Search

There is controversial literature about the effects of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) cytokine family in COVID-19 pathogenesis and immunity. So we aimed to identify the potential in the role of the IL-2 family in COVID-19. A narrative review search was done through online databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search deadline was up to December 2022. We applied no time limits for the searching strategy. After retrieving articles from the databases, the authors summarized the data into two data extraction tables. The first data extraction table described the changes in the IL-2 cytokine family in COVID-19 and the second table described the therapeutic interventions targeting IL-2 family cytokines. The results of the literature on the role of the IL-2 cytokine family do not show a singular rule. IL-2 cytokine family can change during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Some studies suggest that IL-2 cytokine family rise during the infection and cause severe inflammatory response and cytokine storm. These cytokines are shown to be increased in immunocompromised patients and worsen their prognosis. In individuals without underlying disease, the upregulation of the IL-2 family shows the clinical outcome of the disease and rises with disease severity. However, some other studies show that these cytokines do not significantly change. IL-2 cytokine family is mostly upregulated in healthy individuals who had vaccination, but immunocompromised patients did not show significant changes after a single dose of vaccines, which shows that these patients need booster doses for efficient immunity. IL-2 cytokine family can also be used as immunotherapy agents in COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every type of cancer tissue is theoretically more vulnerable to viral infection. This natural proclivity has been harnessed as a new anti-cancer therapy by employing oncolytic viruses (OVs) to selectively infect and destroy cancer cells while providing little or no harm with no toxicity to the host. Whereas the primary oncolytic capabilities of OVs initially sparked the greatest concern, the predominant focus of research is on the association between OVs and the host immune system. Numerous OVs are potent causal agents of class I MHC pathway-related chemicals, enabling early tumor/viral immune recognition and cytokine-mediated response. The modified OVs have been studied for their ability to bind to dendritic cells (DCs) by expressing growth factors, chemokines, cytokines, and defensins inside the viral genome. OVs, like reovirus, can directly infect DCs, causing them to release chemokines and cytokines that attract and excite natural killer (NK) cells. In addition, OVs can directly alter cancer cells' sensitivity to NK by altering the expression levels of NK cell activators and inhibitors on cancerous cells. Therefore, NK cells and DCs in modulating the therapeutic response should be considered when developing and improving future OV-based therapeutics, whether modified to express transgenes or used in combination with other drugs/ immunotherapies. Concerning the close relationship between NK cells and DCs in the potential of OVs to kill tumor cells, we explore how DCs and NK cells in tumor microenvironment affect oncolytic virotherapy and summarize additional information about the interaction mentioned above in detail in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this paper, the application of sodium dodecylsulfate-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles as an adsorbent was evaluated for the extraction and preconcentration of trace amounts of terbinafine hydrochloride in biological fluids before its determination by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Effects of various parameters on the extraction efficiency such as pH of solution, amount of sodium dodecylsulfate surfactant, extraction time, and desorption conditions were studied and optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range of 2.5 to 500 µg L−1 with the correlation coefficient of 0.9998. Moreover, the calibration graphs were linear in the range of 5 to 500 µg L−1 (seven standards) for both urine and plasma samples and the limits of detection were found to be 0.3, 0.7, and 1.5 µg L−1in aqueous, urine, and plasma samples, respectively. Also, the percent of relative standard deviation (RSD%) based on three replicate determinations was in the range of 0.9% to 6.8%. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied for the extraction of terbinafine from real samples, and satisfactory results were obtained. © 2014 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The respiratory illness known as COVID-19 is caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. While the precise pathogenic mechanism of COVID-19 remains unclear, the occurrence of a cytokine storm subsequent to viral infection plays a pivotal role in the initiation and advancement of the disease. The infection of SARS-CoV-2 induces a state of immune system hyperactivity, leading to an excessive production of inflammatory cytokines. Consequently, the identification of the various signaling pathways implicated in the inflammation induced by COVID-19 will enable researchers to investigate new targets for therapeutic intervention., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Integrons are associated with a variety of gene cassettes, which confer resistance to multiple classes of antibacterial drugs. In this study we tested the frequency of class 1 and 2 integrons among multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) clinical isolates. One hundred clinical isolates of A. baumannii were screened for carriage of class 1 and 2 integrons by PCR method. Results showed that seventy four (92.5%) of 80 MDRAB carried class 1 integron. Integron-positive isolates were statistically more resistant to aminoglycoside, quinolone and beta-lactam compounds except for cefepime. This is the first report of class 1 integrons in MDRAB isolates in northwest Iran.

Metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing Acinetobacter baumannii has become a growing therapeutic concern worldwide. The aims of this study were to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of A. baumannii isolates and to determine the prevalence of MBL genes among carbapenem non-susceptible isolates. During a period of 16 months (March 2008-June 2009), 100 isolates of A. baumannii were collected from different clinical specimens of inpatients admitted to the largest teaching hospital in the northwest of Iran. All isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Carbapenem non-susceptible isolates were further screened for production of MBL by Etest and were then subjected to PCR for detection of MBL genes of types bla(IMP) and bla(VIM). Among 63 carbapenem (imipenem and meropenem) non-susceptible isolates of A. baumannii, 31 (49%) were found to be MBL producers. Of 31 MBL-producing isolates, 19 (61%) carried the bla(IMP) gene and 9 (29%) carried the bla(VIM) gene. All MBL-producing isolates were multidrug resistant. This is the first report of IMP and VIM types among MBL-producing A. baumannii in Iran.