COVID-19: a wreak havoc across the globe.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious airborne viral pneumonia caused by a novel virus belonging to the family coronaviridae. On February 11, 2019, the Internal Committee on Taxonomy of Virus (ICTV) announced the name of the novel virus as "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). One of the proteins present on its membrane i.e. the Spike protein is responsible for the attachment of the virus to the host. It spreads through the salivary droplets released when an infected person sneezes or coughs. The best way to slow down the disease is by protecting self by washing hands and using the disinfectant. Most of the infected people experience mild to moderate breathing issues. Serious illness might develop in people with underlying cardiovascular problems, diabetes and other immuno-compromised diseases. To date, there is no effective medicine available in the market which is effective in COVID-19. However, healthcare professionals are using ritonavir, flavipiravir, lopinavir, hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir. Along with the medicines, some countries are using convalescent plasma and mesenchymal stem cells for treatment. Till date, it has claimed millions of death worldwide. In this detailed review, we have discussed the structure of SARS-CoV-2, essential proteins, its lifecycle, transmission, symptoms, pathology, clinical features, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and epidemiology of the disease.

COVID-19: quarantine, isolation, and lifestyle diseases.

Within just a month of the first case of idiopathic pneumonia, on 30 January 2020, WHO declared the outbreak, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. On 11 February 2019, the Internal Committee on Taxonomy of Virus (ICTV) announced the name of the novel virus as "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)" and on 11 March 2020, WHO declared it a global pandemic. As a preventive measure, the government of several countries has imposed quarantine and isolation for preventing the further spread of disease. Both of these restrict outdoor activities, which can directly affect the lifestyle of citizens. Quarantine for the long term can result in increased lifestyle disease, mainly cardiovascular diseases, and obesity.

Plumbagin and Its Role in Chronic Diseases.

Plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) is a plant-derived naphthoquinones obtained mainly from three families, including Plumbaginaceae, Droseraceae, and Ebenaceae. Plumbagin has exhibited its potential therapeutic benefits on numerous chronic diseases, i.e., breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, ovarian, squamous cell carcinomas, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer. In addition, its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities as well as control of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases have been reported. Thus, plumbagin is a promising agent for development as a new drug for the treatment or control of chronic diseases. Studies on controlled drug release or drug delivery systems have been involved for improvement of its therapeutic efficacy as well as for the reduction of its toxicity. However, most of the recent research information is from in vitro and in vivo studies. Further clinical studies are therefore required for its developments and applications as a novel drug used to treat chronic diseases.

The development of dimple-shaped chitosan carrier for ethambutol dihydrochloride dry powder inhaler.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, a dimple-shaped chitosan carrier was developed for delivering the antituberculosis drug ethambutol dihydrochloride (EDH) from a dry powder inhaler (DPI) to the lungs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nanosized drug particles were prepared using nanospray drying. The microsized carrier was developed from a chitosan solution by spray drying. Five formulations were prepared by physically mixing the drug and carrier in different ratios. The physico-chemical properties of the formulations were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultracentrifugation and a cascade impactor. RESULT AND DISCUSSION: The EDH size was 222 nm and the chitosan carrier size was 1.2 µm. Five formulations, i.e. 1:2, 1:2.5, 1:3.3, 1:5 and 1:10 w/w of the EDH to chitosan carrier were prepared by physical mixing. The chitosan carrier was spherical in shape with a dimpled surface and this provided shallow cavities to which the drug was bound, both within its grooves as well as on its surface. The median adhesion force (50% of drug detachment) for formulations #1 to #5 was between 122 and 993 µN. The mass median aerodynamic diameter of the EDH was between 2.3 and 2.7 µm, with the fine particle fractions (aerosolized particles less than 4.4 µm) of 32-42% of the nominal dose. CONCLUSION: We suggest that ethambutol dihydrochloride mixed with a chitosan carrier was suitable for use in a dry powder inhaler for controlling tuberculosis especially in minimizing the risk of multidrug resistant tuberculosis and the possible side effects from EDH.

The safety of ethambutol dihydrochloride dry powder formulations containing chitosan for the possibility of treating lung tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to conduct in vitro studies of a dry powder formulation of ethambutol dihydrochloride (EDH) to determine if it was an acceptable candidate for further in vivo studies to target alveolar macrophages for the treatment of lung tuberculosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nanosized drug particles were prepared by optimizing the spray drying conditions. The cell toxicities were determined by interacting the formulations with respiratory cell lines (A549, calu-3 and NR8383 cell lines), and phagocytosis of the formulations was tested on a macrophage cell line. Permeations of the EDH formulations across a lipid bilayer were studied using the Ussing chamber and HPLC. Bioactivity tests of the formulations were carried out by using the resazurin method on M. bovis cells. RESULT AND DISCUSSION: Spray rate and inlet temperature were the two most important factors that affected the size and % yield of the product. The % cell viability of A549 cells with all EDH formulations, pure EDH and chitosan carrier was higher than 80%, the calu-3 cell line had % viabilities of between 85 and 99%, and the % viability of NR8383 cells was between 81 and 100%. The pure EDH had a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2 µg/mL while the EDH formulations had MIC values of less than 1 µg/mL when tested against M. bovis. The formulation was completely phagocytized by the macrophage cells after 30 min. The permeability of pure EDH across lipid bilayer was 48.7% after 2 h while in the EDH formulations it was enhanced to 71%. CONCLUSION: The EDH formulations showed a lower toxicity, higher potency and better permeation than the pure EDH. Thus, EDH DPI formulations could help to minimize the duration of treatment and the risk of developing multidrug resistance tuberculosis compared to the non-formulated EDH.