MyMedR

Fulltext Mechanisms of action and efficacy of statins against influenza

Mehrbod P, Omar AR, Hair-Bejo M, Haghani A, Ideris A

Biomed Res Int, 2014;2014:872370.

PMID: 25478576 DOI: 10.1155/2014/872370

The influenza virus (IV) is known to be a resistant virus with frequent mutations, causing severe respiratory diseases in the upper respiratory system. Public health concerns about clinical efficacy of all conventional drugs are ambiguous; therefore, finding additional therapeutic agents is critical to prevent and control influenza outbreaks. Influenza is associated with the induction of proinflammatory cytokines. Scientists have reported that anti-inflammatory drugs, with pleiotropic effects, reduce the burden of severe influenza diseases. Therefore, statins, which are cardioprotective drugs with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, may help patients suffering from influenza virus (IV). This review delineates the potential use of statins as an alternative therapy in treating influenza related illness.

Tick-borne viruses: a review from the perspective of therapeutic approaches

Lani R, Moghaddam E, Haghani A, Chang LY, AbuBakar S, Zandi K

Ticks Tick Borne Dis, 2014 Sep;5(5):457-65.

PMID: 24907187 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2014.04.001

Several important human diseases worldwide are caused by tick-borne viruses. These diseases have become important public health concerns in recent years. The tick-borne viruses that cause diseases in humans mainly belong to 3 families: Bunyaviridae, Flaviviridae, and Reoviridae. In this review, we focus on therapeutic approaches for several of the more important tick-borne viruses from these 3 families. These viruses are Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHF) and the newly discovered tick-borne phleboviruses, known as thrombocytopenia syndromevirus (SFTSV), Heartland virus and Bhanja virus from the family Bunyaviridae, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Powassan virus (POWV), Louping-ill virus (LIV), Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus (OHFV), Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV), and Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV) from the Flaviviridae family. To date, there is no effective antiviral drug available against most of these tick-borne viruses. Although there is common usage of antiviral drugs such as ribavirin for CCHF treatment in some countries, there are concerns that ribavirin may not be as effective as once thought against CCHF. Herein, we discuss also the availability of vaccines for the control of these viral infections. The lack of treatment and prevention approaches for these viruses is highlighted, and we hope that this review may increase public health awareness with regard to the threat posed by this group of viruses.

Apoptosis transcriptional mechanism of feline infectious peritonitis virus infected cells

Shuid AN, Safi N, Haghani A, Mehrbod P, Haron MS, Tan SW, et al.

Apoptosis, 2015 Nov;20(11):1457-70.

PMID: 26386572 DOI: 10.1007/s10495-015-1172-7

Apoptosis has been postulated to play an important role during feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) infection; however, its mechanism is not well characterized. This study is focused on apoptosis and transcriptional profiling of FIPV-infected cells following in vitro infection of CRFK cells with FIPV 79-1146 WSU. Flow cytometry was used to determine mode of cell death in first 42 h post infection (hpi). FIPV infected cells underwent early apoptosis at 9 hpi (p

In vitro and in vivo mechanism of immunomodulatory and antiviral activity of Edible Bird's Nest (EBN) against influenza A virus (IAV) infection

Haghani A, Mehrbod P, Safi N, Aminuddin NA, Bahadoran A, Omar AR, et al.

J Ethnopharmacol, 2016 Jun 5;185:327-40.

PMID: 26976767 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2016.03.020

For centuries, Edible Bird Nest (EBN) has been used in treatment of variety of respiratory diseases such as flu and cough as a Chinese natural medicine.

Fulltext Expression profiles of immune mediators in feline Coronavirus-infected cells and clinical samples of feline Coronavirus-positive cats

Safi N, Haghani A, Ng SW, Selvarajah GT, Mustaffa-Kamal F, Omar AR

BMC Vet Res, 2017 Apr 07;13(1):92.

PMID: 28388950 DOI: 10.1186/s12917-017-1019-2

BACKGROUND: There are two biotypes of feline coronavirus (FCoV): the self-limiting feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) and the feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), which causes feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a fatal disease associated with cats living in multi-cat environments. This study provides an insight on the various immune mediators detected in FCoV-positive cats which may be responsible for the development of FIP.

RESULTS: In this study, using real-time PCR and multiplex bead-based immunoassay, the expression profiles of several immune mediators were examined in Crandell-Reese feline kidney (CRFK) cells infected with the feline coronavirus (FCoV) strain FIPV 79-1146 and in samples obtained from FCoV-positive cats. CRFK cells infected with FIPV 79-1146 showed an increase in the expression of interferon-related genes and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as MX1, viperin, CXCL10, CCL8, RANTES, KC, MCP1, and IL8. In addition, an increase in the expression of the above cytokines as well as GM-CSF and IFNγ was also detected in the PBMC, serum, and peritoneal effusions of FCoV-positive cats. Although the expression of MX1 and viperin genes was variable between cats, the expression of these two genes was relatively higher in cats having peritoneal effusion compared to cats without clinically obvious effusion. Higher viral load was also detected in the supernatant of peritoneal effusions compared to in the plasma of FCoV-positive cats. As expected, the secretion of IL1β, IL6 and TNFα was readily detected in the supernatant of peritoneal effusions of the FCoV-positive cats.

CONCLUSIONS: This study has identified various pro-inflammatory cytokines and interferon-related genes such as MX1, viperin, CXCL10, CCL8, RANTES, KC, MCP1, IL8, GM-CSF and IFNγ in FCoV-positive cats. With the exception of MX1 and viperin, no distinct pattern of immune mediators was observed that distinguished between FCoV-positive cats with and without peritoneal effusion. Further studies based on definitive diagnosis of FIP need to be performed to confirm the clinical importance of this study.

Fulltext Edible bird's nest modulate intracellular molecular pathways of influenza A virus infected cells

Haghani A, Mehrbod P, Safi N, Kadir FA, Omar AR, Ideris A

BMC Complement Altern Med, 2017 Jan 05;17(1):22.

PMID: 28056926 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-016-1498-x

Edible Bird's Nest (EBN) as a popular traditional Chinese medicine is believed to have health enhancing and antiviral activities against influenza A virus (IAV); however, the molecular mechanism behind therapeutic effects of EBN is not well characterized.

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