The third coronavirus outbreak in the last two decades has caused significant damage to the world’s economy and community health. The highly contagious COVID-19 infection has affected millions of people to date and has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. Aside from the highly infectious nature of SARS-CoV-2, the lack of a treatment or vaccine has been the main reason for its spread. Thus, it has become necessary to find alternative methods for controlling SARS-CoV-2. For the present review, we conducted an online search for different available nutrition-based therapies for previously known coronavirus infections and RNA-based virus infections as well as general antiviral therapies. These treatments have promise for combating COVID-19, as various nutrients and minerals play direct and indirect roles in the control and prevention of this newly emerged viral infection. The patients’ nutritional status with COVID-19 must be analyzed before administering any treatment, and nutritional supplements should be given to the affected individuals along with routine treatment. We suggest a potential interventional role of nutrients to strengthen the immune system against the emerging infection caused by COVID-19.

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This study evaluates bacteriological profiles in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and assesses antibiotic resistance, extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production by gram-negative bacteria, and heavy metal tolerance. In total, 436 retail food samples were collected and cultured. The isolates were screened for ESBL production and molecular detection of ESBL-encoding genes. Furthermore, all isolates were evaluated for heavy metal tolerance. From 352 culture-positive samples, 406 g-negative bacteria were identified. Raw food samples were more often contaminated than refined food (84.71% vs. 76.32%). The predominant isolates were Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 76), Enterobacter cloacae (n = 58), and Escherichia coli (n = 56). Overall, the percentage of ESBL producers was higher in raw food samples, although higher occurrences of ESBL-producing E. coli (p = 0.01) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (p = 0.02) were observed in processed food samples. However, the prevalence of ESBL-producing Citrobacter freundii in raw food samples was high (p = 0.03). Among the isolates, 55% were blaCTX-M, 26% were blaSHV, and 19% were blaTEM. Notably, heavy metal resistance was highly prevalent in ESBL producers. These findings demonstrate that retail food samples are exposed to contaminants including antibiotics and heavy metals, endangering consumers.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a current pandemic that has affected more than 195 countries worldwide. In this severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, when treatment strategies are not yet clear and vaccines are not available, vitamins are an excellent choice to protect against this viral infection. The rationale behind this study was to examine the inhibitory effect of vitamins B, C, and D against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which have critical rolesin the immune system. Molecular docking, performed by using MOE-Dock of the Chemical Computing Group, was used to understand the mechanism. The vitamins all docked within the active sites of the M pro (PDB ID:6LU7) and ACE2 receptor proteins (PDB ID:6VW1). Vitamins B and C delivered maximum energy scores against both targets, while vitamin D displayed a binding energy score of −7.9532 kcal/mol for M pro and −7.9297 for ACE2. The efficiency of all three vitamins is higher than the binding energy score of chloroquine (−6.889 kcal/mol), which is now under clinical trials. The use of vitamins is beneficial, being immune system restorative, and they also act as anti-COVID agents. Although the potential beneficial effects of vitamin B and C are revealed through docking studies, further clinical trials are required for the validation of these results.

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