The Institute for Drug Research has patented pyrrolidine antiviral compounds acting as 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro; Mpro; nsp5) (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 virus) inhibitors.
Having caused over 6.2 million deaths globally ongoing, the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 continues to pose a serious public health challenge. While the SARS-CoV-2 receptors angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane protease serine 2 play requisite roles in permitting the initial infection, up to 10 proviral host factors have also been determined to play crucial roles in controlling the viral replication, but most are not pharmacologically targetable.
Acinetobacter baumannii is commonly isolated from organ fluids of infected patients. Given that A. baumannii is inherently resistant to multiple antibiotics, new categorical antibiotics are needed that target a narrow, not broad, spectrum of bacteria.
A new study has shown that a uterine bacterium is one cause of endometriosis and that preventing the infection could prevent development of the pathology, in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in the abdominal cavity.
Two new polio vaccine candidates designed to prevent the emergence of vaccine-derived virulent polioviruses have been shown to induce immune responses in mice, raising the possibility of eradicating the virus. For that to happen, the transmission of all poliovirus serotypes must be blocked. However, the vaccine used to control polio prevents disease but does not stop transmission, enabling the virus to mutate and regain virulence.
La Crosse virus (LACV) is one of the most common causes of arboviral encephalitis in children, which causes CNS damage owing to infection in children, but not adults. LACV pathology indicates significant breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, which is strengthened during developmental transition from child to adult.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the 13th leading cause of death in the world, and it is rising together with the increased prevalence of drug-resistant TB in many countries. The Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is the only available TB vaccine, and it has been given to more people than any other vaccine. While the BCG vaccine has saved tens of millions of lives, it confers suboptimal protection against pulmonary TB as it is limited to providing protection only until early childhood. Significantly, the BCG vaccine is administered intradermally to confer exceptional mucosal immunity as compared to most other vaccines, which are more commonly administered intramuscularly. Novel strategies to improve the duration of TB mucosal immunity are urgently needed.
Bronchiectasis is an irreversible chronic respiratory condition arising from secondary infections that presents as chronic cough with daily purulent sputum due to a permanent abnormal widening of bronchi.
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