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Introduction: Hemoglobinopathies are common disorders in Saudi Arabia and have an impact on the general health of the affected individuals. The current study aimed to find out the effects of the presence of α 3.7 kb rightward deletion or sickle-cell trait (SCT) on ventilatory and hemodynamic parameters of maximum exercise testing in young Saudi women. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 75 randomly selected female students from different colleges were tested for VO2max using a COSMED system for maximum exercise testing. Blood parameters and globin genotyping were determined. Results: Hemoglobin genetic studies revealed 28 of the students had 3.7 α-globin deletion only (− 3.7α2/α1α2), five had SCT, and 42 had normal α-globin (α1α2/α1α2 and no HbS) and were considered the control group. Subjects with − 3.7α2/α1α2 showed significantly lower VO2max and higher resting systolic blood pressure, while SCT carriers showed no difference in regard to ventilatory parameters, but had higher post-exercise systolic blood pressure than controls. Conclusion: It is concluded that individuals with 3.7 α-globin deletion might have lower fitness capacity, as demonstrated by lower VO2max, which might explain the general lower VO2max in the young women of this population. Furthermore, increments in resting systolic and posteexercise systolic blood pressure in 3.7 α-globin deletion and SCT, respectively, might indicate a future risk of cardiovascular diseases and require attention and extensive studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The extreme health and economic problems in the world due to the SARS-CoV-2 infection have led to an urgent need to identify potential drug targets for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present state-of-the-art tool-based screening was targeted to identify drug targets among clinically approved drugs by uncovering SARS-CoV-2 helicase inhibitors through molecular docking analysis. Material and methods: Helicase is a vital viral replication enzyme, which unwinds nucleic acids and separates the double-stranded nucleic acids into single-stranded nucleic acids. Hence, the SARS-CoV-2 helicase protein 3D structure was predicted, validated, and used to screen the druggable targets among clinically approved drugs such as protease inhibitor, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, used to treat HIV infection using molecular docking analysis. Results: Interaction with SARS-CoV-2 helicase, approved drugs, vapreotide (affinity:-12.88; S score: -9.84 kcal/mol), and atazanavir (affinity: -11.28; S score: -9.32 kcal/mol), approved drugs for treating AIDS-related diarrhoea and HIV infection, respectively, are observed with significantly low binding affinity and MOE score or binding free energy. The functional binding pockets of the clinically approved drugs on SARS-CoV-2 helicase protein molecule suggest that vapreotide and atazanavir may interrupt the activities of the SARS-CoV-2 helicase. Conclusions: The study suggests that vapreotide may be a choice of drug for wet lab studies to inhibit the infection of SARS-CoV-2 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 (previously 2019-nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, China and other parts of the world affects people and spreads coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) through human-to-human contact, with a mortality rate of > 2%. There are no approved drugs or vaccines yet available against SARS-CoV-2. Material and methods: State-of-the-art tools based on in-silico methods are a cost-effective initial approach for identifying appropriate ligands against SARS-CoV-2. The present study developed the 3D structure of the envelope and nucleocapsid phosphoprotein of SARS-CoV-2, and molecular docking analysis was done against various ligands. Results: The highest log octanol/water partition coefficient, high number of hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, lowest non-bonded interaction energy between the receptor and the ligand, and high binding affinity were considered for the best ligand for the envelope (mycophenolic acid: log P = 3.00; ΔG = -10.2567 kcal/mol; pKi = 7.713 μM) and nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (1-[(2,4-dichlorophenyl)methyl]pyrazole-3,5-dicarboxylic acid: log P = 2.901; ΔG = -12.2112 kcal/mol; pKi = 7.885 µM) of SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions: The study identifies the most potent compounds against the SARS-CoV-2 envelope and nucleocapsid phosphoprotein through state-ofthe- art tools based on an in-silico approach. A combination of these two ligands could be the best option to consider for further detailed studies to develop a drug for treating patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]