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The medical authority in China, especially in Wuhan city, reported on December 2019 a large number of highly fatal, rapidly spreading viral pneumonia caused by an unknown coronavirus. The common history of all the patients was their visiting a Wuhan's whole food store, where live animals and seafood are sold. Irrespective of the efforts of the Chinese authorities, the virus spread rapidly all over the world by travelers, provoking widespread attention by the media and panic. Many previous coronavirus epidemics had been recorded, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the recently newly discovered epidemic is named coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). This disease is caused by SARS Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), and this virus is antigenically related to the SARS virus (SARS-CoV), which had been detected in 2002, depending on clinical, serological, and molecular findings. There is rapid competition among the researchers to discover the source of the virus, understand the mechanism of the disease development, establish treatment strategies, and determine the factors affecting the incidence of infection and severity of the disease, and focus on the production of a vaccine. Coronaviruses are a group of single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome viruses; its genome length varies from 26 to 32 kb. Coronavirus causes mild to severe respiratory disorders. In December 2019, several cases of pneumonia of unknown causes were found in Wuhan city, which is located in the Hubei province in China. Chinese health authorities investigated the problem and found that a new virus caused such infection and, using next-generation sequencing, found the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). It has been transferred from humans to humans and animals to humans (zoonotic). Coronaviruses cause multiple respiratory problems, varying from common cold to severe infections such as SARS. General symptoms of infection include fatigue, cough, and breathing problems such as shortness of breath, as described by World Health Organization. Serious cases may result in pneumonia, renal failure, and even death. We address current information about the new SARS Coronavirus-2 as well as the COVID-19 disease caused by it in this review.

In December 2019, the novel coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) that began in China had infected so far more than 109,217,366 million individuals worldwide and accounted for more than 2,413,912 fatalities. With the dawn of this novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), there was a requirement to select potential therapies that might effectively kill the virus, accelerate the recovery, or decrease the case fatality rate. Besides the currently available antiviral medications for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), the chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (CQ/HCQ) regimen with or without azithromycin has been repurposed in China and was recommended by the National Health Commission, China in mid-February 2020. By this time, the selection of this regimen was based on its efficacy against the previous SARS-CoV-1 virus and its potential to inhibit viral replication of the SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. There was a shortage of robust clinical proof about the effectiveness of this regimen against the novel SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, extensive research effort has been made by several researchers worldwide to investigate whether this regimen is safe and effective for the management of COVID-19. In this review, we provided a comprehensive overview of the CQ/HCQ regimen, summarizing data from in vitro studies and clinical trials for the protection against or the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Despite the initial promising results from the in vitro studies and the widespread use of CQ/HCQ in clinical settings during the 1st wave of COVID-19, current data from well-designed randomized controlled trials showed no evidence of benefit from CQ/HCQ supplementation for the treatment or prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Particularly, the two largest randomized controlled trials to date (RECOVERY and WHO SOLIDARITY trials), both confirmed that CQ/HCQ regimen does not provide any clinical benefit for COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we do not recommend the use of this regimen in COVID-19 patients outside the context of clinical trials.

Background and objectives: Blood screening is considered a compulsory procedure in health care services to reduce the occurrence of transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs). This study estimated the distribution rates of ABO and Rh blood group systems, prevalence rates of TTIs among blood donors and their association with the ABO blood group and Rh system. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at the national blood bank, Amman, Jordan for a period of 6 years (from January 2013 to December 2018). For TTIs analysis, about 5 mL blood sample was collected from each volunteer. A total of 365,029 persons (346,048 (94.8%) males and 18,981 (5.2%) females) donated their blood at the national blood bank, Amman, Jordan from January 2013 to December 2018. Results: The results revealed that O and A were the most prevalent blood groups (37.44% and 36.82%, respectively), followed by B (18.62%) and AB (7.12%). The distribution of Rh + ve and Rh − ve among blood donors showed that Rh + ve donors were more prevalent (88.73%) compared with Rh − ve (11.27%). HBsAg was the most prevalent viral infection (0.38%) followed by HCV (0.13%), syphilis (0.02%), HIV (0.006%) and the male donors were highly infected when compared with female donors. The association between ABO/Rh blood groups and TTIs infections was nonsignificant. Conclusions: In conclusion, low frequency rates of TTIs among blood donors were detected in the current study, but improvements are still continuously required. Low percentages of female donors need to be managed via conducting health cultural education programs.

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BackgroundBreast cancer is the fifth most prevalent cause of death among women worldwide. It is also one of the most common types of cancer among Malaysian women. This study aimed to characterize and differentiate the proteomics profiles of different stages of breast cancer and its matched adjacent normal tissues in Malaysian breast cancer patients. Also, this study aimed to construct a pertinent protein pathway involved in each stage of cancer. MethodsIn total, 80 samples of tumor and matched adjacent normal tissues were collected from breast cancer patients at Seberang Jaya Hospital (SJH) and Kepala Batas Hospital (KBH), both in Penang, Malaysia. The protein expression profiles of breast cancer and normal tissues were mapped by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The Gel-Eluted Liquid Fractionation Entrapment Electrophoresis (GEL-FREE) Technology System was used for the separation and fractionation of extracted proteins, which also were analyzed to maximize protein detection. The protein fractions were then analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis using LC/MS LTQ-Orbitrap Fusion and Elite. This study identified the proteins contained within the tissue samples using de novo sequencing and database matching via PEAKS software. We performed two different pathway analyses, DAVID and STRING, in the sets of proteins from stage 2 and stage 3 breast cancer samples. The lists of molecules were generated by the REACTOME-FI plugin, part of the CYTOSCAPE tool, and linker nodes were added in order to generate a connected network. Then, pathway enrichment was obtained, and a graphical model was created to depict the participation of the input proteins as well as the linker nodes.

Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) plays an essential role in cancer pathogenesis, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). All of SHP-1, SOCS-1, and SOCS-3 are TSGs that negatively regulate JAK/STAT signaling. Enhanced re-expression of TSGs through de-methylation represents a therapeutic target in several cancers. Thymoquinone (TQ) is a major component of Nigella sativa seeds with anticancer effects against several cancers. However, the effects of TQ on DNA methylation are not entirely understood. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of TQ to re-express SHP-1, SOCS-1, and SOCS-3 in MV4-11 AML cells through de-methylation. Cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and cell cycle assays were performed using WSTs-8 kit, Annexin V-FITC/PI apoptosis detection kit, and fluorometric-red cell cycle assay kit, respectively. The methylation of SHP-1, SOCS-1, and SOCS-3 was evaluated by pyrosequencing analysis. The expression of SHP-1, SOCS-1, SOCS-3, JAK2, STAT3, STAT5A, STAT5B, FLT3-ITD, DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, TET2, and WT1 was assessed by RT-qPCR. The molecular docking of TQ to JAK2, STAT 3, and STAT5 was evaluated. The results revealed that TQ significantly inhibited the growth of MV4-11 cells and induced apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Interestingly, the results showed that TQ binds the active pocket of JAK2, STAT3, and STAT5 to inhibit their enzymatic activity and significantly enhances the re-expression of SHP-1 and SOCS-3 through de-methylation. In conclusion, TQ curbs MV4-11 cells by inhibiting the enzymatic activity of JAK/STAT signaling through hypomethylation and re-expression of JAK/STAT negative regulators and could be a promising therapeutic candidate for AML patients.

Objective: BCR ABL oncogene encodes the BCR-ABL chimeric protein, which is a constitutively activated non-receptor tyrosine kinase. The BCR-ABL oncoprotein is a key molecular basis for the pathogenesis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) via activation of several downstream signaling pathways including JAK/STAT pathway. Development of leukemia involves constitutive activation of signaling molecules including, JAK2, STAT3, STAT5A and STAT5B. Thymoquinone (TQ) is a bioactive constituent of Nigella sativa that has shown anticancer properties in various cancers. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of TQ on the expression of BCR ABL, JAK2, STAT3, STAT5A and STAT5B genes and their consequences on the cell proliferation and apoptosis in K562 CML cells. Methods: BCR-ABL positive K562 CML cells were treated with TQ. Cytotoxicity was determined by Trypan blue exclusion assay. Apoptosis assay was performed by annexin V-FITC/PI staining assay and analyzed by flow cytometry. Transcription levels of BCR ABL, JAK2, STAT3, STAT5A and STAT5B genes were evaluated by reverse transcriptionquantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Protein levels of JAK2 and STAT5 were determined by Jess Assay analysis. Results: TQ markedly decreased the cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in K562 cells (P < 0.001) in a concentration dependent manner. TQ caused a significant decrease in the transcriptional levels of BCR ABL, JAK2, STAT3, STAT5A and STAT5B genes (P < 0.001). TQ induced a significant decrease in JAK2 and STAT5 protein levels (P < 0.001). Conclusion: our results indicated that TQ inhibited cell growth of K562 cells via downregulation of BCR ABL/ JAK2/STAT3 and STAT5 signaling and reducing JAK2 and STAT5 protein levels.