Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Beneficial Effects of Thymoquinone against COVID-19
In order to overcome the serious complications associated with COVID-19 and to prevent SARS-CoV-2 entry into the host cell, it is necessary to repurpose drugs with a broad medicinal application as soon as they become available. It is in this pattern that Nigella sativa seeds manifest their extensive therapeutic effects, which have been reported to be particularly effective in the treatment of skin diseases, jaundice, and gastrointestinal problems. One important component of these seeds is thymoquinone (TQ), which has a wide range of beneficial properties, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as antibacterial and parasitic properties, in addition to anticarcinogenic, antiallergic, and antiviral properties.
  • 1.2K
  • 17 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Vaccinology in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era
Different approaches have been used in parallel to make COVID-19 vaccines, including the use of nucleic acid-based vectors, whole virus (live-attenuated and inactivated), viral vectors (replicating and nonreplicating), adjuvant recombinant protein nanoparticles, and virus-like particles (VLPs). Among the protective antigens of SARS-CoV-2, the attention has mainly focused on the native S protein, which is able to induce potent neutralizing antibodies, even if its presentation to the immune system differs substantially between the different categories of vaccines. However, new evidence is being raised about potential roles for other, more conserved non-spike viral antigens, such as nucleocapsid (N) proteins, which might represent an innovation in the fight against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and a source for universal vaccines providing long-lasting immunity.
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Lebanon
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common cause of healthcare-associated infections and chronic airway diseases in non-clinical settings. P. aeruginosa is intrinsically resistant to a variety of antimicrobials and has the ability to acquire resistance to others, causing increasingly recalcitrant infections and elevating public health concerns. It is showed that the bacterium was predominant in lesions of patients on mechanical ventilation and in burn patients and those with diabetic foot infections and hematological malignancies. It is also found that carbapenem resistance in P. aeruginosa isolates in Lebanon involved both enzymatic and non-enzymatic mechanisms but depended predominantly on VIM-2 production (40.7%). Additionally, MDR P. aeruginosa was detected in animals, where a study reported the emergence of carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa in livestock in Lebanon.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Treatment of Bacterial Infections in T2DM Patients
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the metabolic disease with the highest morbidity rates worldwide. The condition is characterized by hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and chronic inflammation, among other detrimental conditions. These decrease the efficiency of the immune system, leading to an increase in the susceptibility to bacterial infections. Maintaining an optimal blood glucose level is crucial in relation to the treatment of T2DM, because if the level of this carbohydrate is lowered, the risk of infections can be reduced.
  • 1.2K
  • 27 Apr 2023
Topic Review
SARS-CoV-2 Clinical Trial Results
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has claimed over 7 million lives worldwide, providing a stark reminder of the importance of pandemic preparedness. Due to the lack of approved antiviral drugs effective against coronaviruses at the start of the pandemic, the world largely relied on repurposed efforts. Here, the researchers summarise results from randomised controlled trials to date, as well as selected in vitro data of directly acting antivirals, host-targeting antivirals, and immunomodulatory drugs. Overall, repurposing efforts evaluating directly acting antivirals targeting other viral families were largely unsuccessful, whereas several immunomodulatory drugs led to clinical improvement in hospitalised patients with severe disease. In addition, accelerated drug discovery efforts during the pandemic progressed to multiple novel directly acting antivirals with clinical efficacy, including small molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies.
  • 1.2K
  • 09 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Omicron vs. Delta Variant
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first emerged in Wuhan city in December 2019, and became a grave global concern due to its highly infectious nature. The Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus-2, with its predecessors (i.e., MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV) belong to the family of Coronaviridae. Reportedly, COVID-19 has infected 344,710,576 people around the globe and killed nearly 5,598,511 persons in the short span of two years. On November 24, 2021, B.1.1.529 strain, later named Omicron, was classified as a Variant of Concern (VOC). SARS-CoV-2 has continuously undergone a series of unprecedented mutations and evolved to exhibit varying characteristics.
  • 1.2K
  • 04 Mar 2022
Topic Review
mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccines Using Lipid Nanoparticles
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have recently emerged as one of the most advanced technologies for the highly efficient in vivo delivery of exogenous mRNA, particularly for COVID-19 vaccine delivery. LNPs comprise four different lipids: ionizable lipids, helper or neutral lipids, cholesterol, and lipids attached to polyethylene glycol (PEG). Since its first isolation in 1961, mRNA (that encodes the protein of interest) research has taken several paths, which made us understand its diversified functions and modification-mediated potential for therapeutic applications. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, nucleic acid therapeutics (NATs), particularly mRNA vaccines, potentials have been enabled for emerging infectious diseases. The translation of host genetic information (DNA) into proteins by ribosomes in the cytoplasm is mediated by mRNA.
  • 1.2K
  • 31 Mar 2023
Topic Review
SARS-CoV-2 Intermittent Virulence
Pandemic viruses do not always show decreased virulence. Instead, it appears there is an evolutionary equilibrium between transmissibility and virulence. It can be termed this concept “intermittent virulence”. There is a high possibility that new virulent variants will arise in the near future, although it is improbable that SARS-CoV-2’s virulence will be the same as was seen during the alpha or delta waves, due to the fact that the human population has reached a sufficient level of herd immunity through natural infection or due to the vaccination programs. The most recent global mortality data raised the question of whether this pandemic is really over. Furthermore, it is uncertain when the endemic phase will begin. Darwin’s words: “the survival of the fittest” are still valid, and the virus will continue killing nonvaccinated old people, vaccinated old people, and those with comorbidities.
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Tuberculosis Treatment and Impact of Drug Delivery Systems
With an incidence of ten million cases and between one and two million deaths each year, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the deadliest infectious agent currently. In this entry, the general physiopathology of tuberculosis is described, as well as the drugs constituting the first- and second-line treatments. The potential of nanosized drug delivery systems for the treatment of tuberculosis is also highlighted.
  • 1.2K
  • 31 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Cardiac Damage in Chagas Disease
Chagas disease is a complex zoonosis. Its natural history involves the interaction of transmitting arthropods with wild, peridomestic, and domestic mammals, and it has a great diversity of transmission forms. In a vertebrate host, the disease has two clinical phases: an acute phase and a chronic one; the former evolves without demonstrated pathology and can last 10–20 years. After this phase, some patients progress to the chronic symptomatic phase, in which they develop mainly cardiac lesions. The lesions in this cardiomyopathy involve several cardiac tissues, mainly the myocardium, and in severe cases, the endocardium pericardium; this can cause pleural effusion, which may evolve into sudden death, which is more frequent in cases with dilated heart disease and severe heart failure.
  • 1.2K
  • 02 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Skin and Soft Tissue Infections
Skin and soft tissue infections are one of the most frequent types of infection, typically requiring medical intervention and contribute to morbidity and mortality in both primary care and hospitalised patients. Current antiseptics used in prevention are mainly formulated as traditional, simple dosage forms such as solutions and semi-solids. In recent years, there have been studies reporting the potential for nanotechnology ito improve the delivery of antiseptics.
  • 1.2K
  • 24 May 2021
Topic Review
Subacute Thyroiditis and the COVID-19
Subacute thyroiditis (SAT), also known as De Quervain or granulomatous thyroiditis, is caused by a viral infection, especially (but not exclusively) of the upper respiratory tract or by post-viral inflammation. Since 2020, the entity has been listed in association with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, and since 2021 it has been related to the vaccine against the virus.
  • 1.2K
  • 02 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Disulfiram
The literature has suggested that disulfiram (DSM) may be a potent drug in the armamentarium of physicians who treat chronic Lyme disease. The use of disulfiram in the treatment of Lyme disease started with a researcher who determined that DSM is bactericidal to spirochete. 
  • 1.2K
  • 08 May 2023
Topic Review
Thymus Gland
The thymus gland is the chief lymphoid organ that regulates the functions of the immune and endocrine systems by controlling the levels of hormones and cytokines. The thymus gland protects against various internal and external stresses through immunoregulatory properties, nerve systems, and endocrine pathways. The thymus gland controls cell proliferation, apoptosis, hormones, and neuropeptides, as well as regulating intrathymic T cell differentiation and production of a repertoire of the T cell.
  • 1.2K
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Pneumococcal Vaccination during COVID-19
The emergence of new viral infections has increased over the decades. The novel virus is one such pathogen liable for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, popularly known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Most fatalities during the past century’s influenza pandemics have cooperated with bacterial co/secondary infections. Unfortunately, many reports have claimed that bacterial co-infection is also predominant in COVID-19 patients (COVID-19 associated co/secondary infection prevalence is up to 45.0%). In the COVID-19 pandemic, Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common coinfecting pathogen. Half of the COVID-19 mortality cases showed co-infection, and pneumonia-related COVID-19 mortality in patients >65 years was 23%. The weakening of immune function caused by COVID-19 remains a high-risk factor for pneumococcal disease. Pneumococcal disease and COVID-19 also have similar risk factors. For example, underlying medical conditions on COVID-19 and pneumococcal diseases increase the risk for severe illness at any age; COVID-19 is now considered a primary risk factor for pneumococcal pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease. Thus, pneumococcal vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic has become more critical than ever. 
  • 1.2K
  • 06 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Major Pharmacological Actions of Quercetin
Quercetin (3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxy-2-phenylchromen-4-one), the major representative of the flavonoid subclass of flavonols, is derived from the Latin word “Quercetum,” meaning “Oak Forest”. It can be found in a variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables, and has been reported to be effective against a variety of viruses. 
  • 1.2K
  • 02 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Mucormycosis
Mucormycosis (also called zygomycosis) is a serious fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucoromycetes. The types of fungi that mostly cause mucormycosis include Rhizopus spp., Mucor spp., Rhizomucor spp., Syncephalastrum spp., Cunninghamella bertholletia, Apophysomyces spp., and Lichtheimia (formerly Absidia) spp.
  • 1.2K
  • 09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Blood Culture-Negative Infective Endocarditis by Mycoplasma hominis
Mycoplasma hominis is a habitual colonizing microorganism of the lower genital tract but can exceptionally be the causal agent of blood culture-negative infective endocarditis (IE). 
  • 1.2K
  • 21 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Vaccine Hesitancy
Vaccination, despite being recognized as one of the most effective primary public health measures, is viewed as unsafe and unnecessary by an increasing number of individuals. Vaccination is one of the most significant public health achievements, having contributed to the eradication of smallpox and the control of many infectious diseases such as rubella, diphtheria, and polio globally.
  • 1.2K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Camel Milk
Camel milk (CM) constitutes an important dietary source in the hot and arid regions of the world. CM is a colloidal mixture of nutritional components (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, and minerals) and non-nutritional components (hormones, growth factors, cytokines, immunoglobulins, and exosomes). 
  • 1.2K
  • 14 Jul 2022
  • Page
  • of
  • 32
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Reprints

>>
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Medieval Royal Iconography
Academic Video Service
Feedback

Quick Survey

Encyclopedia MDPI is conducting a targeted survey to identify the specific barriers hindering efficient research. We invite you to spend 3 minutes defining the priorities for our next generation of structured knowledge tools.
Take Survey