upcoming viral pandemics. The mechanism of action of lectin against viruses targets numerous steps in viral life cycle such as viral attachment, entry and replication. This review described the history, classification, purification techniques, structure-function relationship and different therapeutic applications of mushroom lectin. In addition, we focus on the antiviral activity, purification and physicochemical characteristics of some mushroom lectins.