Impact of outdoor and indoor meteorological conditions on the COVID-19 transmission in the western region of Saudi Arabia.

Meteorological conditions may influence the incidence of many infectious diseases. Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious, air-borne, emerging, viral disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). In 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic affected more than 210 countries and territories worldwide including Saudi Arabia. There are contradictory research papers about the correlation between meteorological parameters and incidence of COVID-19 in some countries worldwide. The current study investigates the impact of outdoor and indoor meteorological conditions on the daily recorded COVID-19 cases in western region (Makkah and Madinah cities) of Saudi Arabia over a period of 8 months from March to October 2020. Reports of the daily confirmed COVID-19 cases from the webpage of Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) were used. Considering, the incubation period of COVID-19 which ranged from 2 to 14 days, the relationships between daily COVID-19 cases and outdoor meteorological factors (temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) using a lag time of 10 days are investigated. The results showed that the highest daily COVID-19 cases in Makkah and Madinah were reported during the hottest months of the year (April-July 2020) when outdoor temperature ranged from 26.51 to 40.71 °C in Makkah and of 23.89-41.20 °C in Madinah, respectively. Partial negative correlation was detected between outdoor relative humidity and daily recorded COVID-19 cases. No obvious correlation could be demonstrated between wind speed and daily COVID-19 cases. This indicated that most of SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred in the cool, air-conditioned, dry, and bad-ventilated indoor environment in the investigated cities. These results will help the epidemiologists to understand the correlation between both outdoor and indoor meteorological conditions and SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility. These findings would be also a useful supplement to assist the local healthcare policymakers to implement and apply a specific preventive measures and education programs for controlling of COVID-19 transmission.

In Silico Subtractive Proteomics and Molecular Docking Approaches for the Identification of Novel Inhibitors against Streptococcus pneumoniae Strain D39.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a notorious Gram-positive pathogen present asymptomatically in the nasophayrnx of humans. According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O), pneumococcus causes approximately one million deaths yearly. Antibiotic resistance in S. pneumoniae is raising considerable concern around the world. There is an immediate need to address the major issues that have arisen as a result of persistent infections caused by S. pneumoniae. In the present study, subtractive proteomics was used in which the entire proteome of the pathogen consisting of 1947 proteins is effectively decreased to a finite number of possible targets. Various kinds of bioinformatics tools and software were applied for the discovery of novel inhibitors. The CD-HIT analysis revealed 1887 non-redundant sequences from the entire proteome. These non-redundant proteins were submitted to the BLASTp against the human proteome and 1423 proteins were screened as non-homologous. Further, databases of essential genes (DEGG) and J browser identified almost 171 essential proteins. Moreover, non-homologous, essential proteins were subjected in KEGG Pathway Database which shortlisted six unique proteins. In addition, the subcellular localization of these unique proteins was checked and cytoplasmic proteins were chosen for the druggability analysis, which resulted in three proteins, namely DNA binding response regulator (SPD_1085), UDP-N-acetylmuramate-L-alanine Ligase (SPD_1349) and RNA polymerase sigma factor (SPD_0958), which can act as a promising potent drug candidate to limit the toxicity caused by S. pneumoniae. The 3D structures of these proteins were predicted by Swiss Model, utilizing the homology modeling approach. Later, molecular docking by PyRx software 0.8 version was used to screen a library of phytochemicals retrieved from PubChem and ZINC databases and already approved drugs from DrugBank database against novel druggable targets to check their binding affinity with receptor proteins. The top two molecules from each receptor protein were selected based on the binding affinity, RMSD value, and the highest conformation. Finally, the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) analyses were carried out by utilizing the SWISS ADME and Protox tools. This research supported the discovery of cost-effective drugs against S. pneumoniae. However, more in vivo/in vitro research should be conducted on these targets to investigate their pharmacological efficacy and their function as efficient inhibitors.

Transplantation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells ameliorates acute hepatic injury caused by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac sodium in female rats.

BACKGROUND: Although the beneficial role of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) in acute liver injury has been addressed by numerous studies employing different liver injury inducers, the role of rat AD-MSCs (rAD-MSCs) in diclofenac sodium (DIC) - induced acute liver injury has not yet been clarified. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether rat adipose- rAD-MSCs injected intraperitoneal could restore the DIC-induced hepatoxicity. METHODS: Hepatotoxicity was induced by DIC in a dose-based manner, after which intraperitoneal injection of rAD-MSCs was performed. RESULTS: Here, the transplanted cells migrated to the injured liver, and this was evidenced by detecting the specific SRY in the liver samples. After administering DIC, a significant decrease in body weight, survival rate, serum proteins, antioxidants, anti-apoptotic gene expression, and certain growth factors, whereas hepatic-specific markers, pro-inflammatory mediators, and oxidative, pro-apoptotic, and ER-stress markers were elevated. These adverse effects were significantly recovered after engraftment with rAD-MSCs. This was evidenced by enhanced survival and body weight, improved globulin and albumin values, increased expression of SOD, GPx, BCL-2, VEGF, and FGF-basic expression, and decreased serum ALT, AST, ALP, and total bilirubin. rAD-MSCs also reduced liver cell damage by suppressing the expression of MDA, IL-1B, IL-6, BAX, JNK, GRP78/BiP, CHOP, XBP-1, and cleaved caspase 3/7. Degenerative hepatic changes and multifocal areas of fatty change within liver cells were observed in DIC-received groups. These changes were improved with the transplantation of rAD-MSCs. CONCLUSIONS: We could conclude that targeted AD-MSCs could be applied to reduce hepatic toxicity caused by NSAIDs (DIC).

Phylogenetic comparative analysis: Chemical and biological features of caseins (alpha-S-1, alpha-S-2, beta- and kappa-) in domestic dairy animals.

Caseins determine the physicochemical, physiological, and biological characteristics of milk. Four caseins-alpha-S-1, alpha-S-2, beta, and kappa-were analyzed phylogenetically and in silico and characterized regarding chemical, antimicrobial, and antioxidant features in five dairy animals: Arabian camels, sheep, goats, cattle, and water buffalos. The sequence of full-length amino acids of the four caseins for the five species was retracted from the NCBI GenBank database. Multiple sequence alignment is used to examine further the candidate sequences for phylogenetic analysis using Clustal X and NJ-Plot tools. The results revealed that sheep and goats possess strong similarities (98.06%) because of their common ancestor. The same was observed with cattle and water buffalos (96.25%). The Arabian camel was located in a single subclade due to low similarity in casein residues and compositions with other dairy animals. Protein modeling showed that alpha-S1- and alpha-S2-caseins possess the highest number of phosphoserine residues. The in silico computed chemical properties showed that ß-casein recorded highest hydrophobicity index and lowest basic amino acid content, while α-S2-casein showed the opposite. The computed biological parameters revealed that α-S2-casein presented the highest bactericidal stretches. Only Arabian camel ß-casein and k-casein showed one bactericidal stretches. The analysis also revealed that ß-casein, particularly in Arabian camels, possesses the highest antioxidant activity index. These results support the importance of the bioinformatics resources to determine milk casein micelles' chemical and biological activities.