Modulatory role of miRNAs in thyroid and breast cancer progression and insights into their therapeutic manipulation.

Over the past few decades, thyroid cancer has become one of the most common types of endocrine cancer, contributing to an increase in prevalence. In the year 2020, there were 586,202 newly diagnosed cases of thyroid cancer around the world. This constituted approximately 3.0% of all patients diagnosed with cancer. The World Health Organization reported that there will be 2.3 million women receiving treatment for breast cancer in 2020, with 685,000. Despite the fact that carcinoma is one of the world's leading causes of death, there is still a paucity of information about its biology. MicroRNAs (miRNAs; miRs) are non-coding RNAs that can reduce gene expression by cleaving the 3' untranslated regions of mRNA. These factors make them a potential protein translation inhibitor. Diverse biological mechanisms implicated in the genesis of cancer are modulated by miRNA. The investigation of global miRNA expression in cancer showed regulatory activity through up regulation and down-regulation in several cancers, including thyroid cancer and breast cancer. In thyroid cancer, miRNA influences several cancers related signaling pathways through modulating MAPK, PI3K, and the RAS pathway. In breast cancer, the regulatory activity of miRNA was played through the cyclin protein family, protein kinases and their inhibitors, and other growth promoters or suppressors, which modulated cell proliferation and cell cycle progression. This article's goal is to discuss key miRNA expressions that are involved in the development of thyroid and breast cancer as well as their therapeutic manipulation for these two specific cancer types.

Is Omicron the end of pandemic or start of a new innings?

In the middle of November 2021, Omicron (B.1.1.529), a novel variant of SARS-CoV-2 was identified in South Africa. Owing to continuous increasing cases with rapid transmissibility and immune evasion, the World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized this strain as a variant of concern (VOC). In total, over 60 mutations have been identified in Omicron (BA.1) and latterly, its three sub-lineages (BA.1.1, BA.2, and BA.3) have also been found with additional mutations and pathogenicity. The highly contagious Omicron causes less severe sickness than Delta, but it is still dangerous for those who have not been vaccinated. Following the unique identification of the Omicron variant, a fresh debate has erupted regarding the natural vaccines. A number of experts believe that Omicron can work as a natural vaccine, because it is similar to live attenuated vaccines in certain ways. Additionally, it was highlighted that the high rate of antibody generation in individuals cured of Omicron provide suggestive evidence in favor of those researchers who claimed Omicron acts as natural vaccine. Some disagreements also noted, as it also has tremendous health effects and high infection rate, as similar to the prior variants. This review summarizes the contradictory scenario among the scientists about Omicron variant.

Immunogenic and reactogenic efficacy of Covaxin and Covishield: a comparative review.

SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus that was identified for the first time in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a worldwide pandemic on March 11, 2020, due to its widespread infectivity pattern. Because of the catastrophic COVID-19 outbreak, the development of safe and efficient vaccinations has become a key priority in every health sector throughout the globe. On the 13th of January 2021, the vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 was launched in India and started the administration of two types of vaccines known as Covaxin and Covishield. Covishield is an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, and Covaxin was developed by a traditional method of vaccine formulation, which is composed of adjuvanted inactivated viral particles. Each vaccine's utility or efficiency is determined by its formulation, adjuvants, and mode of action. The efficacy of the vaccination depends on numeral properties like generation antibodies, memory cells, and cell-mediated immunity. According to the third-phase experiment, Covishield showed effectiveness of nearly 90%, whereas Covaxin has an effectiveness of about 80%. Both vaccination formulations in India have so far demonstrated satisfactory efficacy against numerous mutant variants of SARS-CoV-2. The efficacy of Covishield may be diminished if the structure of spike (S) protein changes dramatically in the future. In this situation, Covaxin might be still effective for such variants owing to its ability to produce multiple antibodies against various epitopes. This study reviews the comparative immunogenic and therapeutic efficacy of Covaxin and Covishield and also discussed the probable vaccination challenges in upcoming days.

Awareness, knowledge and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among the people of West Bengal, India: A web-based survey.

Objectives: Rapid vaccination is the only way to fight against COVID-19.Vaccine hesitancy is the major barrier against this strategy. The main objective of this cross-sectional study was to analyze COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in the general population of West Bengal (India), as well as to investigate the factors that were independently associated with people's desire to receive the vaccine. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed by email, Whatsapp, and other social media platforms, and the responses were analyzed using the SPSS (Version 20) software. Results: We conducted a web-based survey in West Bengal, India (N = 803), and accumulated information on individuals' desire to adopt vaccine against COVID-19, views about the virus's effectiveness, and many knowledge-based socio-demographic factors that potentially impact the overall vaccination efforts. We found that, 12.08% of participants do not believe that vaccination against COVID-19 is necessary, but among the rest of the population, 44.33% of individuals are willing to be vaccinated once the vaccine is available, whereas 39.60% of the population responded that they will not be vaccinated immediately but will do so later. Conclusions: Despite the participants' strong vaccine willingness, our findings revealed a troubling degree of lake of awareness and insignificant scientific knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated vaccination programme. Vaccination hesitancy is not a barrier in this survey region, but poor vaccine availability and a lack of awareness campaigns may instill unfavorable beliefs in those who refuse to be vaccinated.

OBJETIVOS: La rapidez de la vacunación es el único modo de luchar contra la COVID-19. Las dudas sobre la vacuna constituyen la mayor barrera contra esta estrategia. El objetivo principal de este estudio transversal fue analizar la aceptación de la vacuna contra la COVID-19 en la población general de Bengala occidental (India), así como investigar los factores asociados de manera independiente al deseo de recibir la vacuna por parte de las personas.Métodos: Se distribuyó un cuestionario online por correo electrónico, Whatsapp, y otras plataformas de redes sociales, y se analizaron las respuestas utilizando el software SPSS (Versión 20). RESULTADOS: Realizamos una encuesta basada en web en Bengala occidental, India (N= 803), y acumulamos la información sobre el deseo de las personas de recibir la vacuna contra la COVID-19, las opiniones sobre la efectividad del virus, y muchos factores sociodemográficos basados en el conocimiento que tienen un impacto potencial en los esfuerzos globales sobre vacunación. Encontramos que el 12,08% de los participantes no creen en la necesidad de la vacunación contra la COVID-19 pero, entre el resto de la población, el 44,33% de los individuos desean ser vacunados una vez que se disponga de la vacuna, mientras que el 39,6% de la población respondió que no se vacunarían de inmediato, aunque lo harían más adelante. CONCLUSIONES: A pesar de la sólida voluntad de los participantes por la vacuna, nuestros hallazgos revelaron un grado preocupante de falta de concienciación y conocimiento científico insignificante acerca de la pandemia de COVID- 19 y su programa de vacunación asociado. Las dudas sobre la vacuna no son una barrera en la región de esta encuesta, pero la poca disponibilidad de la vacuna y la falta de campañas de concienciación puede infundir creencias desfavorables en aquellas personas que rechazan recibir la vacuna.

Herpes Zoster Infection Involving Mandibular Division of Trigeminal Nerve and Ramsay Hunt Syndrome with Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Rare Association.

Herpes zoster is a unilateral painful vesicular cutaneous eruption caused by the reactivation of the Varicella zoster virus. It commonly affects the older people and immunocompromised individuals. The dermatomes from T3 to L3 are most frequently involved. Its three stages include prodromal stage, active stage and chronic stage. The common complications of the infection include post-herpetic neuralgia, Ramsay Hunt syndrome, Guillain-Barre syndrome, transverse myelitis and encephalomyelitis. This case report summarizes a very rare association of herpes zoster meningitis with the involvement of mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve and facial nerve. The patient improved with intravenous acyclovir and prednisolone treatment.

Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome: A Rare Cause of Chronic Diarrhoea in a Young Man.

A young Indian man presented with nine-month history of chronic diarrhea, occasionally mixed with blood and intermittent colicky abdominal pain. He also complained of generalized body swelling for the last three months. On examination, he had diffuse hyperpigmentation of the skin and dystrophic nail changes. Upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed multiple sessile polyps in the stomach, small bowel, and colon and rectum. Biopsy of polyps showed adenomatous changes with stromal edema and dilated glands. Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) was diagnosed and treated with glucocorticoids and enteral nutritional supplementation. There was an associated small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and stool was positive for clostridium difficile toxin. After 12 weeks of treatment, the patient achieved remission. Close correlation with clinical findings, including pertinent ectodermal abnormalities, endoscopic studies, and careful examination of biopsies will ensure a timely and correct diagnosis of CCS.

Two Uncommon Causes of Guillain-Barré Syndrome: Hepatitis E and Japanese Encephalitis.

We are presenting two cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome where it is preceded by hepatitis E virus (HEV) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection, respectively. Our first case is a forty-three-year-old nondiabetic, nonhypertensive female who was initially diagnosed with acute HEV induced viral hepatitis and subsequently developed acute onset ascending quadriparesis with lower motor neuron type of bilateral facial nerve palsies and respiratory failure. Second patient was a 14-year-old young male who presented with meningoencephalitis with acute onset symmetric flaccid paraparesis. After thorough investigations it was revealed as a case of Japanese encephalitis. Our idea of reporting these two cases is to make ourselves aware about this potential complication of these two common infections.