The idiopathic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has reached global proportions; the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as a public health emergency during the month of January 30, 2020. The major causes of the rise of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 are genetic mutations and recombination. Some of the variants with high infection and transmission rates are termed as variants of concern (VOCs) like currently Omicron variants. Pregnant women, aged people, and immunosuppressed and compromised patients constitute the most susceptible human population to the SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially to the new evolving VOCs. To effectively manage the pathological condition of infection, the focus should be directed towards prevention and prophylactic approach. In this narrative review, we aimed to analyze the current scenario of COVID-19 management and discuss the treatment and prevention strategies. We also focused on the complications prevalent during the COVID-19 and post-COVID period and to discuss the novel approaches developed for mitigation of the global pandemic. We have also emphasized on the COVID-19 management approaches for the special population including children, pregnant women, aged groups, and immunocompromised patients. We conclude that the advancements in therapeutic and pharmacological domains have provided opportunities to develop and design novel diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies. New advanced techniques such as RT-LAMP, RT-qPCR, High-Resolution Computed Tomography, etc., efficiently diagnose patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the case of treatment options, new drugs like paxlovid, combinations of β-lactum drugs and molnupiravir are found to be effective against even the new emerging variants. In addition, vaccination is an essential approach to prevent the infection or to reduce its severity. Vaccines for against COVID-19 from Comirnaty by Pfizer-BioNTech, SpikeVax by Moderna, and Vaxzevria by Oxford-AstraZeneca are approved and used widely. Similarly, numerous vaccines have been developed with different percentages of effectiveness against VOCs. New developments like nanotechnology and AI can be beneficial in providing an efficient and reliable solution for the suppression of SARS-CoV-2. Public health concerns can be efficiently treated by a unified scientific approach, public engagement, and better diagnosis.
Pectinases are enzymes which are widely distributed in microbes that are present in pectin enriched sites. The agro-industrial residues can be utilized in the industrial scale for low-cost and efficient pectinase production in an eco-friendly approach. This study employs low-cost substrates (i.e. culinary fruit peels) for maximum pectinase production from novel Streptomyces fumigatiscleroticus VIT-SP4. The extraction and characterization of pectin from different fruit peels were investigated and pectinase activity was analyzed. The orange pectin gave maximum pectinase activity of about 45.93 (U/mL). Further, statistical optimization of process parameters was studied by using Taguchi method showed optimum values of pH-6, temperature −35 °C, orange pectin% − 2.5, incubation time- 48 h and RPM- 200 rpm and pectinase activity was found to be 98.65 (U/mL). The response surface methodology (RSM) was used for the optimization of media components which revealed that starch −1.17%, yeast extract-2%, and orange pectin% − 0.75% produces maximum pectinase of about 170.05 (U/mL). The drug-delivery study showed drug release was not observed at initial pH 3 after 4 h. The immediate drug release was noted at pH 6 caused due to disintegration of pectin by the pectinase activity. The self-healing of cracks by spray culture technique was investigated. The crack healing was observed up to 0.50 mm wide after 12 days. This confirms the ability of actinomycete spores to survive and they react to form calcite complex directly helps in crack healing process. This low-cost microbial pectinase can be used in drug delivery and concrete crack-healing applications sectors in future.
Seventy edible wild forest green leafy vegetables (GLV) collected and consumed by tribals of Andhra Pradesh, India were analyzed for total carotenoids (TC) and beta carotene (BC) contents using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The vitamin A activity expressed as retinol equivalents (RE) was calculated based on in vivo conversion factor given by WHO. The results of the study indicated that thirty-six GLV were found to have high vitamin A activity (0.87 to 2.34 RE) with TC and BC contents ranging from 12.22 to 36.13 and 5.21 to 14.05 mg %, respectively; thirty GLV had moderate vitamin A activity (0.36-0.8 RE) with TC and BC contents ranging from 10.60 to 31.33 and 2.19 to 4.78 mg %. Four GLV contained low vitamin A activity (0.07-0.32 RE); TC and BC contents ranging from 5.12 to 13.13 and 0.40 to 1.94, respectively. The percent beta carotene in total carotenoids among the three groups of the GLV varied from 19.41 to 73.02, 11.11 to 46.21 and 5.98 to 37.11, respectively.
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