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Oxidative Medicine and Cellular... 2020Astragalus membranaceus (AM) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which possesses a variety of biological activities in the cardiovascular systems. We conducted a clinical...
Astragalus membranaceus (AM) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which possesses a variety of biological activities in the cardiovascular systems. We conducted a clinical and preclinical systematic review of 28 randomized clinical control studies with 2522 participants and 16 animal studies with 634 animals to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and possible mechanisms of AM for viral myocarditis (VM). The search strategies were performed in 7 databases from inception to January 2020. Application of the Cochrane Collaboration's tool 7-item checklist, SYRCLE's tool 10-item checklist, and Rev-Man 5.3 software to analyze the risk of bias of studies and data. The results show the score of clinical study quality ranged from 3 to 7 points with an average of 3.32, and the score of animal study quality ranged from 2 to 5 points with an average of 3. In clinical study, AM significantly reduced serum myocardial enzymes and cardiac troponin I levels and improved the clinical treatment efficiency in VM patients compared with the control group ( < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions ( > 0.05). Significant increase of the survival rate and decrease of the cardiac cardiology score, cardiac enzymes, and cardiac troponin I were compared with the placebo group in animal studies ( < 0.05). The possible mechanisms of AM are largely through antivirus and antivirus receptors, anti-inflammatory, antioxidation, antiapoptotic, antifibrosis, and reducing cardiac calcium load. In conclusion, the findings suggested that AM is a cardioprotection candidate drug for VM.
Topics: Animals; Astragalus propinquus; Disease Models, Animal; Humans; Inflammation; Myocarditis; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Virus Diseases
PubMed: 33204391
DOI: 10.1155/2020/1560353 -
Virology Journal Nov 2020There is plenitude of information on HIV infection among pregnant mothers attending antenatal care (ANC) in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the epidemiology of HBV-HIV... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Sero-prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus-hepatitis B virus (HIV-HBV) co-infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the associated risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
BACKGROUND
There is plenitude of information on HIV infection among pregnant mothers attending antenatal care (ANC) in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the epidemiology of HBV-HIV co-infections in the same cohort is not clear despite the common route of transmission of both viruses. The aim of our study was to synthesize data on the prevalence of HBV-HIV co-infection among pregnant women attending ANC in Sub-Saharan Africa to assist in the design of public health interventions to mitigate the challenge.
METHODS
The study was done in tandem with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) standards and the Cochran's Q test, I statistics for heterogeneity and the prevalence were calculated using commercially available software called MedCalcs ( https://www.medcalc.org ). A random effect model was used to pool the prevalence since all the heterogeneities were high (≥ 78%) and P < 0.05 indicated significant heterogeneities. The risk factors and risk differences for HBV-HIV co-infection were analyzed. Any likely sources of heterogeneity were analyzed through sensitivity analysis, meta-regression and sub-group analysis. All analyses were done at 95% level of significance and a P < 0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS
The overall pooled prevalence of HBV-HIV co-infection among pregnant mothers in sub-Saharan Africa was low 3.302% (95%CI = 2.285 to 4.4498%) with heterogeneities (I) of 97.59% (P > 0.0001). Within regional sub group meta-analyses, West Africa had significantly higher prevalence of 5.155% (95% = 2.671 to 8.392%) with heterogeneity (I) of 92.25% (P < 0.0001) than any other region (P < 0.001). Articles published from 2004-2010 had significantly higher prevalence of 6.356% (95% = 3.611 to 9.811%) with heterogeneity (I) 91.15% (P < 0.0001) compared to those published from 2011 to 2019 (P < 0.001). The HIV positive cohort had significantly higher prevalence of HBV-HIV co-infection of 8.312% (95% CI = 5.806 to 11.22%) with heterogeneity (I)94.90% (P < 0.0001) than the mothers sampled from the general population with a prevalence of 2.152% (95% CI = 1.358 to 3.125%) (P < 0.001). The overall and sub group analyses had high heterogeneities (I > 89%, P < 0.0001) but was reduced for South Africa (I) = 78.4% (P = 0.0314). Age, marital status and employment were independent factors significantly associated with risk of HBV-HIV co-infection (P < 0.001) but not extent of gravidity and education level (P > 0.05). After meta-regression for year of publication and sample size for HBsAg positivity, the results were not significantly associated with HBV pooled prevalence for sample size (P = 0.146) and year of publication (P = 0.560). Following sensitivity analysis, the HBsAg pooled prevalence slightly increased to 3.429% (95% CI = 2.459 to 4.554%) with heterogeneity I = 96.59% (95% CI = 95.93 to 97.14%), P < 0.0001 CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need for routine HBV screening among HIV positive pregnant mothers attending antenatal care in sub-Saharan Africa to establish the extent of HBV-HIV co-infection in this cohort. Future studies need to investigate the putative risk factors for HBV-HIV co-infection and prioritize plausible control strategies.
Topics: Africa, Western; Coinfection; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; HIV; HIV Infections; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B virus; Humans; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women; Prenatal Care; Risk Factors; Seroepidemiologic Studies; South Africa
PubMed: 33160386
DOI: 10.1186/s12985-020-01443-6 -
Journal of Basic and Clinical... Sep 2020A novel coronavirus infection coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged from Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, in December 2019 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be...
A novel coronavirus infection coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged from Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, in December 2019 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be originated from bats in the local wet markets. Later, animal to human and human-to-human transmission of the virus began and resulting in widespread respiratory illness worldwide to around more than 180 countries. The World Health Organization declared this disease as a pandemic in March 2020. There is no clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine available to be used against COVID-19. Nevertheless, few broad-spectrum antiviral drugs have been studied against COVID-19 in clinical trials with clinical recovery. In the current review, we summarize the morphology and pathogenesis of COVID-19 infection. A strong rational groundwork was made keeping the focus on current development of therapeutic agents and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2. Among the proposed therapeutic regimen, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, remdisevir, azithromycin, toclizumab and cromostat mesylate have shown promising results, and limited benefit was seen with lopinavir-ritonavir treatment in hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19. Early development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine started based on the full-length genome analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Several subunit vaccines, peptides, nucleic acids, plant-derived, recombinant vaccines are under pipeline. This article concludes and highlights ongoing advances in drug repurposing, therapeutics and vaccines to counter COVID-19, which collectively could enable efforts to halt the pandemic virus infection.
Topics: Antiviral Agents; COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccines; Coronavirus Infections; Drug Repositioning; Evidence-Based Medicine; Humans; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; Viral Vaccines
PubMed: 32924964
DOI: 10.1515/jbcpp-2020-0113 -
Planta Medica Oct 2020Viruses have a high mutation rate, and, thus, there is a continual emergence of new antiviral-resistant strains. Therefore, it becomes imperative to explore and develop...
Viruses have a high mutation rate, and, thus, there is a continual emergence of new antiviral-resistant strains. Therefore, it becomes imperative to explore and develop new antiviral compounds continually. The search for pharmacological substances of plant origin that are effective against animal viruses, which have a high mortality rate or cause large economic losses, has garnered interest in the last few decades. This systematic review compiles 130 plant species that exhibit antiviral activity on 37 different virus species causing serious diseases in animals. The kind of extract, fraction, or compound exhibiting the antiviral activity and the design of the trial were particularly considered for review. The literature revealed details regarding plant species exhibiting antiviral activities against pathogenic animal virus species of the following families-, and that cause infections, among others, in poultry, cattle, pigs, horses, shrimps, and fish. Overall, 30 plant species exhibited activity against various influenza viruses, most of them causing avian influenza. Furthermore, 30 plant species were noted to be active against Newcastle disease virus. In addition, regarding the pathogens most frequently investigated, this review provides a compilation of 20 plant species active against bovine herpesvirus, 16 against fowlpox virus, 12 against white spot syndrome virus in marine shrimps, and 10 against suide herpesvirus. Nevertheless, some plant extracts, particularly their compounds, are promising candidates for the development of new antiviral remedies, which are urgently required.
Topics: Animal Diseases; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Cattle; Horses; Orthomyxoviridae; Plant Extracts; Plants, Medicinal; Swine; Veterinary Medicine
PubMed: 32777833
DOI: 10.1055/a-1224-6115 -
Environment International Dec 2019Bees are exposed to a wide range of multiple chemicals "chemical mixtures" from anthropogenic (e.g. plant protection products or veterinary products) or natural origin... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Bees are exposed to a wide range of multiple chemicals "chemical mixtures" from anthropogenic (e.g. plant protection products or veterinary products) or natural origin (e.g. mycotoxins, plant toxins). Quantifying the relative impact of multiple chemicals on bee health compared with other environmental stressors (e.g. varroa, viruses, and nutrition) has been identified as a priority to support the development of holistic risk assessment methods. Here, extensive literature searches and data collection of available laboratory studies on combined toxicity data for binary mixtures of pesticides and non-chemical stressors has been performed for honey bees (Apis mellifera), wild bees (Bombus spp.) and solitary bee species (Osmia spp.). From 957 screened publications, 14 publications provided 218 binary mixture toxicity data mostly for acute mortality (lethal dose: LD) after contact exposure (61%), with fewer studies reporting chronic oral toxicity (20%) and acute oral LC values (19%). From the data collection, available dose response data for 92 binary mixtures were modelled using a Toxic Unit (TU) approach and the MIXTOX modelling tool to test assumptions of combined toxicity i.e. concentration addition (CA), and interactions (i.e. synergism, antagonism). The magnitude of interactions was quantified as the Model Deviation Ratio (MDR). The CA model applied to 17% of cases while synergism and antagonism were observed for 72% (MDR > 1.25) and 11% (MDR < 0.83) respectively. Most synergistic effects (55%) were observed as interactions between sterol-biosynthesis-inhibiting (SBI) fungicides and insecticide/acaricide. The mechanisms behind such synergistic effects of binary mixtures in bees are known to involve direct cytochrome P450 (CYP) inhibition, resulting in an increase in internal dose and toxicity of the binary mixture. Moreover, bees are known to have the lowest number of CYP copies and other detoxification enzymes in the insect kingdom. In the light of these findings, occurrence of these binary mixtures in relevant crops (frequency and concentrations) would need to be investigated. Addressing this exposure dimension remains critical to characterise the likelihood and plausibility of such interactions to occur under field realistic conditions. Finally, data gaps and further work for the development of risk assessment methods to assess multiple stressors in bees including chemicals and non-chemical stressors in bees are discussed.
Topics: Animals; Bees; Fungicides, Industrial; Lethal Dose 50; Pesticides; Risk Assessment
PubMed: 31683157
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105256