Annual SZ: An Alternative Immunotherapy for COVID-19 and Long COVID.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in late 2019 and early 2020, the identification of drugs to control severe acute respiratory syndrome coro-navirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and its symptoms has been a pressing focus of research. Cytokine storm and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are the leading causes of mortality following infection. In this review, we discuss immune pathogenesis and four medications, including Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Dexamethasone, and Annual SZ for COVID-19.

The effects of Annual SZ drug on dynamic changes in lymphocytes and cytokines of COVID-19 patients: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: The search for a potent anti-coronavirus therapy has remained an overwhelming task since the outbreak of COVID-19. Annual SZ is a novel formulation of artemisinin and its derivatives. We aim to investigate the effect of Annual SZ on clinical outcomes, cellular immune responses, and cytokine changes in COVID-19 patients.

The Cooperation of IL-29 and PLGA Nanoparticles Improves the Protective Immunity of the gD-1 DNA Vaccine Against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in Mice.

In clinical practice, the low immunogenicity and low stability of the DNA plasmid vaccine candidates are two significant shortcomings in their application against infectious diseases. To overcome these two disadvantages, the plasmid expressing IL-29 (pIL-29) as a genetic adjuvant and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) as a non-viral delivery system were used, respectively. In this study, the pIL-29 encapsulated in PLGA nanoparticles (nanoIL-29) and the pgD1 encapsulated in PLGA nanoparticles (nanoVac) were simultaneously applied to boost immunologic responses against HSV-1.

The anti-tumor effects of CT-26 derived exosomes enriched by MicroRNA-34a on murine model of colorectal cancer.

Aims: As conventional therapeutics failed to provide satisfied outcomes against one of the most prevalent cancers, colorectal cancer (CRC), we purposed to implicate MicroRNA (miR)-34a, as a major tumor suppressor, to be delivered by tumor-derived exosomes (TEXs) and investigated its anti-tumor functions in-vivo.

Main Methods: TEXs were isolated from CT-26 cell line and loaded with miR-34a mimic. Then, mice bearing CRC were treated with miR-34a-enriched TEX (TEX-miR-34a) and then examined for the relative tumor-suppressive impacts of the TEX as well as its potential in promoting an anti-tumor immune response.

Tumor-derived exosomes encapsulating miR-34a promote apoptosis and inhibit migration and tumor progression of colorectal cancer cells under in vitro condition.

Background: MicroRNA (miR)-34a, as a master tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer (CRC), could regulate multiple genes participating in tumor proliferation, invasion, immune evasion, and inflammation-induced progression. Exosomes, as novel nano-carriers, were found to be capable of shuttling crucial mediators to various cells. Since the conventional CRC therapeutics currently are a matter of debate, implication of microRNAs in malignancy remedies have been addressed illustrating promising outlooks.

Culture density of menstrual blood-derived stromal/stem cells determines the quality of T cell responses: An experimental study.

Background: Menstrual blood-derived stromal/stem cells (MenSCs) are a new population of refreshing and highly proliferative stem cells. Immunomodulatory effects of MenSCs profoundly depend on their relative density.

Objective: To find whether MenSCs cultured at varying numbers would differentially affect the allogenic peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) key features.

Folate receptor alpha targeted delivery of artemether to breast cancer cells with folate-decorated human serum albumin nanoparticles.

The pharmaceutical application of artemether (ARM) as an anticancer natural agent is hampered due to its poor solubility and bioavailability. In the present study, ARM was encapsulated in human serum albumin nanoparticles (HSA NPs) via desolvation method led to improvement of the water solubility by 50 folds. In further, folate-decorated ARM-HSA NPs (F-ARM-HSA NPs) were developed to enhance targeted delivery to folate receptor alpha (FRα)-overexpressing breast cancer cells.

A comprehensive review on the treatment approaches of multiple sclerosis: currently and in the future.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS), mainly characterized by inflammatory demyelination, which manifests as relapses and diffuse damage and brain volume loss, both accounting for neurodegeneration, and therefore, physical disability. MS typically affects young adults and is commonly diagnosed in the early years by acute relapses, which then followed through partial or complete remission period. The clinical course of MS is characterized as four major classifications, including relapsing-remitting (RRMS), primary progressive (PPMS), progressive relapsing (PRMS), and secondary progressive (SPMS).

Intravenous Injection of Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein-coated PLGA Microparticles Have Tolerogenic Effects in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.

The abnormal function of the T lymphocytes causes a range of autoimmune diseases, particularly multiple sclerosis; hence, several methods have been used to treat these disorders through the induction of antigen-specific tolerance in T cells. The present study aims to use a simple and low-cost method to produce poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles for carrying antigens and inducing antigen-specific tolerance. In this study, PLGA nanoparticles were produced using the water/oil/water (W/O/W) method.

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, a potent adjuvant for polarization to Th-17 pattern: an experience on HIV-1 vaccine model.

Cytokines are mediators for polarization of immune response in vaccines. Studies show that co-immunization of DNA vaccines with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) can increase immune responses. Here, experimental mice were immunized with HIV-1 DNA vaccine with GM-CSF and boosted with recombinant vaccine.

Co-utilization of a TLR5 agonist and nano-formulation of HIV-1 vaccine candidate leads to increased vaccine immunogenicity and decreased immunogenic dose: A preliminary study.

Vaccines currently available for AIDS show poor efficiency, demonstrating the need for new strategies to increase their immunogenicity. In this study, the HIV-1P24-Nef peptide was used as a model vaccine, followed by utilization of a novel strategy to increase its immunogenicity. There is a growing interest in using TLR agonists for vaccine formulations.

An HIV-1 Mini Vaccine Induced Long-lived Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses.

Memory formation is the most important aspect of a vaccine which can guarantee long-lasting immunity and protection. The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the memory immune responses after immunization with a mini vaccine. Mice were immunized with human immunodeficiency virus-1 P24-Nef fusion peptide and then cellular and humoral immune responses were evaluated.

In vivo immunomodulatory effects of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells conditioned medium in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are well known to possess neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects, due to cell-to-cell interaction and their soluble factors. We conducted a comparative analysis of the immunomodulatory properties of adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) and their conditioned media (CM), derived from C57/BL6 mice, for mitigating the adverse clinical course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We measure IL4, IL17 and IFNɣ production of supernatant from spleen cells.

In Vitro Generation of IL-35-expressing Human Wharton's Jelly-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Using Lentiviral Vector.

Human Wharton's Jelly-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hWJ-MSCs) are easily available cells without transplant rejection problems or ethical concerns compared to bone-marrow-derived MSCs for prospective clinical applications. These cells display immunosuppressive properties and may be able to play an important role in autoimmune disorders. Regulatory T-cells (Treg) are important to prevent autoimmune disease development.

Optimization of multi-epitopic HIV-1 recombinant protein expression in prokaryote system and conjugation to mouse DEC-205 monoclonal antibody: implication for in-vivo targeted delivery of dendritic cells.

Objectives: Multi-epitopic protein vaccines and direction of vaccine delivery to dendritic cells (DCs) are promising approaches for enhancing immune responses against mutable pathogens. Escherichia coli is current host for expression of recombinant proteins, and it is important to optimize expression condition. The aim of this study was the optimization of multi-epitopic HIV-1 tat/pol/gag/env recombinant protein (HIVtop4) expression by E.

The Effect of IL-22 and IL-28 in Induction of Type 1 Regulatory T (Tr1) Cells.

Cytokines have been introduced as critical inducers in the development of Th subpopulations.Cytokines like IL-10 are involved in inducing regulatory T cells such as Type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells cells. IL-22 is a member of IL-10 family of cytokines, and IL-28A is a member of IFN-γ family.

Investigation of immunomodulatory properties of human Wharton's Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells after lentiviral transduction.

Human Wharton's Jelly-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hWJ-MSCs) are considered as an alternative for bone-marrow-derived MSCs. These cells have immunosuppressive properties. It was unclear whether the WJ-MSCs would sustain their immunomodulatory characteristics after lentiviral transduction or not.

Detection of interleukin-19 mRNA in C57BL/6 mice astroglial cells and brain cortex.

Introduction: Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cell type. In addition to their neurological roles, astrocytes also have immune functions. They have been involved in antigen presentation in the central nervous system (CNS).

Modulation of hepatitis C virus core DNA vaccine immune responses by co-immunization with CC-chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) gene as immunoadjuvant.

Plasmid DNA vaccination is a promising vaccine platform for prevention and treatment of infectious disease. Enhancement of the DNA vaccine potency by co-inoculation of immunoadjuvant has been shown to be an effective strategy. Modulation of dendritic cells and T-cells locomotion and trafficking to prime an immune response is mediated by distinct chemokines.

Menstrual blood-derived stromal stem cells from women with and without endometriosis reveal different phenotypic and functional characteristics.

Retrograde flow of menstrual blood cells during menstruation is considered as the dominant theory for the development of endometriosis. Moreover, current evidence suggests that endometrial-derived stem cells are key players in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In particular, endometrial stromal stem cells have been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.

Enhancement of Immune Responses by Co-delivery of CCL19/MIP-3beta Chemokine Plasmid With HCV Core DNA/Protein Immunization.

Background: Using molecular adjuvants offers an attractive strategy to augment DNA vaccine-mediated immune responses. Several studies have revealed that an efficient HCV vaccine model should be able to induce both humoral and cell mediated immune responses targeting the conserved regions of the virus to circumvent the immune escape mutants. The beta chemokine Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 3-beta (MIP-3beta) is a key modulator of dendritic cells (DCs) and T-cells interaction, functions during immune response induction and is secreted specifically by cells in the lymphoid tissues.

Comparison of in vivo immunomodulatory effects of intravenous and intraperitoneal administration of adipose-tissue mesenchymal stem cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Due to their immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory competence, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been considered as a suitable candidate for treatment of autoimmune diseases. Earlier studies have shown that treatment with bone marrow-derived MSCs may modulate immune responses and reduce disease severity in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis. Here we compare the immune regulatory properties of adipose tissue MSCs (AT-MSCs) in two independent routes of injection; namely intraperitoneal (i.

Detection of IL-20R1 and IL-20R2 mRNA in C57BL/6 mice astroglial cells and brain cortex following LPS stimulation.

Background: Astrocytes, which comprise ~90% of overall brain mass, are involved in brain immunity. These cells represent the non-professional class of CNS-resident APCs and may promote or inhibit CNS inflammation depending on the cytokines they secrete. IL-10 family of cytokines and their receptors, IL-20R1 and IL-20R2, may have a role in shifting astrocytes to a neuroprotective or neurodegenerative function.

Long term impact of sulfur mustard exposure on peripheral blood mononuclear subpopulations--Sardasht-Iran Cohort Study (SICS).

The most important long-term morbidity problem of sulfur mustard (SM) toxicity is pulmonary complications but the pathogenesis of these complications is not clearly understood. This study evaluates the peripheral blood mononuclear sub-sets and their correlation with pulmonary function in SM exposed civilian cases 20 years post-exposure as gathered in the context of the Sardasht-Iran Cohort Study (SICS). Samples were randomly selected from two groups, SM-exposed (n=372) and control (n=128), with the same ethnicity, culture, and demography.

Salivary levels of secretary IgA, C5a and alpha 1-antitrypsin in sulfur mustard exposed patients 20 years after the exposure, Sardasht-Iran Cohort Study (SICS).

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a strong toxic agent that causes acute and chronic health effects on a myriad of organs following exposure. Although the primary targets of inhaled mustard gas are the epithelia of the upper respiratory tract, the lower respiratory tract is the focus of the current study, and upper tract complications remain obscure. To our knowledge there is no study addressing the secretory IgA (S-IgA), C5a, alpha 1 antitrypsin (A1AT) in the saliva of SM-exposed victims.