Interferons as a Potential Therapeutic Drug for COVID-19: A Literature Review of Mechanisms, Current Clinical Trials, and Challenges

The 2019 COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in many fatalities worldwide. Despite various types of supportive care, mortality rates for patients with comorbidities remain high. To explore alternative treatment options, interferons (IFNs) have emerged as promising therapeutic drugs for SARS-CoV-2. This review aims to investigate the potential of IFNs as a drug with details on their mechanisms of action, and available data on their use with ongoing clinical trials, results, potential limitations, and challenges.  Recently published research articles, which are systematically searched through online databases, have been selected and found that IFNs have colossal potential in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection by modulating the host’s immune response and inhibiting viral replication and decreasing the severity of disease and hospitalization (p = 0.03, ± 0.05) and (p = 0.04, ± 0.05) respectively. However, due to less available data, more controlled and randomized trials are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of IFN therapy.  The optimal dosing and duration of IFN therapy also remain to be determined. Although further research is needed the wait for ongoing clinical trial results under investigation is also important for a better understanding of IFN therapy

Pyrolysis and combustion behavior of few high-ash Indian coals

In this study, three high-ash Indian sub-bituminous coals of different thermal maturities from three different open cast mines of Raniganj basin, eastern India, were studied to understand their combustion and pyrolysis behavior. The combustion analyses were performed under three different heating rates (5°C, 10°C, and 15°C/min). From the thermograms of TG-DTG pyrolysis curves, it was observed that the overall pyrolysis reaction can be deduced into four different temperature regions with each region showing unique properties, and those regions are inherent moisture loss, prior to primary pyrolysis, primary pyrolysis, and secondary pyrolysis regions. The main pyrolysis reaction occurs in the primary pyrolysis region for all the samples but a significant devolatilization has also been seen for the early oil window mature noncoking coal in the secondary pyrolysis region. The kinetic parameters were also evaluated for both combustion and pyrolysis analysis. X-ray diffraction revealed that this sample consists of a significant amount of siderite and pyrite, and consequently showed distinct behavior. It was observed that the pyrolysis properties and kinetics were closely related to their complex mechanisms and reactions. Rock-Eval pyrolysis also confirmed the presence of siderite in the sample, which decomposed simultaneously with the organic-matter during pyrolysis