COVID-19 virus: the immune reaction to vaccines

The immune system is developed to preserve its hosts from an ever-expanding cluster of pathogenic microbes. The elimination of toxic substances, allergens, or any other harmful existences that come in, passing the mucosal surfaces, is as well the responsibility of this special system. Its ability to distinguish self (our bodies' functioning cells and tissues) from non-self is the key aspect to its ability to mobilize some reaction to an invasion initiated by the stranger substances listed above. To identify and kill unsafe microorganisms, the host applies both natural and versatile systems, our innate and adaptive immune systems. Vaccines are used to combat the current SARS-CoV-2 strain by utilizing immune system mechanisms, specifically the adaptive immune system. Vectored vaccines, protein vaccines, genetic vaccine, and monoclonal antibody for passive vaccination are among the vaccine platforms under consideration for SARS-CoV-2. Each vaccine has its own benefits and drawbacks. This paper is written to describe the three major forms of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as the unique mechanisms of elements of the immune system associated with the virus. © 2023 SPIE.

Fabrication of noble metal–based antimicrobial nanosystems

Recently, the outbreak of diverse infectious diseases mainly caused by microbes led to increase in the human mortality rate. Microbes being small cell structures are more powerful to fight with human cells for their proliferation as well as subsequent growth. At times, it pioneers the world with its contagiousness (for example, swine flu, SARS-CoV-2, dengue virus, etc.) causing greater impact to public health. Numerous efforts are in progress to design and develop efficient antimicrobial systems. Antimicrobial systems include self-disinfecting surfaces, wall coatings, paints, sanitizers, etc., to improve their microbial resistance to surfaces as well as killing of pathogens. Noble metal–based antimicrobial systems are pioneers of the field right from history. Under the broad category of noble metal nanostructures, silver (Ag), gold (Au), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), and copper (Cu) prove its excellence as high-ranked antimicrobial markers. Yet, there exist some challenges to uplift its efficacy, henceforth fabrication process with its associated theory for building competent antimicrobial nanosystems with noble metals should be paid attention. The crucial factor is the fabrication step within which their properties would be tuned greatly. By proper design of fabrication process, noble metals could possibly function rapidly to destroy the microbial colonization by breaking the respiratory chains of pathogens of concern. Development of hydrophobic surfaces for noble metal nanomaterial–based antimicrobial systems is increasing in recent era, since it can act as shield against bio film formation by the microbial adherence to surfaces. This chapter entitles the diverse fabrication procedures with their mechanisms, pairing process of noble metals, surface modifications, tuning parameters at synthetic stages for engineering the noble metal–based antimicrobial nanosystems to enrich the higher biocidal resistance. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Insights on the methodology for indoor microbial aerosol studies

Covid-19 has highlighted the need for reliable methods for airborne microbe control. Different microbes are suitable for different purposes, and the microbes are sensitive to collection methods used. We identified three safe-to-use microbes suitable for airborne microbial studies: MS2-bacteriophage virus, Staphylococcus simulans and Bacillus atrophaeus bacterial spores. We found that the sensitive microbes (MS2 and S. simulans) survive better, when collected directly in a liquid media. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

Antimicrobial Activity: Different Mechanistic Elucidation of Antibacterial, Antiviral, Antifungal & Antialgae Agents

In recent days, the increasing number of microbes and their increasing resistance power against conventional drugs have led to enormous worldwide mortalities, hence they pose a great threat to human health. The modern era is already going through the threat of COVID-19, also caused by one of those microbes called the virus. In order to get a clear understanding, all the microbes have been classified in certain types. Nowadays, to develop new alternative antimicrobial medicines, scientists must acquire clarity about the responsible functional groups of different conventional drugs with proper mechanistic elucidation on different types of microbes. This information not only clarifies the functionalities and properties responsible for exhibiting antimicrobial effects, but also facilitates the idea of new drug development through proper functional group incorporation or modification. These modifications increase the efficacy of antimicrobial drugs as well as their activity and water solubility. In this review, my focus will majorly be on the four main types of microbes and their possible mechanistic elucidation of commonly used antibiotics and alternative antimicrobial medicines discovered till now. I thank the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and Government of India for my fellowship and research grants during my Ph.D in Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata and Postdoctoral journey in the University of Burdwan. I acknowledge Prof. Bimalendu Ray (Chemistry department, The University of Burdwan), Prof. Priyadarsi De, (Polymer Research Centre, Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata), Prof. Punyasloke Bhadury (Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata), Dr. Anwesha Ghosh (Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata) for many helpful discussions and laboratory use.Copyright © 2023 are reserved by International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research.

The Potential Role of Microorganisms on Enteric Nervous System Development and Disease.

The enteric nervous system (ENS), the inherent nervous system of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a vast nervous system that controls key GI functions, including motility. It functions at a critical interface between the gut luminal contents, including the diverse population of microorganisms deemed the microbiota, as well as the autonomic and central nervous systems. Critical development of this axis of interaction, a key determinant of human health and disease, appears to occur most significantly during early life and childhood, from the pre-natal through to the post-natal period. These factors that enable the ENS to function as a master regulator also make it vulnerable to damage and, in turn, a number of GI motility disorders. Increasing attention is now being paid to the potential of disruption of the microbiota and pathogenic microorganisms in the potential aetiopathogeneis of GI motility disorders in children. This article explores the evidence regarding the relationship between the development and integrity of the ENS and the potential for such factors, notably dysbiosis and pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites, to impact upon them in early life.

Infection and obesity: Two sides of the same coin

Obesity is a chronic disease exceeding epidemic proportions whose multifactorial etiology constrains available treatment options. Obesity therapies have focused on lifestyle interventions targeting food intake and/or physical activity but neglect the potential of microbial causal factors. With rising obesity rates, the need for accelerated therapies may be achieved through microbe-specific vaccines targeting cause-specific etiologies. Obesity is a risk factor for increased susceptibility to numerous infectious diseases. This chapter aims to address the bidirectional relationship between obesity and such microbes by investigating the mechanisms and causality of this relationship through correlationally linked infections of microbial origins like influenza and COVID-19. Additionally, this chapter captures how several microbes contribute to obesity through variable transmission mechanisms as well as the cascade of their effects across host biochemistries known as "Infectobesity.” Identifying contributory roles of pathogens in obesity will assist the development of vaccinations against a growing yet underestimated subtype of obesity. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resetting urban human-microbial relations in pandemic times

Microbes, particularly of the viral kind, are currently preoccupying human activity and concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although for a long time there has been fear associated with ‘germs', notably viruses and bacteria and the diseases they cause, the pandemic has set these fears into overdrive. As serious as this ongoing event is, there are broader interests and important alternative narratives about the microbial world permeating current thinking, based on research that intersects with and includes biopolitical and relational research in geography. In an attempt at balancing the prevailingly negative discourses about microbes and the potential harms they can cause, and to encourage more geographers to contribute to understanding human-microbial relations, this paper draws together recent research across disciplines to discuss the prevalence and role of microbes in environments and in and on human bodies. Drawing on ideas of more-than-human care, the paper shows how geographers and other social scientists can and are already helping reset human-microbial relations, and where further work can productively be done. © 2023 The Authors. Geography Compass published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Obstacles in the adaptation of biopesticides in India

The unregulated use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers has led to unanticipated harmful consequences to human health as well as environment. The pandemic Covid-19 crisis is not permanent, but it has magnified the impact on livestock farming already present in the agricultural system. Farmers are facing the shortage of agricultural inputs due to the global trade disturbance. An effective alternative method of conventional pesticides is the application of biopesticides. These substances are sustainable solution for farming, pest control, and disease management. The post-Covid-19 pandemic impact on agriculture, regulatory hurdles, and the limitations of large-scale biopesticides production are discussed here. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Studying the effect of a disinfection robot using UVC lights, on fungi and microbes in the hospital environment

The high prevalence rate of covid-19 is the most prominent feature making this deadly virus known in the world. One of the efficient ways to bridle this spread is disinfecting furniture in public places. Since there are demerits in utilizing chemical sanitizers, like imperfect disinfection processes, developed countries have turned to use modern cleaning methods. In this paper, the design, manufacturing, and experimental test of a UVC1 multipurpose robot are presented. Containing 8 UVC lights, the portable system is capable of disinfecting a whole sphere around its working area. Consider the Ozone gas produced by the lights, this robot can sanitize covered places that UVC rays cannot reach. As UVC rays are dangerous, this system is remotely controllable in a range of two km. An atmega128 microcontroller is utilized to navigate the robot and send the operator's commands to the system. Corona group viruses like SARS and Ebola besides E. coli bacteria have been studied during an experiment. 39 sample points of a surgery room in a hospital were disinfected by three types of mentioned microbes. Cultivating the microorganisms before and after a 20 minutes UVC disinfection process, almost 80% of the microbes were deactivated. © 2022 IEEE.

Molecular mimicry and SARS-CoV-2

This chapter discusses the role of molecular mimicry and immunological cross-reactivity involving SARS-CoV-2 and autoimmunity. There are numerous immune-mediated phenomena and autoimmune disorders induced by or following COVID-19 disease and/or SARS-VoV-2 vaccination. The major mechanism linking virus and host related autoimmune disorders and the development of SARS-CoV-2-induced autoantibodies has been considered that of molecular mimicry and immunological cross-reactivity, either at the B-cell or T-cell level. In this chapter, we describe the major concepts of the mechanism in motion and critically discuss the data so far provided from bioinformatics analysis providing mimicking pairs of homologies between the virus and numerous autoantigens, as well as from experimental studies using biomaterial, such as polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies directed against the virus and cross-recognizing self-proteins. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Polysaccharides to Combat Viruses (COVID-19) and Microbes: New updates.

COVID-19, which is speedily distributed across the world and presents a significant challenge to public health, is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Following MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and SARS, this is the third severe coronavirus outbreak in less than 20 years. To date, there are no exact agents and vaccines available for the treatment of COVID-19 that are clinically successful. Antimicrobial medications are effective in controlling infectious diseases. However, the extensive use of antibiotics makes microbes more resistant to drugs and demands novel bioactive agents' development. Polysaccharides are currently commonly used in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries for their remarkable applications. Polysaccharides appear to have a wide range of anti-virus (anti-coronavirus) and antimicrobial applications. Polysaccharides are able to induce bacterial cell membrane disruption as they demonstrate potency in binding onto the surfaces of microbial cells. Here, the antiviral mechanisms of such polysaccharides and their success in the application of antiviral infections are reviewed. Additionally, this report provides a summary of current advancements of well-recognized polysaccharides as antimicrobial and anti-biofilm agents.

Assessment of residual chlorine in soil microbial community using metagenomics

Chlorine-containing disinfectants have been widely used around the world for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, at present, little is known about the impact of residual chlorine on the soil micro-ecological environment. Herein, we treated an experimental soil-plant-microbiome microcosm system by continuous irrigation with a low concentration of chlorine-containing water, and then analyzed the influence on the soil microbial community using metagenomics. After 14-d continuous chlorine treatment, there were no significant lasting effect on soil microbial community diversity and composition either in the rhizosphere or in bulk soil. Although metabolic functions of the rhizosphere microbial community were affected slightly by continuous chlorine treatment, it recovered to the original status. The abundance of several resistance genes changed by 7 d and recovered by 14 d. According to our results, the chlorine residue resulting from daily disinfection may present a slight long-term effect on plant growth (shoot length and fresh weight) and soil micro-ecology. In general, our study assisted with environmental risk assessments relating to the application ofchlorine-containing disinfectants and minimization of risks to the environment during disease control, such as COVID-19. © 2022, Higher Education Press.

Microbiota-derived psychedelics: Lessons from COVID-19.

Emil Kraepelin believed that dementia praecox, the disorder we now call schizophrenia, was caused by the brain being poisoned with toxins generated in other parts of the body, especially the mouth, intestine or genitals. In this regard, Kraepelin hinted at the microbiome and conceptualized microbial molecules as drivers of severe psychiatric illness. However, it was not until the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that Kraepelin's paradigm gained traction, particularly because this virus was associated with both gut barrier disruption and new-onset psychosis.Likewise, despite numerous studies linking severe psychiatric illness to genomic damage and dysfunctional DNA repair, this pathogenetic mechanism was underappreciated before the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of the psychotomimetic anesthetic, ketamine, for treatment-resistant depression has reawakened the interest in endogenous serotonergic hallucinogens, especially tryptamine and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which are beneficial for depression but associated with psychosis.In this editorial, we take a closer look at the role of the microbiome in psychopathology, attempting to answer 2 questions:1. Why may psychosis-predisposing serotonergic hallucinogens alleviate depression?2. Are microbiota-derived psychedelics part of an inbuilt antidepressant system similar to endogenous opioids?

Religion, Animals, and the Theological Anthropology of Microbes in the Pandemicene

Microbiology's ecological turn, as it shifts its gaze from the individual microbe to the entanglement and ubiquity of microbial life, is transforming conceptions of human nature and disease in the sciences and humanities. Both the fields of Christian theological anthropology and medical anthropology are tuning in to these microbiological shifts for their reformative possibilities. Meanwhile, practical resistance to these shifts in recent pandemic responses suggest that forces greater than just the "pure science" of microbiology are informing attachments to hyper-modern or Pasteurian epidemiologies and radically independent, buffered views of the self. This essay explores the roots of such resistance. It investigates the interplay of shifts in theological anthropology and disease theories. Cultural anthropology and critical studies offer accounts of epidemiology's fraught relationship to a history of colonialism, racialization, and vilification of pathogens and pathogenicized humans. This essay adds a theological analysis of the historical entanglement of perspectives on disease and Christian doctrine, which bears on the present pandemic response. It illuminates the ways some Christians "benefit" from germ theory's influence. Germ theory interrupts key Christian doctrine (especially theodicy) that makes Christian theology resistant to relational accounts of being human. Germ theory's theological reshaping of Christian teaching may also encourage the current resistance to more relational pandemic responses known as One Health strategies. While reformative and more realistic possibilities of emergent and entangled multispecies accounts of humanity's microbiality are ample and apt, they must account for the ways in which microbiology has never been epidemiological without also being colonial and theological. In other words, this essay explores the smallest and most reviled "animals" in relationship to Christian conceptions of sin, contagion, and evil as groundwork for engaging humanity's micro-animality and diseases' relational aspects. To conclude, I offer four modest suggestions.

Metal oxide nanocomposites: design and use in antimicrobial coatings

Similar to the pandemic COVID-19 situations, the world has been facing various infections due to innumerable pathogenic microbes in living organisms, which puts many challenges in front of policymakers, scientists, and governments as well. Among the different strategies to control infection-causing agents, the demand to develop biostatic or biocidal coatings is increasing dramatically. In addition, numerous companies have been marketing the various antimicrobial ways for inactivating or reducing infectious microbes. Among the different types of antimicrobial coatings, surface coating is one of the promising strategies to disinfect the surfaces of various objects or tools used in hospitals, homes, etc. In comparison to organic- or polymer-based agents, metal oxide nanocomposites have been emerged as antimicrobial materials because of their overriding advantages such as higher surface area, excellent stability, non-toxicity, reasonable cost, chemical inertness, etc., which leads to higher activity toward the microbes inactivation through reactive oxygen species generation, ease penetration, well integrity, etc. With these objectives, this chapter discusses the metal oxide nanocomposites-based antimicrobial coatings for controlling the microbes observed on the surfaces of objects used in different sectors, such as hospitals, paints, automobiles, food, etc. Accordingly, this chapter describes the basics of nanocomposites, antimicrobial coatings, characterizing composites, biological measurements for antimicrobial coatings used in various fields up to the future perspectives of nanocomposites-based antimicrobial coatings. Therefore, metal oxide nanocomposites-based antimicrobial coatings can be used effectively to control the microbial proliferation of various objects, devices used in common places of high-risk infections. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Viral infectious diseases severity: co-presence of transcriptionally active microbes (TAMs) can play an integral role for disease severity.

Humans have been challenged by infectious diseases for all of their recorded history, and are continually being affected even today. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has enabled identification of, i) culture independent microbes, ii) emerging disease-causing pathogens, and iii) understanding of the genome architecture. This, in turn, has highlighted that pathogen/s are not a monolith, and thereby allowing for the differentiation of the wide-ranging disease symptoms, albeit infected by a primary pathogen. The conventional 'one disease - one pathogen' paradigm has been positively revisited by considering limited yet important evidence of the co-presence of multiple transcriptionally active microbes (TAMs), potential pathogens, in various infectious diseases, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The ubiquitous microbiota presence inside humans gives reason to hypothesize that the microbiome, especially TAMs, contributes to disease etiology. Herein, we discuss current evidence and inferences on the co-infecting microbes particularly in the diseases caused by the RNA viruses - Influenza, Dengue, and the SARS-CoV-2. We have highlighted that the specific alterations in the microbial taxonomic abundances (dysbiosis) is functionally connected to the exposure of primary infecting pathogen/s. The microbial presence is intertwined with the differential host immune response modulating differential disease trajectories. The microbiota-host interactions have been shown to modulate the host immune responses to Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infection, wherein the active commensal microbes are involved in the generation of virus-specific CD4 and CD8 T-cells following the influenza virus infection. Furthermore, COVID-19 dysbiosis causes an increase in inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1ß, which might be one of the important predisposing factors for severe infection. Through this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive view of functional microbiomes that can have a significant regulatory impact on predicting disease severity (mild, moderate and severe), as well as clinical outcome (survival and mortality). This can offer fresh perspectives on the novel microbial biomarkers for stratifying patients for severe disease symptoms, disease prevention and augmenting treatment regimens.

Diagnostics and antimicrobial therapy of the infections caused by multiresistant microorganisms (update 2022)

Strains of microorganisms characterized by resistance to antimicrobial drugs used in medical organizations continue to spread In most regions of the world including Russia. It is clear that it affects both the effectiveness of antimicrobial therapy and tactics and strategy of its use not only in adults patients but also in children. The pandemic of coronavirus infection, in addition, highlighted the growing problems in treatment of invasive mycoses, the dose adjustment of antibiotics during sorption and dialysis therapy methods. These circumstances made it necessary to make adjustments to Guidelines on Diagnostics and Antimicrobial Therapy of Infections Caused by Multiresistant Strains of Microorganisms, which were prepared by a group of leading Russian experts in 2020 [1]. The submitted version of the recommendations was approved on 25.03.2022 at a joint meeting of the working group with representatives of public organizations: Association of Anesthesiologists-Intensivists, the Interregional Non-Governmental Organization Alliance of Clinical Chemotherapists and Microbiologists, the Interregional Association for Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (IACMAC), and NGO Russian Sepsis Forum. These recommendations reflect an interdisciplinary consensus opinion on approaches to the diagnosis and antimicrobial therapy of infections caused by multiresistant microorganisms. They are based on data from publications obtained from randomized trials as well as based on international clinical guidelines with a high degree of evidence. It is rational to use the Guidelines for determining the tactics of empirical and etiotropic therapy of the most severe infections. © 2022 by the authors.

Natural products and their semi-synthetic derivatives against antimicrobial-resistant human pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

Human infectious diseases caused by various microbial pathogens, in general, impact a large population of individuals every year. These microbial diseases that spread quickly remain to be a big issue in various health-related domains and to withstand the negative drug impacts, the antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic microbial organisms (pathogenic bacteria and pathogenic fungi) have developed a variety of resistance processes against many antimicrobial drug classes. During the COVID-19 outbreak, there seems to be an upsurge in drug and multidrug resistant-associated pathogenic microbial species. The preponderance of existing antimicrobials isn't completely effective, which limits their application in clinical settings. Several naturally occurring chemicals produced from bacteria, plants, animals, marine species, and other sources are now being studied for antimicrobial characteristics. These natural antimicrobial compounds extracted from different sources have been demonstrated to be effective against a variety of diseases, although plants remain the most abundant source. These compounds have shown promise in reducing the microbial diseases linked to the development of drug tolerance and resistance. This paper offers a detailed review of some of the most vital and promising natural compounds and their derivatives against various human infectious microbial organisms. The inhibitory action of different natural antimicrobial compounds, and their possible mechanism of antimicrobial action against a range of pathogenic fungal and bacterial organisms, is provided. The review will be useful in refining current antimicrobial (antifungal and antibacterial) medicines as well as establishing new treatment strategies to tackle the rising number of human bacterial and fungal-associated infections.

Assessment of Uptake, Accumulation and Degradation of Paracetamol in Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) under Controlled Laboratory Conditions.

The occurrence and persistence of pharmaceuticals in the food chain, particularly edible crops, can adversely affect human and environmental health. In this study, the impacts of the absorption, translocation, accumulation, and degradation of paracetamol in different organs of the leafy vegetable crop spinach (Spinacia oleracea) were assessed under controlled laboratory conditions. Spinach plants were exposed to 50 mg/L, 100 mg/L, and 200 mg/L paracetamol in 20% Hoagland solution at the vegetative phase in a hydroponic system. Exposed plants exhibited pronounced phytotoxic effects during the eight days trial period, with highly significant reductions seen in the plants' morphological parameters. The increasing paracetamol stress levels adversely affected the plants' photosynthetic machinery, altering the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fv/Fm and PSII), photosynthetic pigments (Chl a, Chl b and carotenoid contents), and composition of essential nutrients and elements. The LC-MS results indicated that the spinach organs receiving various paracetamol levels on day four exhibited significant uptake and translocation of the drug from roots to aerial parts, while degradation of the drug was observed after eight days. The VITEK® 2 system identified several bacterial strains (e.g., members of Burkhulderia, Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas and Kocuria) isolated from spinach shoots and roots. These microbes have the potential to biodegrade paracetamol and other organic micro-pollutants. Our findings provide novel insights to mitigate the risks associated with pharmaceutical pollution in the environment and explore the bioremediation potential of edible crops and their associated microbial consortium to remove these pollutants effectively.

Emerging Developments Regarding Nanocellulose-Based Membrane Filtration Material against Microbes.

The wide availability and diversity of dangerous microbes poses a considerable problem for health professionals and in the development of new healthcare products. Numerous studies have been conducted to develop membrane filters that have antibacterial properties to solve this problem. Without proper protective filter equipment, healthcare providers, essential workers, and the general public are exposed to the risk of infection. A combination of nanotechnology and biosorption is expected to offer a new and greener approach to improve the usefulness of polysaccharides as an advanced membrane filtration material. Nanocellulose is among the emerging materials of this century and several studies have proven its use in filtering microbes. Its high specific surface area enables the adsorption of various microbial species, and its innate porosity can separate various molecules and retain microbial objects. Besides this, the presence of an abundant OH groups in nanocellulose grants its unique surface modification, which can increase its filtration efficiency through the formation of affinity interactions toward microbes. In this review, an update of the most relevant uses of nanocellulose as a new class of membrane filters against microbes is outlined. Key advancements in surface modifications of nanocellulose to enhance its rejection mechanism are also critically discussed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review focusing on the development of nanocellulose as a membrane filter against microbes.