Photodynamic therapy: a new treatment against COVID-19

In 2019, a new coronavirus (COVID-19) was discovered in Wuhan, China, which soon spread all over the world. The main hallmark of the disease includes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and dry cough with dyspnea in half of the patients and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Currently, no definitive treatment or prevention therapy exists for COVID-19 but scientists and researchers all over the world are relentlessly working to understand COVID-19 to discover novel therapeutic tools and vaccines. Today, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been investigated as a noninvasive therapy for the treatment of this pandemic and was able to increase the healing process with the help of appropriate photosensitizers by targeting the pathogen inside the patient's body.

Photodynamic therapy: A new treatment against Covid-19

In 2019, a new coronavirus (COVID-19) was discovered in Wuhan, China, which soon spread all over the world. The main hallmark of the disease includes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and dry cough with dyspnea in half of the patients and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Currently, no definitive treatment or prevention therapy exists for COVID-19 but scientists and researchers all over the world are relentlessly working to understand COVID-19 to discover novel therapeutic tools and vaccines. Today, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been investigated as a noninvasive therapy for the treatment of this pandemic and was able to increase the healing process with the help of appropriate photosensitizers by targeting the pathogen inside the patient's body. Copyright © 2022, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.

Letter to the Editor: Treatment of Covid-19 with Fisetin flavonoid nanoparticles

A novel coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) was identified in Wuhan, China causing an outbreak of pneumonia worldwide. The first infection of the coronavirus was associated with a kind of seafood. The patient of the covid-19 pandemic was accompanied by the most common symptoms of fever, lung inflammation, dry cough, and tiredness. Researchers have found that natural flavonoid and antioxidant products such as wildly phytomedicine and anti-inflammatory drugs can play a therapeutically rolls in accelerating the recovery of the viral disease. Fisetin, a known flavonoid in fruits and vegetables, is a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. With the help of drug delivery technology, fisetin can be present in nanoparticles in a targeted manner in a short time with the minimum dose and also the least side effects to create a high degree of effectiveness in the treatment of this virus.

Nanoformulation-based antiviral combination therapy for treatment of COVID-19

This article hypothesized that the use of PLGAPEG copolymer to deliver two or more antiretroviral drugs to suppress viral entry and viral replication by DX600 and Ribavirin, respectively can be a promising tool in treatment of coronavirus. Moreover, PLGAPEG copolymer has the potential to be applied as a nanocarrier agent for codelivery of any antiviral drugs to target tissue and consequently promotes the CART in living organisms. So, by including nanoparticles (NPs) in drug formulations, the efficacy, safety, and dose of administered drug would be improved. The formidable barriers for gastrointestinal tract, skin and cell have limited the therapeutic effects of antiviral drugs. For example, functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes were used as a nanodrug carrier for ribavirin for the treatment of viral diseases in fish. The results show that ribavirin intake was increased by nanocarrier and therapeutic dosage was significantly reduced. Several researches have been conducted about antiviral drug delivery nanosystems and their transport across specific barriers at cellular and intracellular level. Furthermore, improving the antiretroviral agents' delivery could overcome some probable limitations of current CART.