ABSTRACT
COVID-19 virus is a causative agent of viral pandemic in human beings which specifically targets respiratory system of humans and causes viral pneumonia. This unusual viral pneumonia is rapidly spreading to all parts of the world, currently affecting about 105 million people with 2.3 million deaths. Current review described history, genomic characteristics, replication, and pathogenesis of COVID-19 with special emphasis on Nigella sativum (N. sativum) as a treatment option. N. sativum seeds are historically and religiously used over the centuries, both for prevention and treatment of different diseases. This review summarizes the potential role of N. sativum seeds against COVID-19 infection at levels of in silico, cell lines and animal models.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , COVID-19 , Nigella , Pandemics , Pathology, Molecular , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 is a causative agent for COVI-19 disease, initially reported from Wuhan, China. Infected Patients experienced mild to severe symptoms, resulting in several fatalities due to a weak understanding of its pathogenesis, which is the same even to date. This cross-sectional study has been designed on four hundred and fifty-two symptomatic, mild-to-moderate, and severe/critical patients to understand the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients with their comorbidities and response to treatment. The mean age of studied patients was (58{+/-}14.42) years, and the overall male to female ratio was 61.7 to 38.2%, respectively. 27.3% of the patients had a history of exposure, 11.9% travel history, while for 60% of patients, the source of infection was unknown. The most prevalent signs and symptoms in ICU patients were dry coughs, myalgias, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal discomfort, and abnormal Chest X-ray (p<0.001), along with the high percentage of hypertension (p=0.007) and COPD (p=0.029) as leading comorbidities. Complete Blood Counts indicators were significantly increased in severe patients, while the Coagulation Profile and D-dimer values were significantly higher in mild-to-moderate (non-ICU) patients (p < 0.001). Serum Creatinine (1.22 umole L-1; p = 0.016) and LDH (619 umol L-1; p < 0.001) indicators were significantly high in non-ICU patients while, raised values of Total Bilirubin (0.91 umol L-1; p = 0.054), CRP (84.68 mg L-1; p = 0.001) and Ferritin (996.81 mg L-1; p < 0.001) were found in ICU patients. Drug Dexamethasone was the leading prescribed and administrated medicine to the COVID-19 patients, followed by Remdesivir, Meropenem, Heparin, and Tocilizumab, respectively. A characteristic pattern of Ground glass opacities (GGO), consolidation, and interlobular septal thickening were prominent in severely infected patients. These findings could be used for future research, control, and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.
ABSTRACT
BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to expand globally, with case numbers rising in many areas of the world, including the Indian sub-continent. Pakistan has one of the world s largest population, of over 200 million people and is experiencing a severe third wave of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 that begun in March 2021.In Pakistan, during third wave until now only 12 SARS-CoV-2 genomes have been collected and among these 9 are from Islamabad. This highlights the need for more genome sequencing to allow surveillance of variants in circulation. In fact more genomes are available among travellers with a travel history from Pakistan, than from within the country itself. MethodsFor a better understanding of the circulating variants in Lahore and surrounding areas with a combined population of 11.1 million, within a week of April 2021, 102 samples were sequenced. The samples were randomly collected from 2 hospitals with a diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cutoff value of less than 25 cycles. ResultsAnalysis of the lineages shows that B.1.1.7 (first identified in the UK, Alpha variant) dominates, accounting for 97.9% (97/99) of cases, with B.1.351 (first identified in South Africa, Beta variant) accounting for 2.0% (2/99) of cases. No other lineages were observed. DiscussionIn depth analysis of the B.1.1.7 lineages indicates multiple separate introductions and subsequent establishment within the region. Eight samples were identical to genomes observed in Europe (7 UK, 1 Switzerland), indicating recent transmission. Genomes of other samples show evidence that these have evolved, indicating sustained transmission over a period of time either within Pakistan or other countries with low density genome sequencing. Vaccines remain effective against B.1.1.7, however the low level of B.1.351 against which some vaccines are less effective demonstrates the requirement for continued prospective genomic surveillance.
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Substantial COVID-19 research investment has been allocated to randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, which currently face recruitment challenges or early discontinuation. We aimed to estimate the effects of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on survival in COVID-19 from all currently available RCT evidence, published and unpublished. We conducted a rapid meta-analysis of ongoing, completed, or discontinued RCTs on hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine treatment for any COVID-19 patients (protocol: https://osf.io/QESV4/). We systematically identified unpublished RCTs (ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, Cochrane COVID-registry up to June 11, 2020), and published RCTs (PubMed, medRxiv and bioRxiv up to October 16, 2020). All-cause mortality was extracted (publications/preprints) or requested from investigators and combined in random-effects meta-analyses, calculating odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), separately for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. Prespecified subgroup analyses included patient setting, diagnostic confirmation, control type, and publication status. Sixty-three trials were potentially eligible. We included 14 unpublished trials (1308 patients) and 14 publications/preprints (9011 patients). Results for hydroxychloroquine are dominated by RECOVERY and WHO SOLIDARITY, two highly pragmatic trials, which employed relatively high doses and included 4716 and 1853 patients, respectively (67% of the total sample size). The combined OR on all-cause mortality for hydroxychloroquine was 1.11 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.20; I2=0%; 26 trials; 10,012 patients) and for chloroquine 1.77 (95%CI: 0.15, 21.13, I2=0%; 4 trials; 307 patients). We identified no subgroup effects. We found that treatment with hydroxychloroquine was associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 patients, and there was no benefit of chloroquine. Findings have unclear generalizability to outpatients, children, pregnant women, and people with comorbidities.
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BackgroundCorona virus infection is a respiratory infection, compromising the normal breathing in critical patients by damaging the lungs. Researches are ongoing to find an efficient treatment strategy for this disease by either inactivating the virus or boosting the immune system of patient or by managing the cytokine storm. AimTo evaluate the clinical outcomes of Substance P receptor Neurokinin 1 antagonist in Covid-19 patients against the usual treatments as controls. Patients and MethodsIt is a randomized clinical trial, open label, having two arms, one receiving normal management and care while other receiving Neurokinin-1 Receptor antagonist, Aprepitant, in addition. Dexamethasone, a corticosteroid is also administered orally to both the groups. PCR positive, hospitalized patients with more than 18 years of age, both genders, moderate to critical phase were included. 18 patients were randomly allocated in both arms, having 10 in group A and 8 in group B. Lab investigations were performed in both the groups before and after the intervention. We report preliminary results for the comparison of Aprepitant 80 mg given once daily for 3-5 days vs routine management. The primary outcome was total in hospital days and duration of disease. ResultsMean age of patients in group A was 47.63 {+/-}12.07years while 60.90{+/-} 9.75 years in group B. There were 3/8 males in group A and 8/10 in group B. There were 2 critical patients in group A and 5 in group B. Biochemical and hematological parameters in both groups didnt show much difference except the C-reactive protein reduction in the intervention group, indicative of a reduced inflammation. Oxygen saturation also improved but more patients should be enrolled to get a statistically significant data. One patient was discharged from each group within 5 days and one patient expired in each. ConclusionsIt is a pilot study but the findings give a strong clue for the therapeutic potential of Aprepitant. Patients who received a combination therapy of Aprepitant and Dexamethasone were recovered earlier and showed improved clinical outcomes, laboratory findings and reduced C-reactive protein which is an inflammatory marker. We suggest here a study on larger sample size to get a deeper insight of its potential and efficacy. It may be more effective in severe to critical patients having respiratory difficulties.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 is a newly communicable disease with a catastrophe outbreak that affects all over the world. We retrieved about 8,781 nucleotide fragments and complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 reported from sixty-four countries. The CoV-2 reference genome was obtained from the National Genomics Data Center (NGDC), GISAID, and NCBI Genbank. All the sequences were aligned against reference genomes using Clustal Omega and variants were called using in-house built Python script. We intend to establish a user-friendly online resource to visualize the variants in the viral genome along with the Primer Infopedia. After analyzing and filtering the data globally, it was made available to the public. The detail of data available to the public includes mutations from 5688 SARS-CoV-2 sequences curated from 91 regions. This database incorporated 39920 mutations over 3990 unique positions. According to the translational impact, these mutations include 11829 synonymous mutations including 681 synonymous frameshifts and 21701 nonsynonymous mutations including 10 nonsynonymous frameshifts. Development of SARS-CoV-2 mutation genome browsers is a fundamental step obliging towards the virus surveillance, viral detection, and development of vaccine and therapeutic drugs. The SARS-COV-2 mutation browser is available at http://covid-19.dnageography.com.
