Background and aims: There is a sought for vaccines and antiviral agents as countermeasures for the recent monkeypox outbreak. Here, we aimed to review and discuss the repurposing potentials of smallpox vaccines and drugs in monkeypox outbreaks based on their comparative benefits and risks. Therefore, we conducted this rapid review and discussed the repurposing potentials of smallpox vaccines and drugs in monkeypox infection.Methods: Here, we searched Google Scholar and PubMed for relevant information and data. We found many articles that have suggested the use of smallpox vaccines and antiviral drugs in monkeypox outbreaks according to the study findings. We read the relevant articles to extract information.Results: According to the available documents, we found two replication-competent and one replication-deficient vaccinia vaccines were effective against Orthopoxvirus.However, the healthcare authorities have authorized second-generation live vaccina virus vaccines against Orthopoxvirus in many countries. Smallpox vaccine is almost 85% effective in preventing monkeypox infection as monkeypox virus, variola virus, and vaccinia virus are similar. The United States and Canada have approved a replication-deficient third-generation smallpox vaccine for the prevention of monkeypox infection. However, the widely used second-generation smallpox vaccines contain a live virus and replicate it into the human cell. Therefore, there is a chance to cause virus-induced complications among the vaccinated subjects. In those circumstances, the available Orthopoxvirus inhibitors might be a good choice for treating monkeypox infections as they showed similar efficacy in monkeypox infection in different animal model clinical trials. Also, the combined use of antiviral drugs and vaccinia immune globulin can enhance significant effectiveness in immunocompromised subjects.

doi: medRxiv preprint NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.Higher levels of serum IL-1β and TNF-α are associated with an increased probability of major depressive disorder ABSTRACT Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious psychiatric disorder but there are no reliable risk assessment tools for this condition. The actual reason for affecting depression is still controversial. It is assumed that the dysregulated cytokines are produced due to the hyperactivation of the immune system in depression. We aimed to evaluate the possible alteration and the role of serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in MDD patients. The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5 th edition was used to diagnose patients and evaluation of healthy controls (HCs). The severity of depression was measured by the Hamilton depression rating scale (Ham-D). Serum IL-1β and TNF-α levels were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Increased levels of serum IL-1β and TNF-α were observed in MDD patients compared to HCs. These higher levels of peripheral markers were positively correlated with the severity of depression.Moreover, females with higher Ham-D scores showed greater serum IL-1β and TNF-α levels compared to males. Good predictive values were detected for both serum IL-1β and TNF-α levels by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Therefore, the elevated levels of serum IL-1β and TNF-α might be used as risk assessment indicators for MDD.

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BackgroundMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a disabling health problem with a very high global prevalence and burden. Alteration of inflammatory markers in depression is of growing interest to many psychiatry researchers. This study aimed to examine the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in MDD patients to find out their association with depression.Materials and methodsThe present study recruited 88 MDD patients and 86 control subjects matched by age, gender, and body mass index (BMI). The Hamilton depression rating scale (Ham-D) was used on all patients to measure their severity of depression. Serum levels of IL-6 and CRP were analyzed by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA).ResultsThe mean values of serum levels of IL-6 and CRP were 2.94 ± 0.12 pg/mL and 0.99 ± 0.02 mg/L for the patient group and 2.42 ± 0.21 pg/mL and 1.09 ± 0.06 mg/L for the control group, respectively. We found significantly elevated concentrations of serum IL-6 in MDD patients compared with control subjects (p < 0.001). However, the alteration of serum CRP levels was not significant between the groups (p = 0.126). Ham-D scores of patients were positively correlated with serum IL-6 (r = 0.552; p = 0.004) and CRP (r = 0.621; p < 0.001) levels. Moreover, serum IL-6 and CRP levels were observed to be positively correlated (r = 0.452; p = 0.043) with each other in depression.ConclusionsThe present study suggests that increased serum IL-6 level might be a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of depression.

Background: Abnormal expression of inflammatory cytokines in major depressive disorder (MDD) suggests the activation of an inflammatory process. The pattern of alterations in cytokine levels is still ambiguous. The present study aimed to evaluate interleukin-7 (IL-7) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) for their involvement in the pathophysiology of MDD and determine their relationships with depression risk. Methods: The study included 166 medication-free subjects: 84 MDD patients and 82 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HCs). A qualified psychiatrist diagnosed patients and evaluated controls based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). Hamilton depression rating scale (Ham-D) was used to measure the severity of depression in MDD patients. Serum IL-7 and IL-10 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Results: Compared with HCs, the serum levels of IL-7 were significantly decreased, whereas that of IL-10 increased in MDD patients. Moreover, the severity of depression is correlated with the altered levels of IL-7 and IL-10 in MDD patients. We found a negative correlation between IL-7 and Hamilton depression rating (Ham-D) scores ( r = –0.580, p < 0.05), whereas there was a positive correlation between IL-10 and Ham-D scores ( r = 0.555, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The altered levels of serum IL-7 and IL-10 in MDD patients may represent a homeostatic mechanism that enhances the inflammatory process during depression. The alterations of these cytokine levels in MDD and their association with the severity of depression support them as promising, but there may still be controversial factors for understanding the pathophysiology of depression.

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This attempt is made to address the phytoconstituents, free radical scavenging activity and brine shrimp lethality bioassay of five different extracts of Asparagus racemosus roots. Preliminary phytochemical examination of the crude extracts of Asparagus racemosus root disclosed the existence of different sort of chemical groups such as flavonoids, tannin, saponin, alkaloids, carbohydrate. The root displayed significant DPPH free radical scavenging activity with highest IC50 value showed by ethanol extract with a value of 78.15 µg/ml followed by methanol and petroleum ether having value of 106.44 µg/ml and 273.31 µg/ml respectively as opposed to that of the scavenging effects of ascorbic acid and BHT of 5.698 µg/ml and 8.816 µg/ml respectively. The highest reducing power was showed by ethanol extract followed by methanol and petroleum ether as opposed to that of the reducing potential of ascorbic acid and BHT. The fractions represented good cupric reducing capacity with increasing concentration taking ethanol extract in the top position. The ethanol extract yielded 108.78±2.77 mg/gm gallic acid equivalent phenolic content and methanol sub-fraction yielded 164.77±1.73 mg/gm quercetin equivalent flavonoid content that was highest among five extracts. Ethanol extract of Asparagus racemosus was found to possess the highest total antioxidant capacity (639.925±64.78) mg/gm followed by methanol (616.92±53.88) mg/gm and petroleum ether (469.17±52.95) mg/gm ascorbic acid equivalent respectively. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay, LC50 values for ethanol, methanol, petroleum ether, n-hexane and chloroform were found to be 0.674 µg/ml, 0.719 µg/ml, 0.984 µg/ml, 2.157µg/ml and 1.514 µg/ml respectively. N-hexane and chloroform extract showed least activity in all the measures. The results suggest that Asparagus racemosus is a valuable source  of antioxidant and has significant cytotoxic activity hence could eliminate many diseases related to free radical.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/icpj.v1i9.11615 International Current Pharmaceutical Journal 2012, 1(9): 250-257

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