ABSTRACT
The increasing number of new cases and death related to Covid-19 poses a major challenge in Bangladesh. People obtain information on the Covid-19 from different sources of information. Appropriate information sources aids in proper implementation of health education program on the disease and its preventive practices. The study aimed to identify the sources of information and corresponding knowledge level related to Covid-19 among residents of Sylhet, Bangladesh. This cross sectional study was conducted in Sylhet division of Bangladesh from September 2020 to November 2020 involving the residents irrespective of sex, age ≥18 years old. A pre-structured questionnaire having twelve validated knowledge questions and five practice questions regarding Covid-19 was used to assess the knowledge and practice. Knowledge level was categorized as good (>6) and poor (≤6). Pearson Chi-square test and Logistic regression was employed to determine whether sources of information were related to respondents' knowledge on Covid-19. Television was popular source for obtaining information on Covid-19 among study participants (55.8%). Majority (86.3%) had 'Good' (>6) level of knowledge. Most of the participants (93.9%) were found to wear mask in outdoor. The association of information sources with knowledge level was statistically significant (p= 0.000). Participants seeking information from Television (AOR: 9.873, 95% CI 0.147-0.838) were more likely to have good level of knowledge than the other sources. The policymakers need to consider mostly utilized source: Television for dissemination of information and design awareness program to increase knowledge and preventive practices related to Covid-19 in Bangladesh.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Adolescent , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Bangladesh/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Educational Status , Surveys and Questionnaires , Information Sources , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeABSTRACT
There is an urgent need for the development of new drugs to treat Chagas' disease, which is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) has been a very successful drug target in a number of diseases and we decided to investigate it as a potential drug target for Chagas' disease. A homology model of the enzyme was used to search the Cambridge Structural Database using the program DOCK 3.5. Compounds were then tested against the enzyme and the whole parasite. Compounds were also screened against the related parasite, Trypanosoma brucei.
Subject(s)
Enzyme Inhibitors/chemistry , Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase/metabolism , Trypanosoma cruzi/drug effects , Trypanosoma cruzi/enzymology , Animals , Cell Line , Chagas Disease/drug therapy , Chagas Disease/parasitology , Databases as Topic , Disease Models, Animal , Drug Design , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Enzyme Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Folic Acid Antagonists/chemistry , Folic Acid Antagonists/pharmacology , Folic Acid Antagonists/therapeutic use , Inhibitory Concentration 50 , Mice , Muscles/cytology , Rats , Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense/drug effectsABSTRACT
The program DOCK3.5 was used to search the Cambridge Structural Database for novel inhibitors of Leishmanial dihydrofolate reductase. A number of compounds were obtained and screened against the enzyme and against the intact parasite Leishmania donovani and the related organisms Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi. The compounds screened showed weak activity in both the enzyme assays and the in vitro assays.
Subject(s)
Leishmania donovani/drug effects , Oxadiazoles/pharmacology , Pyrimidines/pharmacology , Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase/drug effects , Trypanocidal Agents/pharmacology , Trypanosoma brucei brucei/drug effects , Trypanosoma cruzi/drug effects , Animals , Crystallography, X-Ray , Databases as Topic , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Humans , Inhibitory Concentration 50 , Leishmania donovani/enzymology , Mice , Molecular Structure , Parasites/drug effects , Rats , Recombinant ProteinsABSTRACT
This paper concerns the design, synthesis, and evaluation of inhibitors of leishmanial and trypanosomal dihydrofolate reductase. Initially study was made of the structures of the leishmanial and human enzyme active sites to see if there were significant differences which could be exploited for selective drug design. Then a series of compounds were synthesized based on 5-benzyl-2, 4-diaminopyrimidines. These compounds were assayed against the protozoan and human enzymes and showed selectivity for the protozoan enzymes. The structural data was then used to rationalize the enzyme assay data. Compounds were also tested against the clinically relevant forms of the intact parasite. Activity was seen against the trypanosomes for a number of compounds. The compounds were in general less active against Leishmania. This latter result may be due to uptake problems. Two of the compounds also showed some in vivo activity in a model of African trypanosomiasis.
