The emergence of new viral infections has increased over the decades. The novel virus is one such pathogen liable for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, popularly known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Most fatalities during the past century’s influenza pandemics have cooperated with bacterial co/secondary infections. Unfortunately, many reports have claimed that bacterial co-infection is also predominant in COVID-19 patients (COVID-19 associated co/secondary infection prevalence is up to 45.0%). In the COVID-19 pandemic, Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common coinfecting pathogen. Half of the COVID-19 mortality cases showed co-infection, and pneumonia-related COVID-19 mortality in patients >65 years was 23%. The weakening of immune function caused by COVID-19 remains a high-risk factor for pneumococcal disease. Pneumococcal disease and COVID-19 also have similar risk factors. For example, underlying medical conditions on COVID-19 and pneumococcal diseases increase the risk for severe illness at any age; COVID-19 is now considered a primary risk factor for pneumococcal pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease. Thus, pneumococcal vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic has become more critical than ever. This review presents positive studies of pneumococcal vaccination in patients with COVID-19 and other medical conditions and the correlational effects of pneumococcal disease with COVID-19 to prevent morbidity and mortality from co/secondary infections and superinfections. It also reports the importance and role of pneumococcal vaccination during the current COVID-19 pandemic era to strengthen the global health system.
Introduction: Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which induces tissue damage by exposing tissue to a specific wavelength of light in the presence of a photosensitizer and oxygen, is a promising alternative treatment that could be used as an adjunct to chemotherapy and surgery in oncology. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) with high arginine content, such as protamine, have membrane translocation and lysosome localization activities. They have been used in an extensive range of drug delivery applications. Methods: We conjugated cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) with methylene blue (MB) and then purification by FPLC. Synthesis structure was characterized by the absorbance spectrum, FPLC, Maldi-TOF, and then evaluated cell viability by cytotoxicity assay after photodynamic therapy (PDT) assay. An uptake imaging assay was used to determine the sites of MB and MB-Pro in subcellular compartments. Results: In vitro assays showed that MB-Pro has more efficient photodynamic activities than MB alone for the colon cancer cells, owing to lysosome rupture causing the rapid necrotic cell death. In this study, we coupled protamine with MB for high efficacy PDT. The conjugates localized in the lysosomes and enhanced the efficiency of PDT by inducing necrotic cell death, whereas PDT with non-coupled MB resulted in only apoptotic processes. Discussion: Our research aimed to enhance PDT by engineering the photosensitizers using CPPs coupled with methylene blue (MB). MB alone permeates through the cell membrane and distributes into the cytoplasm, whereas coupling of MB dye with CPPs localizes the MB through an endocytic mechanism to a specific organelle where the localized conjugates enhance the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cell damage.
Introduction Paclitaxel (PTX) is a conventional chemotherapeutic drug that effectively treats various cancers. The cellular uptake and therapeutic potential of PTX are limited by its slow penetration and low solubility in water. The development of cancer chemotherapy methods is currently facing considerable challenges with respect to the delivery of the drugs, particularly in targeting the tumor site without exerting detrimental effects on the healthy surrounding cells. One possibility for improving the therapeutic potential is through the development of tumor-targeted delivery methods. Methods We successfully synthesized paclitaxel-MHI-148 conjugates (PTX-MHI) by coupling PTX with the tumor-targeting heptamethine cyanine dye MHI-148. Synthesis and purification were characterized using the absorbance spectrum and the results of time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Cellular uptake and cytotoxicity studies were conducted in vitro and in vivo. Results PTX-MHI accumulates in tumor cells but not in normal cells, as observed by in vitro near-infrared fluorescent (NIRF) imaging along with in vivo NIRF imaging and organ biodistribution studies. We observed that MHI-148-conjugated PTX shows greater efficiency in cancer cells than PTX alone, even in the absence of light treatment. PTX-MHI could also be used for specific drug delivery to intracellular compartments, such as the mitochondria and lysosomes of cancer cells, to improve the outcomes of tumor-targeting therapy. Conclusion The results indicated that PTX-MHI-mediated cancer therapy exerts an excellent inhibitory effect on colon carcinoma (HT-29) cell growth with low toxicity in normal fibroblasts (NIH3T3).
High-entropy alloys (HEAs) contain more than five alloying elements in a composition range of 5–35% and with slight atomic size variation. Recent narrative studies on HEA thin films and their synthesis through deposition techniques such as sputtering have highlighted the need for determining the corrosion behaviors of such alloys used as biomaterials, for example, in implants. Coatings composed of biocompatible elements such as titanium, cobalt, chrome, nickel, and molybdenum at the nominal composition of Co30Cr20Ni20Mo20Ti10 were synthesized by means of high-vacuum radiofrequency magnetron (HVRF) sputtering. In scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, the coating samples deposited with higher ion densities were thicker than those deposited with lower ion densities (thin films). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results of the thin films heat treated at higher temperatures, i.e., 600 and 800 °C, revealed a low degree of crystallinity. In thicker coatings and samples without heat treatment, the XRD peaks were amorphous. The samples coated at lower ion densities, i.e., 20 µAcm−2, and not subjected to heat treatment yielded superior results in terms of corrosion and biocompatibility among all the samples. Heat treatment at higher temperatures led to alloy oxidation, thus compromising the corrosion property of the deposited coatings.
Sensors incorporating nanomaterials are being studied with great interest in the field of diagnostics given their high‐sensitivity and accuracy due to the unique advantages of nanomaterials. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in humans, with its early detection significantly reducing the risk of death and improving treatment prognosis. The gold standard for the early diagnosis of cancers is pathological and genetic analysis of tumor biopsy specimens. Unfortunately, standardization of techniques for separating and quantifying biomarkers from tumor biopsies requires more sensitive, accurate, and rapid early detection techniques. The development of biosensing platforms utilizing various functional nanomaterials is expected to realize the isolation and detection of biomarkers, thereby enabling rapid and accurate early cancer diagnosis. Therefore, this review aims to explore cutting‐edge nanomaterials that fall within the scope of highly sensitive analytical technology biosensor platforms to introduce the transducer platform of biosensing systems using functionalized nanomaterials for the selective recognition and detection of signal‐specific cancer biomarkers. It will pave the way for highly precise cancer detection, providing a unique means to carefully monitor the different types of biopsy sample of patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.