Antiviral activity of the human endogenous retrovirus-R envelope protein against SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus-induced disease-19 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, is still a major global health challenge. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) represent retroviral elements that were integrated into the ancestral human genome. HERVs are important in embryonic development as well as in the manifestation of diseases, including cancer, inflammation, and viral infections. Here, we analyze the expression of several HERVs in SARS-CoV-2-infected cells and observe increased activity of HERV-E, HERV-V, HERV-FRD, HERV-MER34, HERV-W, and HERV-K-HML2. In contrast, the HERV-R envelope is downregulated in cell-based models and PBMCs of COVID-19 patients. Overexpression of HERV-R inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication, suggesting its antiviral activity. Further analyses demonstrate the role of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in regulating HERV-R antiviral activity. Lastly, our data indicate that the crosstalk between ERK and p38 MAPK controls the synthesis of the HERV-R envelope protein, which in turn modulates SARS-CoV-2 replication. These findings suggest the role of the HERV-R envelope as a prosurvival host factor against SARS-CoV-2 and illustrate a possible advantage of integration and evolutionary maintenance of retroviral elements in the human genome.Copyright © 2023 The Authors.

Satisfaction of Patients Other Than COVID-19 During the Pandemic at a Multidisciplinary Centre with COVID-19 Services

Background: The services rendered by hospitals during the pandemic may not be efficient. This might impact the satisfaction of patients seeking healthcare. The aim of this study is to assess the satisfaction level of patients other than those with COVID-19 during the pandemic with different services provided by the hospital. Method: A quantitative, analytical and cross-sectional study was carried out in a multidisciplinary hospital. Valid questionnaire, derived from PSQ III and PSQ 18, was used for data collection from 250 outpatients. Ethical approval was obtained. Systematic random sampling was done to enrol patients into the study after taking their consent. Descriptive analysis was performed using frequency, proportion, median and inter-quartile range. Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test were carried out to find the association between overall satisfaction and different socio-demographic and other variables. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. Result: Almost two-thirds of the respondents visiting the hospital during the pandemic were female (male: 35.6% and female: 64.4%). More than half (50.4%) of the patients reported that access to the hospital was feasible. Of the patients reporting dissatisfaction, most of them (86.4%) considered the establishment of separate COVID-19 hospitals as the best option. The median satisfaction score for the overall satisfaction of patients towards different service domains was 54.0 (45–60). Almost all respondents (95.6%) found that services were easily available. Patient satisfaction score was significantly associated with expenditure (p < 0.001). Satisfaction score was also significantly associated with the time spent in the hospital by the patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Majority of the patients reporting to the multidisciplinary hospital were satisfied with the provisioning of treatment and different services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relatively lesser satisfaction was reported for the provision of maintenance of social distance, availability of hand washing/sanitisation, overall hospital cleanliness and cost of treatment. Moreover, satisfaction among patients was associated with their perceived fear of the pandemic. © 2023 Indian Institute of Health Management Research.

Multitargeted Molecular Dynamic Understanding of Butoxypheser Against SARS-CoV-2: An in Silico Study

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was initially reported in the Wuhan province of China, spread throughout the world, and caused massive destruction in the form of a global pandemic that started back in 2020. SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus with various proteins like main protease, spike protein, NSP15 endoribonuclease, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and papain-like protease targeted to screen and find the novel drug candidate that can potentially work against the virus. Previous studies have reported multiple drugs after screening and validation against a single target and reported multiple medications. Nevertheless, many drugs are being used to date but do not have enough potential to work against SARS-CoV-2 and curb the spread and death rate. In this study, with the hypothesis of 1 drug and multiple targets, we have taken 5 main target proteins and screened the Asinex's complete BioDesign library (1,70,269 compounds) and identified N-{2-[(2S)-2-Amino-3-methylbutoxy]-6-propylbenzoyl}-L-phenylalanyl-L-serine (Butoxypheser) as multitarget inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2. Also, Butoxypheser has shown excellent docking scores, hydrogen bonding, and other bonding configurations like van der Waals force and water bridges. The stability and interaction pattern of the compound was validated with structural interaction fingerprints (SIFts) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The Butoxypheser has performed flawlessly throughout the study, and the same results were used to compare the compound's activity against multiple targets. After a thorough theoretical comparative analysis, Butoxypheser can be treated as a multitargeted inhibitor candidate against SARS-CoV-2. Further, this study needs to be validated experimentally before human use.

Study on yoga practices and biochemical, physical and physiological alterations: A perspective on yoga as preventive strategy against COVID 19

Background: During the COVID pandemic period, our home-restricted life led to many undesirable physical, physiological, and mental alterations. Yoga a traditional system of medicines by virtue of its holistic approach toward health and disease and also due to reasonable cost, the technique has an edge in dealing with health problems and with primary prevention of disease. Aim: The current study has been designed to assess the effect of short-term (for 3 months for 5 days in a week or 40 days) yoga practice on lipid profile, and blood glucose level, C-reactive protein (CRP), and other physical and physiological parameters among healthy controls. Materials and Methods: Students went for yoga practice for 3 months (90 days) for 5 days in a week under the supervision of trained yoga instructor. Yoga activity was conducted via Google Meet app through broadband connectivity. The procedure began with Surya Namaskar (Sun Saluation) with a session of 12 asanas (fixed postures) for 20 min, followed by 15 min Pranayam (breathing exercise including anulome-vilome, surya bandana, sheetali, and bhramari). The session ended with 10 min meditation. Yoga program was started on September 27, 2020, and ended on December 27, 2020, after the completion of 3 months. Biochemical investigation (lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, CRP) and physiological parameters (blood pressure [BP], pulse), and other anthropometric parameters including weight, height body mass index reports were collected before September 27 and after December 27 in 5 days after the completion of 3 months tenure. Results: Results of the study clearly indicate fasting sugar, systolic BP, and low-density lipoprotein were significantly decreased (with value <0.02, 0.007, and 0.001, respectively) in the postyoga phase as compared to preyoga baseline investigation. Conclusion: The The present study substantiates some good results of the yoga training. Although all the tested parameters could not show desired changes and they were statistically insignificant. © 2022 Journal of Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences University ;Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow.

A novel approach of inspection methodology in fabrication industry post COVID-19

The virus SARS-COV2 also known as COVID-19 is a pandemic that affecting the entire world. During this tough time, all the industries, manufacturing units, and the related entities are either closed or partially open. During this pandemic, the fabrication industry is also got affected. During the lockdown, industry people are going through various internet platforms and technology to accomplish their work. The fabrication and welding inspection are also part of it. Conventionally it was done physically by inspectors. inspecting the weld. But, during this tough time, some new methodologies of inspection such as the use of the highresolution camera, use of Industry 4.0, and smart glasses are suggested in this paper for various fabrication inspection activities without going to the site. The cost of the inspection also can be reduced by adopting these new approaches along with the demand for maintenance of social distancing needed during COVID-19. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.