Application and problems of quinoline alkaloids in the treatment of COVID-19 / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

The febrile respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become the focus of global attention. Up to now, the infection has been continuing to spread all over the world and it is urgent to develop specific drugs for SARS-CoV-2. Finding effective and safe drugs which are already available in the market for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the main strategies to solve the problem in time. As quinoline alkaloids against malaria, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been proved to have the anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. Quinoline alkaloids are expected to be important drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. In this article, the research and application of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are reviewed from the aspects of pharmacokinetics, drug interaction, clinical research progress, treatment plan optimization and resolution of optical enantiomers. The possible problems are summarized in order to provide reference for further research and clinical application of quinoline alkaloids in the treatment of COVID-19.

A surfactant-mediated sol-gel method for the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers and its application in a biomimetic immunoassay for the detection of protein.

Molecularly imprinted polymers have demonstrated tremendous potential in the immunoassay as alternatives to biological antibodies. However, the production of molecularly imprinted polymers for protein remains great challenges because of structural complexity and organic solvent instability. In addition, non-specific binding sites in the molecularly imprinted polymers debase the feasibility of it as alternative to antibodies for immunoassay. Here, a surfactant-mediated sol-gel system in an aqueous environment was designed to produce the molecularly imprinted polymers for protein. A blocked strategy was introduced to decrease non-specific cross-reactivity and to improve the selectivity. The developed products were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer, respectively. The obtained molecularly imprinted polymers exhibited desirable specific recognition towards the target and a biomimetic immunoassay method was developed. The method exhibited a good linear response to human serum albumin in a concentration range of 1-100 µg mL-1. The limit of detection of this method was 0.3 µg mL-1 (3s/K), and good recoveries ranging from 85.4-104.5% were achieved. This study demonstrated that the molecularly imprinted polymers prepared by the surfactant-mediated sol-gel method can produce high selectivity materials, which had great potential to replace antibodies in a biomimetic immunoassay.

Preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers and application in a biomimetic biotin-avidin-ELISA for the detection of bovine serum albumin.

Immunoassay as a primary analytical tool is widely applied in the field of analysis. However, biological antibodies used in the routine immunoassay exhibit high cost and poor stability. Herein, in this study, a biomimetic ELISA method using molecularly imprinted polymers as a alternative to antibodies was developed. The molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared through dopamine polymerization using Fe3O4 nanoparticles as magnetic nuclei, bovine serum albumin as a template, dopamine as a functional monomer and crosslinking agent. The molecularly imprinted polymers were characterized by scanning electron micrographs, transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, vibrating sample magnetometer and X-ray diffractometer, respectively. The detection range of the established biomimetic ELISA method was 5-1000 µg mL-1. The method exhibited high selectivity for bovine serum albumin compared with other proteins and good recovery ranging from 89.0% to 102.3% was obtained from spiked bovine serum samples. The results showed that the method by using molecularly imprinted polymers as biomimetic antibodies could be used to detect bovine serum albumin rapidly in bovine serum with a high sensitivity and accuracy. This study demonstrates that the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers by dopamine polymerization can produce material with high affinity and potential to replace antibodies in biomimetic ELISA for protein detection.

Effect of Xuebijing injection on the number of T lymphocytes and Toll-like receptors as adjuvant therapy of severe abdominal infections / 中国感染与化疗杂志

ObjectiveTo examine the effect of Xuebijing Injection on the number of T lymphocytes and Toll-like receptors as adjuvant therapy of severe abdominal infections.MethodsA total of 78 patients with severe abdominal infection who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit were divided into control group and treatment group. The patients in control group received conventional therapy alone, while the patients in treatment group received Xuebijing Injection (50 mL twice daily for 2 weeks) in addition to conventional therapy. Blood sample was drawn before and after 2-week treatment to determine T lymphocytes. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells were separated to determine the expression of Toll-like receptors (TLR) 2 and TLR4. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score and gastrointestinal function score were recorded before and after treatment.ResultsThe levels of CD3+, CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ of peripheral blood in the Xuebijing-treated patients were signiifcantly higher than those in control group (P<0.01), but the levels of CD8+ was signiifcantly lower than that in control group (P<0.01). The levels of TLR2 and TLR4 mRNA of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the treatment group were signiifcantly lower than those in control group (P<0.01). The APACHE II score and gastrointestinal function score in treatment group were signiifcantly lower than those in control group (P<0.01).ConclusionXuebijing Injection as adjuvant therapy of severe abdominal infection can improve the number of T lymphocytes, and reduce the expression of Toll-like receptors.

Weibull statistical analysis of tensile strength of vascular bundle in inner layer of moso bamboo culm in molecular parasitology and vector biology.

Bamboo is a radial gradient variation composite material against parasitology and vector biology, but the vascular bundles in inner layer are evenly distributed. The objective is to determine the regular size pattern and Weibull statistical analysis of the vascular bundle tensile strength in inner layer of Moso bamboo. The size and shape of vascular bundles in inner layer are similar, with an average area about 0.1550 mm2. A statistical evaluation of the tensile strength of vascular bundle was conducted by means of Weibull statistics, the results show that the Weibull modulus m is 6.1121 and the accurate reliability assessment of vascular bundle is determined.