Nanostructured lipid carriers loaded with essential oils: a strategy against SARS-CoV-2.

This work aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Lippia sidoides and Syzygium aromaticum essential oils (EOs) encapsulated in nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) as SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors through virucidal activity assessment. We developed anionic and cationic NLCs loaded with the EOs and assessed their physicochemical properties and SARS-CoV-2 virucidal activity, focusing on the effects of EO type and the NLCs composition. The NLCs exhibited particle sizes of 141.30 to 160.53 nm for anionic and 109.30 to 138.60 nm for cationic types, with PDIs between 0.16 and 0.25. High zeta potentials (>29.0 in modulus) indicated stable formulations. The NLCs effectively encapsulated the EOs, achieving encapsulation efficiencies between 84.6 to 100% w/w of marker compound. The EOs-loaded NLCs reduced the SARS-CoV-2 virion count, exceeding 2 logs over the control. NLCs loaded with Lippia sidoides and Syzygium aromaticum EOs represent an innovative strategy for combating SARS-CoV-2.

Protective effect of HLA-DRB1 11 and predisposition of HLA-C 04 in the development of severe liver damage in Brazilian patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

The objective of this study was to investigate human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and to analyse the possible role of these genes in the progression of chronic hepatitis C. One hundred and forty-five (145) Brazilian patients infected only with HCV genotype 1 were evaluated. HLA class I (A, B, C) and class II (DRB1, DQA1, DQB1) typing were carried out by PCR-SSO, through Luminex technology. Associations were found with protection against development of liver damage by both DRB1 11 (5.0% versus 18.2%, P=0.0016, OR=0.23, CI 95% = 0.09-0.58; Pc=0.0208) and DRB1 11-DQA1 05-DQB1 03 haplotype (4.2% versus 15.3%, P=0.0032; OR = 0.24, CI 95% = 0.08-0.64). Liver damage was associated with HLA-C 04 in patients with <20 years of infection (38.4% versus 9.1%, P = 0.002, OR = 6.25, CI 95%=1.97-19.7; Pc=0.0238). It is concluded that HLA alleles can influence the development of liver damage in HCV type-1 chronically infected Brazilian patients.

Influence of HLA alleles in response to treatment with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

The objective of this study was to analyse the possible role of HLA polymorphism of chronically infected hepatitis C virus patients in the response outcome to treatment with pegylated interferon-alpha plus ribavirin. To that end, 144 Brazilian patients infected only with genotype 1 of the virus were treated with pegylated interferon-alpha at 1.5 µg kg(-1) in conjunction with ribavirin (1000 mg if patient weight was <75 kg and 1250 mg if >75 kg) for 48 weeks. The patients did not have concomitant HBV or HIV infections or liver disease, did not undergo previous antiviral treatment, and were followed up for 24 weeks after the end of treatment to assure they presented a sustained virological response. Patients were classified according to response to treatment in responsive (SVR), nonresponsive (NRS) and relapsers (REL). HLA class I and class II typing were carried out through PCR-SSO using Luminex technology. A statistically higher frequency of DRB1*11 patients was observed in the SVR group (39.6% vs. 14.3%P = 0.0012; Pc = 0.0156; OR = 3.94; 95% CI = 1.8-8.8). HLA-DQB1*03 patients were also more frequent in the SVR group, but the P value lost significance after Bonferroni correction (62.3% vs. 41.7%P = 0.024; Pc = 0.14, OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.14-4.60). HLA class II antigens can positively influence the response to treatment with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin.