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The severity of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been associated with hyperinflammation induced by excessive release of a range of cytokines and chemokines. Among a plethora of cytokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a pivotal role in the immunopathology of SARS-CoV-2 infection as IL-6 has been proposed to initiate hypersecretion of cytokines by activating the Janus kinases-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway. Hence, targeting IL-6 and its receptor can be an appropriate therapeutic strategy to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, tocilizumab (TCZ) is a well-known monoclonal antibody for its anti-inflammatory activities. TCZ has been designed to bind two different IL-6 receptors, viz., membrane-bound and soluble receptors. As an antagonist of IL-6 receptors, TCZ inhibits the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, which is essential for the transcriptional activation of cytokines-producing genes.Hence, the inhibition of IL-6 receptors can substantially reduce hyperinflammation, a key characteristic of severely infected patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. TCZ has much promise in terms of treating SARS-CoV-2-related hyperinflammation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and multiple organ damage. Hence, TCZ has been proposed as a potential therapeutic drug for treating COVID-19 disease. However, several discrepancies still exist, such as a well-defined molecular mechanism, efficacy, and safety parameters. In this context, various databases, including Medline, ResearchGate, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar, were explored employing keywords such as “Cytokine storm”, “COVID-19”, “hyper inflammation”, “IL-6”, “TCZ”, and “SARS-COV-2” up to May 2021. The authors independently collected and evaluated research papers for inclusion in the current review, relying on their relatedness to the main theme of the literature review. So, this narrative review aims to provide updated information about the molecular mechanism, efficacy, and safety of TCZ in the treatment of COVID-19. However,several contradictions and challenges associated with TCZ use in the treatment of severely infected patients with COVID-19 have also been discussed. © 2021 Manish Dhawan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of the potentially fatal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has currently affected over 87 million people with worldwide deaths nearing 1 9 million Amidst the developing vaccines and effective therapies, there is a need to develop alternative and supportive strategies for ameliorating the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infections in humans and treat COVID-19 patients Several medicinal plants and herbs contain useful phytochemicals, which are being explored to develop medicines and drugs to counter the COVID-19 pandemic Withania somnifera is a medicinal herb of growing importance that is extensively utilized in Ayurveda The medicinal attributes of W somnifera are owing to a broad range of bioactive secondary metabolites including steroidal lactones [withanone, withanolide D, withanolide A, and withaferin A (WFA)] Among these, WFA is one of the most interesting naturally occurring bioactive compounds that possess potent anti-tumorigenic, antiinflammatory, pro-apoptotic, anti-angiogenic, and anti-invasive activities It might bind to SARS-CoV-2 S protein and alter the S protein, thereby hindering its access into the host cells Withanone and Withanoside V can impede the functional activities of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) Withanolides have been found to control cytokine secretions during infection and could alleviate the cytokine storm in the lungs The combined use of withanolides are several other drugs or therapeutic modalities, such as hydroxychloroquine and dexamethasone, has been demonstrated as an efficient strategy to improve the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy or design a robust therapeutic regime for COVID-19 treatment Nevertheless, exhaustive research efforts are required to explore the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory potentialities of withanolides for alleviating the severity of the disease during SARS-CoV-2 infections This review highlights the medicinal and therapeutic potential of withanolides against COVID-19 © 2021 Manish Dhawan et al This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4 0 International License (https://creativecommons org/licenses/by/4 0/)

The present study was aimed at isolation and characterization of urease producing bacterial strains for improving the strength of cement concrete. A total of 1500 colonies were isolated from different samples like cowshed, poultry farm, milk, soil and pigeon dung. These isolated cultures were purified on phenol red agar plates. Out of total, 17 bacterial cultures showed pink coloured colonies indicating the presence of urease enzyme. These isolates were characterised on the basis of Gram's staining, size, shape, colour (also known as pigmentation), texture and elevation, ability to form endospores, catalase test, hydrogen sulphide production and acid production and carbohydrate utilization test.