Insights into the SARS-CoV2 Outbreak; the Great Global Challenge: A Mini Review

The emergence of COVID-19 outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus, was reported in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019, and it spread rapidly across the world, resulting in the World Health Organization announcing a global health emergency on 30 January 2020. The first death caused by it in Iran was reported in February 2020 and spread rapidly across the country. The novel virus responsible for sever complications even death in all age groups, especially in older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions. Researchers around the world are studying to identify the novel virus, SARS-CoV2, with the aim of preventing its dissemination and to reduce its complications. Here, we discuss the available information regarding the SARS-CoV2 Outbreak and disease caused as a mini-review

A Snapshot of Different Types of Under Research Vaccines Against COVID-19: A Review

SARS-CoV-2 as an emerging coronavirus, which first emerged in late 2019 in China causes a respiratory disease called “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)’’. SARS-CoV-2 has since infected more than 26 million people worldwide and caused more than 864000 deaths as of September 04, 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein consists of two subunits: S1 and S2, which plays a role in binding to cellular receptors and mediating the fusion process between the membranes of the virus and host cells. The S protein has an important role to induce neutralizing-antibody, as well as protective immunity, during SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this review, we focused on different types of the vaccine against COVID-19. *Corresponding Author: Maryam Fazeli; Email: [email protected] Please cite this article as: Zandi M, Rashid S, Nasimzade S, Pourhossein B, Fazeli M. A Snapshot of Different Types of Under Research Vaccines Against COVID-19: A Review. Arch Med Lab Sci. 2020;6:1-7 (e7). https://doi.org/10.22037/amls.v6.3237

Investigating Possible Etiologies of Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Failure and Deaths From Rabies Infection: Case Reports

Rabies virus, as a neurotropic agent, is transmitted to humans usually after animal biting. Rabiesis endemic in most Middle Eastern countries. Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) program isrecommended for high-risk populations in endemic areas. The present study reported 7 deathsfrom rabies infection despite human Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and the evolutionof their possible etiologies from 2014 to 2018 in Iran. In this study, 29 rabid human deathswere evaluated despite PEP in 2014-2018. Seven people deceased despite receiving PEP. Themost damaged organs were hands and face (71.43%). Injecting anti-Rabies Immunoglobulin(RIG) around the wound, improper cleansing, and delayed PEP were the main causes of PEPfailure. In addition, immunodeficiency in a patient was another cause of failure. Our obtaineddata suggested that immediate precise measures after exposure based on the World HealthOrganization (WHO) recommendation, maintaining the temperature integrity (cold chain) ofvaccines, and RIGs during transportation, and performing detailed injection schedule couldprevent PEP failure in most cases. Furthermore, society’s awareness plays a key role incontrolling the disease, especially in endemic areas

Positive Result for SARS-CoV-2 RNA Test after a Long Time for the Patient with COVID-19 even after Discharge from the Hospital

Background: Ruthin's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis is based on the positive result of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the nasal and oropharyngeal swab. However, chest CT scans can play an important role in diagnosing patients with COVID-19. Cases Report: In this study, we reported a 44 years old female with a mild form of the COVID-19 who showed a positive result for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA for 44 days after symptom onset. The suspected case was detected using real-time PCR. After two weeks of hospitalization, the patient was discharged, but her molecular tests were performed twice after one month and 44 days, and they remained positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Conclusion: In theory, if the patient becomes re-infected or the virus reacts, these individuals may serve as a transmission source. So far, the only way to screen for possible reinfection has been by using PCR on separate specimens

Autophagy Role as a Double-Edged Sword in Anesthesiology and Critical Care

Autophagy is a mechanism, which host cells can utilize it to defend against infections. Trapped cargo such as viral cargo and delivered to a lysosome for degradation. Primary immune response against some viruses can start by autophagy mechanism. In this study, we reviewed role of autophagy in viral infections

The Effect of Different Types of Climates on the Spread of COVID-19

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is the third most common zoonotic disease caused by the coronavirusvirus, SARS in 2002, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012. The primary origin oftransmission of infection to humans is not well known. However, more prevalence of the disease is caused dueto human-to-human transmission. There are relatively few studies on the impact of climate change on COVID-19 disease in the world. Recognizing the behavioral features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its pathogenicity invarious climatic conditions can offer strategies for control measures, preventing the transmission of the disease,and minimizing the potential mortality risk of the virus, which provides a basis for more detailed studies indifferent climatic regions. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different types of climate on the spread ofCOVID-19

Acute and critical care for rabies bitten patients and the different outcomes in a Family: A Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) Failure report

Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease that spread via infected animal saliva. Rabies virus belongs to Lyssavirus genus (Rhabdoviridae family) and the disease is endemic in Iran. The disease causes a fatal encephalomyelitis by infecting the nervous system. Dogs are the most common source of human rabies cases. In this presentation, we had a 58-year-old man who had a dog bitten history on his face and hands with his other two family members with the same dog at the same time. They received post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) as soon as possible (from day 0). Eighteen days after bitten the man hospitalized and died of rabies three days after hospitalization. Other two relatives were healthy without any rabies symptom. The man was an Iranian veteran with residual body insults during the attacks of chemical warfare from the combat front. Obtained data in this study suggested that the direct inoculation of the virus to the nerve and immune system inability in virus clearing system were possible etiologies of PEP failure in the reported case. Keywords: Rabies Virus, Immunoglobulin, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Immunosuppressio

Evaluation of therapeutic potency of human papillomavirus-16 E7 DNA vaccine alone and with interleukin-18 as a genetic adjuvant = Avaliação da potência terapêutica da vacina de DNA do papilomavírus humano-16 E7 isolada e com interleucina-18 como adjuvante genético

OBJETIVOS: Apesar da existência de vacinas preventivas eficazes contra o papilomavírus humano (HPV), são necessárias vacinas terapêuticas que desencadeiem respostas imunes mediadas por células para tratar infecções e malignidades estabelecidas. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a potência terapêutica da vacina de ácido desoxirribonucleico (DNA) HPV-16 E7 isolada e com interleucina (IL)-18. MÉTODOS: Expressões in vitro de IL-18 foram realizadas em células renais embrionárias humanas 293 e confirmadas por Western blotting. A vacina de DNA foi disponibilizada em um estudo anterior. Um total de 45 camundongos fêmeas C57BL/6 divididos em cinco grupos (vacina de DNA, vacina de DNA adjuvada com IL-18, pcDNA3. 1 e solução salina tamponada com fosfato) e foram inoculados com linhagem murina-1 de carcinoma relacionado ao HPV, expressando antígenos E6 / E7 do HPV-16. Os animais foram então imunizados por via subcutânea duas vezes no intervalo de sete dias. A imunidade antitumoral e antígeno-celular específica foi avaliada pela proliferação de linfócitos (ensaio de brometo de 3- [4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il] -2,5-difeniltetrazólio: MTT), ensaio de liberação de lactato desidrogenase, ensaio de IL-4 e ensaio de interferon-gama [IFN-γ]. O tamanho do tumor foi seguido por 62 dias. RESULTADOS: O ensaio MTT, que mede a proliferação de linfócitos em resposta ao antígeno específico, aumentou nos grupos de coadministração e de vacina de DNA em comparação aos grupos controle e adjuvante genético (p <0,001). Os camundongos imunizados com a coadministração geraram significativamente mais IFN-γ e IL-4 do que os outros camundongos imunizados (p<0,001) A redução do tamanho do tumor nos grupos de coadministração e de vacina de DNA foi significativamente mais acentuada do que nos grupos controle e adjuvante genético (p<0,001), mas não houve nenhuma diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os grupos vacina de DNA e coadministração (p=0,15). CONCLUSÕES: A IL-18 como adjuvante genético e a vacina de DNA E7 aumentaram as respostas imunes em sistemas modelo de camundongos contra o câncer cervical. No entanto, o uso de IL-18 como adjuvante genético com a vacina de DNA E7 não teve efeito sinérgico significativo nas respostas imunes in viv

Highly Conserve Sequences in Envelope, Nucleoprotein and RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase of SARS-CoV-2 in Nasopharyngeal Samples of the COVID-19 Patients; a Diagnostic Target for Further Studies

Background: The etiological agent of COVID-19 is SARS-CoV-2. Conversional molecular methods used for detection of virus in COVID-19 infected patient. This study aimed to investigate the presence of escape mutations from molecular detection on SARS-CoV-2 targeted genes, which indicates importance of mutations in false negative PCR test results in detection of virus in clinical specimens of patients with COVID-19. Material and Method: The 20 nasopharyngeal swabs samples collected from COVID-19 confirmed patients. The SARS-CoV-2 E, nsp12 and N genetic regions Amplified by RT-PCR assay. PCR products sequenced using the Sanger sequencing method and Multiple sequence alignment for the assessment of the polymorphism and mutations preformed using MEGA X software and Maximum likelihood method for the phylogenetic assessment. Result: Among all COVID-19 cases 60% and 40% were male and female, respectively. The MSA showed high conservation between all of the evaluated samples and VOCs in all N, E and nsp12 genes. Also, the phylogenetic evaluation by Maximum likelihood method reported high similarity between all SARS-CoV-2 sequenced samples, VOCs and Wuhan reference sequence in evaluated region. Conclusion: Our study results approved the relatively conserved suitability of the E, N and RdRp-gene regions without any diversity, therefore, making them perfect candidates for first-line screening

Enhanced synergistic antitumor effect of a DNA vaccine with anticancer cytokine, MDA-7/IL-24, and immune checkpoint blockade

MDA-7/IL-24 cytokine has shown potent antitumor properties in various types of cancer without exerting any significant toxicity on healthy cells. It has also been proved to encompass pro-immune Th1 cytokine-like behavior. Several E7 DNA vaccines have developed against human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cervical cancer. However, the restricted immunogenicity has limited their clinical applications individually. To address this deficiency, we investigated whether combining the E7 DNA vaccine with MDA-7/IL-24 as an adjuvant would elicit efficient antitumor responses in tumor-bearing mouse models. Next, we evaluated how suppression of immunosuppressive IL-10 cytokine would enhance the outcome of our candidate adjuvant vaccine. Methods For this purpose, tumor-bearing mice received either E7 DNA vaccine, MDA-7/IL-24 cytokine or combination of E7 vaccine with MDA-7/IL-24 adjuvant one week after tumor challenge and boosted two times with one-week interval. IL-10 blockade was performed by injection of anti-IL-10 mAb before each immunization. One week after the last immunization, mice were sacrificed and the treatment efficacy was evaluated through immunological and immunohistochemical analysis. Moreover, the condition of tumors was monitored every two days for six weeks intervals from week 2 on, and the tumor volume was measured and compared within different groups. Results A highly significant synergistic relationship was observed between the E7 DNA vaccine and the MDA-7/IL-24 cytokine against HPV-16+ cervical cancer models. An increase in proliferation of lymphocytes, cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells, the level of Th1 cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α) and IL-4, the level of apoptotic markers (TRAIL and caspase-9), and a decrease in the level of immunosuppressive IL-10 cytokine, together with the control of tumor growth and the induction of tumor regression, all prove the efficacy of adjuvant E7&IL-24 vaccine when compared to their individual administration. Surprisingly, vaccination with the DNA E7&IL-24 significantly reduced the population of Regulatory T cells (Treg) in the spleen of immunized mice compared to sole administration and control groups. Moreover, IL-10 blockade enhanced the effect of the co-administration by eliciting higher levels of IFN-γ and caspase-9, reducing Il-10 secretion and provoking the regression of tumor size. Conclusion The synergy between the E7 DNA vaccine and MDA-7/IL-24 suggests that DNA vaccines’ low immunogenicity can be effectively addressed by coupling them with an immunoregulatory agent. Moreover, IL-10 blockade can be considered a complementary treatment to improve the outcome of conventional or novel cancer therapies