Type I and Type II pneumocytes are two forms of epithelial cells found lining the alveoli in the lungs. Type II pneumocytes exclusively secrete ‘pulmonary surfactants’, a lipo-protein complex made up of 90% lipids (mainly phospholipids) and 10% surfactant proteins (SP-A, SP-B, SP-C, and SP-D). Respiratory diseases like influenza, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are reported to preferentially attack type II pneumocytes of the lungs. After viral invasion, consequent viral propagation and destruction of type II pneumocytes causes altered surfactant production, resulting in dyspnea and Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients. Exogenous animal-derived or synthetic pulmonary surfactant therapy has already shown immense success in the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and has the potential to contribute efficiently to repairing damaged alveoli and preventing SARS-CoV-2-associated respiratory failure. Furthermore, the early detection of surfactant collectins (SP-A and SP-D) in the circulatory system can be a significant clinical marker for disease prognosis in the near future.
We aimed to synthesise bio-molecule functionalized silver nanoparticles using leaf extract from mulberry variety S-1635 (Morus alba L.) and to explore its antibacterial effect on multidrug resistant gut bacteria isolated from natural infection observed from silkworm larvae.
Highlights
Pandemics are more than just pathological medical phenomenon
Lockdown is helping countries to flatten the epidemic curve
World Health Organization is stressing upon
#HealthyAtHome
hash tag
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.