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BACKGROUND: At the end of 2019, the new Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) strain causing severe acute respiratory syndrome swept the world. From November 2019 till February 2021, this virus infected nearly 104 million, with more than two million deaths and about 25 million active cases. This has prompted scientists to discover effective drugs to combat this pandemic. AREA COVERED: Drug repurposing is the magic bullet for treating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). Therefore, several drugs have been investigated in silico, in vitro, as well as through human trials such as anti-SARS-CoV2 agents, or to prevent the complications resulting from the virus. In this review, the mechanisms of action of different therapeutic strategies are summarized. According to the WHO, different classes of drugs can be used, including anti-malarial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-coagulant drugs, as well as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, antibiotics, vitamins, zinc, neutralizing antibodies, and convalescent plasma therapy. Recently, there are some vaccines which are approved against SARS-CoV2. EXPERT OPINION: A complete understanding of the structure and function of all viral proteins that play a fundamental role in viral infection, which contribute to the therapeutic intervention and the development of vaccine in order to reduce the mortality rate. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40005-021-00520-4.
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Berberine (BBR) exerts documented protection against neurodegenerative disorders. However, data on the effect of nano-encapsulation on the neuroprotective effect of BBR are lacking. We investigated the effect of BBR loading into chitosan (CS) nanoparticles (NPs) and their surface modification with Tween 80 (T80), polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG), and miltefosine (MFS) against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neurodegenerative changes in addition to hepatotoxicity in rats. BBR-NPs were prepared by ionic gelation and characterized for morphology by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), colloidal properties, and entrapment efficiency (EE%). The neuroprotective and hepatoprotective effects of a 14-day pretreatment with four BBR-NPs formulations (4 mg/kg BBR/day) by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection were challenged by a single i.p. 4 mg/kg dose of LPS on the fifteenth day. Neuroprotective efficacy and potential toxicity of BBR-NPs relative to BBR solution were assessed biochemically and histopathologically. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's comparison test was used for statistical analysis. CS nano-encapsulation and surface modification of BBR-NPs altered the neuroprotective and hepatoprotective effects of BBR depending on the physicochemical and/or biological effects of BBR, CS, coating materials, and NP-related features. Similar to the prophylactic and treatment efficacy of NPs for brain delivery, safety of these nanostructures and their individual formulation components warrants due research attention.