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The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has been an immense threat to global public health and has also had a negative socioeconomic impact worldwide. However, although the pandemic is now under control, it has demonstrated that society is unprepared to use analysis methods that are applicable to various types of viruses nor apply new therapies to prevent infections, considering the extensive time needed for vaccine development. The use of nanomaterial-based diagnostics and therapeutics can provide essential strategies for both virus detection and treatment. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are the nanomaterials most commonly used to enhance virus detection because of their bioconjugation, high plasmon resonance, and excellent electrical, optical, and catalytic properties. The present review outlines the recent advances reported in the literature regarding using AuNPs for their antiviral activities with respiratory viruses, analysis techniques such as AuNP-assisted polymerase chain reaction, biosensors (electrochemical, piezoelectric, and optical), lateral flow analysis, nucleic acid assays, and gene and vaccine therapy. Finally, as a potential antiviral treatment, this review provides in vitro and in vivo toxicity results of AuNPs for respiratory viruses, as well as those related to their toxicity in humans, to evaluate their use as a future antiviral treatment.

Background: Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics is an innovative approach to healthcare analysis that brings the diagnostic process closer to the patient's immediate care setting. This study was conducted to assess POC testing devices' use in diagnosing cancer and detecting the main challenges facing laboratory specialists. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted on conveniently selected laboratory specialists working in the Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Riyadh for six weeks. Result: A total of 187 study participants (51% males and 49% females) were enrolled. Around one-half of them (96, 51%) were less than 30 years old, and 85% had 1–5 years of experience, with 61% (124) having no previous cancer diagnosis devices training. Most of this study's cohort was using ABL 90 Radio meter/blood gases (45, 24%), followed by ABL 800 Radio meter/blood gases (39, 20.9%), as the main cancer diagnostic devices. Several challenges were faced by this study's participants during their work with cancer diagnosis devices. The participants shared that some time was needed to use most of the devices, and learning how to use them was a significantly steep learning curve (2.99 ± 0.07 of participants). Most participants (113, 60.4%) carried out all the control testing, and their results were compared completely (100%) with the central laboratory. They took special precautions to keep the instruments safe (162, 86.6%). Conclusion: The correlation between type of devices used and the challenges faced during the use of POCT cancer diagnosis devices showed that there is a significant correlation between all challenges facing the participants and the type of devices (p = 0.001), except for the need for time to use these devices (p = 0.53). There are many challenges facing workers who operate point-of-care cancer diagnosis devices to a high degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabinoid and stilbenoid compounds derived from Cannabis sativa were screened against eight specific fungal protein targets to identify potential antifungal agents. The proteins investigated included Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI), Enolase, Mannitol-2-dehydrogenase, GMP synthase, Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), Heat shock protein 90 homolog (Hsp90), Chitin Synthase 2 (CaChs2), and Mannitol-1-phosphate 5-dehydrogenase (M1P5DH), all of which play crucial roles in fungal survival and pathogenicity. This research evaluates the binding affinities and interaction profiles of selected cannabinoids and stilbenoids with these eight proteins using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. The ligands with the highest binding affinities were identified, and their pharmacokinetic profiles were analyzed using ADMET analysis. The results indicate that GMP synthase exhibited the highest binding affinity with Cannabistilbene I (−9.1 kcal/mol), suggesting hydrophobic solid interactions and multiple hydrogen bonds. Similarly, Chitin Synthase 2 demonstrated significant binding with Cannabistilbene I (−9.1 kcal/mol). In contrast, ligands such as Cannabinolic acid and 8-hydroxycannabinolic acid exhibited moderate binding affinities, underscoring the variability in interaction strengths among different proteins. Despite promising in silico results, experimental validation is necessary to confirm therapeutic potential. This research lays a crucial foundation for future studies, emphasizing the importance of evaluating binding affinities, pharmacokinetic properties, and multi-target interactions to identify promising antifungal agents. The objective of this study is to identify novel antifungal agents by exploring the interactions between cannabinoids and stilbenoids derived from Cannabis sativa and eight fungal protein targets that play critical roles in fungal pathogenicity and survival. These proteins were chosen based on their essential functions of cell wall integrity, metabolic processes, stress response, and other vital cellular activities essential for the proliferation and virulence of fungal pathogens. Targeting multiple pathways aims to evaluate whether these natural compounds can effectively inhibit crucial mechanisms in fungal cells, thereby offering a potential strategy to combat antifungal resistance. Through molecular docking and dynamics simulations, this study seeks to determine these compounds' specific binding affinities, stability, and pharmacokinetic properties, laying the groundwork for future experimental validation and potential therapeutic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections pose significant global health concerns, contributing to chronic liver diseases. Blood transfusion is identified as a potential route for the transmission of these viruses, necessitating effective screening strategies for blood donors. The aim of this study was to assess the significance of nucleic acid testing (NAT) in detecting HBV and HCV infections among blood donors who initially tested negative in serological tests. Additionally, the study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV infections among blood donors in Hail. Methods: A total of 23,954 records were retrieved from voluntary blood donors at Hail Regional Laboratory and Blood Bank from January 2020 to April 2023. Chi-squared tests were used to assess the association between the serological and NAT results, while t-tests were employed to compare the means of continuous variables. Results: Numbers of the reactive ELISA serological methods or screening were 36 (0.15%) for HBs Ag, 931 (3.6%) for HBcAb, 57 (0.23%) for HBsAb, and finally, 57 (0.23%) for HCV Ab. Seroprevalence was low, with a prevalence rate of 0.15% for HBV and 0.23% for HCV. The study compared serological and nucleic acid testing results for hepatitis B and C infections; a small percentage (0.01%) showed reactive NAT results, indicating early acute infections that may have been missed by serological testing alone. Conclusions: The study concludes that incorporating NAT into blood screening protocols is crucial for enhancing early infection detection and reducing risk of transfusion-transmitted infections. Low seroprevalence rate suggests effectiveness of existing preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lotus seeds, also known as Nelumbinis semen, has been utilized for over 7,000 years as vegetable, functional food and medicine. In this study, we primarily investigated the anticancer effects of lotus seed extracts, particularly of the methanolic extract (MELS) on cell proliferation inhibition, apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest in ovarian cancer cell lines. Further, we studied the phytochemical composition of the MELS by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Additionally, molecular docking was performed in order to substantiate the in vitro anticancer effect by in silico inhibitory study of human survivin protein. Our in vitro study demonstrated significant inhibition of SKOV3 (IC50: 79.73 ± 0.91), A2780 (IC50: 100.18 ± 2.42), SKOV3-CisR (IC50: 115.87 ± 2.2) and A2780-CisR (IC50: 138.86 ± 2.46) cells by MELS, compared to acetone, petroleum ether, n-hexane extracts, and the standard drug, cisplatin. Furthermore, MELS resulted in a substantial increase in apoptosis cell count to 78% in A2780-CisR cells and 82% in SKOV3-CisR cells, whereas a significant reduction in the G1 and G2/M phases of cells treated with MELS when compared to the control group. To identify the potential phytocompounds present in the MELS, we conducted GC-MS analysis, which led to the identification of 14 compounds. Molecular docking analysis revealed that oleic acid, stigmast-5-en-3-ol, phytol and glyceryl linolenate exhibited remarkable binding affinities of −6.1, −5.9, −5.8 and −5.6 kcal/mol, respectively against survivin. Our findings suggest that certain phytochemicals presented above found in MELS may have therapeutic potential for management of ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]