Effects of COVID-19 during lockdown in Nepal.

Nepal started its full lockdown on March 24, 2020 and has been extended until 14 June 2020 as a precaution for prevention of COVID-19 infection. However, the strict lockdown has been criticised by many as not all the deaths are caused by COVID-19. The long and strict lockdown have had some negative effects in many aspects of health of an individual in the community. Many women are facing barriers to access maternity health care during the lockdown period and there has been rise in the suicidal behaviour such as sucidal attempt and actual suicide itself among the general population. As the lockdown began in Nepal, all the school and colleges were suspended, and children were forced to spend their time indoors and exams has been postponed leaving the students stressed about the uncertainty of their future. Social distancing, isolation and quarantine at home can result in isolated in an abusive home where there could be even more increase in abuse during such crisis. Millions of babies are missing the routine vaccinations which is a threat to global achievement in immunization. Apart from the rise in negative impact on health of Nepali people, there are other impacts related to health such as serious impacts on logistics and supply management including shortage of medicine and food supply; and impacts on farming including both production and sale. Nepal took several precautionary measures as a response towards COVID-19 such as First, limiting international air travel, sealing the land border-crossings with India and introduction of social distancing measures. However, with rise in deaths due to non COVID related causes and negative impacts on economic and financial condition of the country, there is a need for the country to ease its lockdown. Contact tracing, making face mask mandatory along with social distancing measure can be an alternative to lockdown for Nepal while the country is preparing to ease its lockdown. Social distancing, hygiene, lifestyle factors and PPE measures need to continue for long term, whilst we need to keep working on the big public health issues such as poverty reduction, improving access to health service to achieve universal health coverage

COVID-19 Quarantine: A Key Part of Prevention in Nepal

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to evolve, globally, many countries have introduced preventive measures to reduce human-to-human transmission in areas where the virus that causes COVID-19 is already circulating in the population. Public health measures include quarantine, which involves the restriction of the movement of ill people from the rest of the population. With the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, the Government of Nepal has also introduced quarantine for the COVID-19 positive cases as well as the returning migrant workers and their accompanying family members. However, concerns over quarantine facilities in border areas of Nepal have been raised by the healthcare professionals quoting the facilities as risky. Hence, the quarantine facility needs to have minimum standards so that the infection is not spread further as well as improving the better health of those in quarantine rather than deteriorating their situation. The essentials such as adequate food, water, and hygiene provisions should be made available to the patients during the quarantine period and their health should be monitored. Other preventive measures such as social distancing and hand hygiene should be maintained within the quarantine facility

Tick Extracellular Vesicles Enable Arthropod Feeding and Promote Distinct Outcomes of Bacterial Infection

Extracellular vesicles are thought to facilitate pathogen transmission from arthropods to humans and other animals. Here, we reveal that pathogen spreading from arthropods to the mammalian host is multifaceted. Extracellular vesicles from Ixodes scapularis enable tick feeding and promote infection of the mildly virulent rickettsial agent Anaplasma phagocytophilum through the SNARE proteins Vamp33 and Synaptobrevin 2 and dendritic epidermal T cells. However, extracellular vesicles from the tick Dermacentor andersoni mitigate microbial spreading caused by the lethal pathogen Francisella tularensis. Collectively, we establish that tick extracellular vesicles foster distinct outcomes of bacterial infection and assist in vector feeding by acting on skin immunity. Thus, the biology of arthropods should be taken into consideration when developing strategies to control vector-borne diseases

Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (phenanthrene and pyrene) by the ligninolytic fungi Ganoderma lucidum isolated from the hardwood stump

Abstract Background Due to progress in science and technology, several harmful polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are synthesized and released into the environment. In the present investigation, a phenanthrene- and pyrene-degrading white rot fungi Ganoderma lucidum strain CCG1 was isolated from the Janjgir Champa district of Chhattisgarh, India, and then the degradation of phenanthrene and pyrene was estimated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results It was found that G. lucidum able to degrade 99.65% of 20 mg/L of phenanthrene and 99.58% of pyrene in mineral salt broth after 30th day of incubation at 27 °C. G. lucidum produced significant amounts (p < 0.0001) of ligninolytic enzymes (Laccase, lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase) in the phenanthrene- and pyrene-containing mineral salt broth. G. lucidum produced maximum 10,788.00 U/L laccase, 3283.00 U/L Lignin peroxidase and 47,444.00 U/L Manganese peroxidase enzymes in the presence of phenanthrene and produced maximum 10,166.00 U/L laccase, 3613.00 U/L lignin peroxidase and 50,977.00 U/L manganese peroxidase enzymes in the presence of pyrene. Therefore, G. lucidum will be a potent phenanthrene and pyrene degrader from the environment

Identification of S-Nitrosylated (SNO) Proteins in Entamoeba histolytica Adapted to Nitrosative Stress: Insights into the Role of SNO Actin and In vitro Virulence

We have recently reported that Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites can adapt to toxic levels of the nitric oxide (NO) donor, S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). Even if the consequences of this adaptation on the modulation of gene expression in NO-adapted trophozoites (NAT) have been previously explored, insight on S-nitrosylated (SNO) proteins in NAT is missing. Our study aims to fill this knowledge gap by performing a screening of SNO proteins in NAT. Employing SNO resin-assisted capture (RAC), we identified 242 putative SNO proteins with key functions in calcium binding, enzyme modulation, redox homeostasis, and actin cytoskeleton. Of the SNO proteins in NAT, proteins that are associated with actin family cytoskeleton protein are significantly enriched. Here we report that the formation of actin filaments (F-actin) is impaired in NAT. Consequently, the ability of NAT to ingest erythrocytes and their motility and their cytopathic activity are impaired. These phenotypes can be imitated by treating control parasite with cytochalasin D (CytD), a drug that binds to F-actin polymer and prevent polymerization of actin monomers. Removal of GSNO from the culture medium of NAT restored the sensitivity of the parasite to nitrosative stress (NS) and its ability to form F-actin formation and its virulence. These results establish the central role of NO in shaping the virulence of the parasite through its effect on F-actin formation and highlight the impressive ability of this parasite to adapt to NS

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<p>Classification of S-nitrosylated proteins in <i>Entamoeba histolytica</i> according to their biological role: Translation.</p

Analysis of <i>S</i>-nitrosylated proteins in <i>E. histolytica</i> after resin-assisted capture.

<p>A. Viability of <i>E.histolytica</i> trophozoites which were exposed to different concentrations of S-nitrosocysteine (CysNO) for 20 minutes. Data are expressed as the mean and standard deviation of three independent experiments that were repeated twice. <i>E.histolytica</i> trophozoites strain HM-1:IMSS were treated with 500 µM CysNO for 20 minutes. The protein <i>S</i>-nitrosothiols (SNO) in the cell lysates was subjected to resin-assisted capture (RAC) in the presence of 40 mM ascorbate (+ASC) or the absence of ascorbate (–ASC). B. Coomassie blue staining of <i>S</i>-nitrolysated proteins. C. Functional categories of all <i>S</i>-nitrosylated proteins. <i>S</i>-nitrosylated proteins in <i>E.histolytica</i> were classified according to their biological role. D. Confirmation of <i>S</i>-nitrosylation of three proteins, enolase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and the heavy subunit of Gal/GalNAc lectin after resin-assisted capture by western blotting. This figure displays a representative result from two independent experiments.</p

Proteomic Identification of <i>S</i>-Nitrosylated Proteins in the Parasite <i>Entamoeba histolytica</i> by Resin-Assisted Capture: Insights into the Regulation of the Gal/GalNAc Lectin by Nitric Oxide

<div><p><i>Entamoeba histolytica</i> is a gastrointestinal protozoan parasite that causes amebiasis, a disease which has a worldwide distribution with substantial morbidity and mortality. Nitrosative stress, which is generated by innate immune cells, is one of the various environmental challenges that <i>E. histolytica</i> encounters during its life cycle. Although the effects of nitric oxide (NO) on the regulation of gene expression in this parasite have been previously investigated, our knowledge on <i>S</i>-nitrosylated proteins in <i>E.histolytica</i> is lacking. In order to fill this knowledge gap, we performed a large-scale detection of <i>S</i>-nitrosylated (SNO) proteins in <i>E.histolytica</i> trophozoites that were treated with the NO donor, S-nitrosocysteine by resin-assisted capture (RAC). We found that proteins involved in glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, translation, protein transport, and adherence to target cells such as the heavy subunit of Gal/GalNac lectin are among the <i>S</i>-nitrosylated proteins that were enriched by SNO-RAC. We also found that the <i>S</i>-nitrosylated cysteine residues in the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) of Gal/GalNAc lectin impairs its function and contributes to the inhibition of <i>E.histolytica</i> adherence to host cells. Collectively, these results advance our understanding of the mechanism of reduced <i>E.histolytica</i> adherence to mammalian cells by NO and emphasize the importance of NO as a regulator of key physiological functions in <i>E.histolytica</i>.</p></div