Selenium and COVID-19: A spotlight on the clinical trials, inventive compositions, and patent literature.

Selenium is an indispensable trace element for all living organisms. It is an essential structural component of several selenium-dependent enzymes, which support the human body's defense mechanism. Recently, the significance of selenium in preventing/treating COVID-19 has been documented in the literature. This review highlights the clinical studies, compositions, and patent literature on selenium to prevent/treat COVID-19. Selenium exerts its anti-COVID-19 action by reducing oxidative stress, declining the expression of the ACE-2 receptor, lowering the discharge of pro-inflammatory substances, and inhibiting the 3CLPro (main protease) and PLpro enzyme of SARS-CoV-2. The data of clinical studies, inventive compositions, and patent literature revealed that selenium monotherapy and its compositions with other nutritional supplements/drugs (vitamin, iron, zinc, copper, ferulic acid, resveratrol, spirulina, N-acetylcysteine, fish oil, many herbs, doxycycline, azithromycin, curcumin, quercetin, etc.,) might be practical to prevent/treat COVID-19. The studies have also suggested a correlation between COVID-19 and selenium deficiency. This indicates that adequate selenium supplementation may provide promising treatment outcomes in COVID-19 patients. The authors foresee the development and commercialization of Selenium-based compositions and dosage forms (spray, inhalers, control release dosage forms, etc.) to battle COVID-19. We also trust that numerous selenium-based compositions are yet to be explored. Accordingly, there is good scope for scientists to work on developing novel and inventive selenium-based compositions to fight against COVID-19. However, there is also a need to consider the narrow therapeutic window and chemical interaction of selenium before developing selenium-based compositions.

Burden of COVID-19: a preliminary analysis in the population of Saudi Arabia.

Background: Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has resulted in an unprecedented number of human deaths and economic losses. Analyzing the role of disease in different groups of people is useful for determining the burden of disease. As a result, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of COVID-19 on the Saudi Arabian population's quality of life, with a particular emphasis on the likely fall in their life expectancy. Methods: A cross-sectional and retrospective analysis of 2,988 patients' databases was performed to assess COVID-19-induced mortality and complications in the community. The data was gathered from official websites that track the disease's impact daily between July and October 2021. On the acquired data, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and relative risk analysis were performed. The data was statistically analyzed using SPSS IBM 25. The Pearson's correlation test was used to examine the relationship between age and disease impact. The significance of the findings was determined by using a P value of less than 0.05. Results: The data from the study indicated that the positive test rate, infection rate, and mortality rate in the population were 1.84% [+0.11/-0.39 of 95% confidence interval (CI)], 1.54% (+0.38/-0.52 of CI), and 1.59% (+0.4/-0.7 of CI), respectively. Highest percentage of mortality was observed in Riyadh (17%), followed by Jeddah (8.7%) and Makkah (7.5%). The DALYs/100,000 inhabitants increased progressively as the age of the population increased, and the highest value was found for those over 70 years old (25.73 ± 2.09). Similarly, the risk outcome (55%) increased significantly (p = 0.037) from 40 years onwards, and the maximum was observed at above 70 years (184%, p = 0.006). The correlation analysis indicated a significant association (p = 0.032) between age and COVID-19 induced mortality from the 40-year-old population onwards. Conclusion: The current study found that the COVID-19 load in Saudi Arabia was comparable to that in nations that were said to have performed well during the pandemic. DALYs increased from 40 years to 60 years, although people over 60 years had a lower life expectancy and were more susceptible to infection. After 60 years, the occurrence of numerous co-morbid illnesses may have added to the population's burden of COVID-19. Further research in this area may yield a more precise estimate of the COVID-19-induced burden on the entire population.