Tocilizumab (TCZ), a monoclonal antibody against interleukin-6 (IL-6), emerged as an alternative treatment for COVID-19 patients with a risk of cytokine storms recently. In the present study, we aimed to discuss the treatment response of TCZ therapy in COVID-19 infected patients. The demographic, treatment, laboratory parameters of C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 before and after TCZ therapy and clinical outcome in the 15 COVID-19 patients were retrospectively assessed. Totally 15 patients with COVID-19 were included in this study. Two of them were moderately ill, six were seriously ill and seven were critically ill. The TCZ was used in combination with methylprednisolone in eight patients. Five patients received the TCZ administration twice or more. Although TCZ treatment ameliorated the increased CRP in all patients rapidly, for the four critically ill patients who received an only single dose of TCZ, three of them (No. 1, 2, and 3) still dead and the CRP level in the rest one patient (No. 7) failed to return to normal range with a clinical outcome of disease aggravation. Serum IL-6 level tended to further spiked firstly and then decreased after TCZ therapy in 10 patients. A persistent and dramatic increase of IL-6 was observed in these four patients who failed treatment. TCZ appears to be an effective treatment option in COVID-19 patients with a risk of cytokine storms. And for these critically ill patients with elevated IL-6, the repeated dose of the TCZ is recommended.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jmv.25801

Tocilizumab treatment in COVID-19: A single center experience.

Spectroscopy is the study of matter interacting with electromagnetic radiation (e.g., light). The electromagnetic spectrum in Figure 1 illustrates the many different types of electromagnetic radiation, including gamma rays (γ-rays), X-rays, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, visible light, infrared (IR) radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. The frequency (ν) and wavelength (λ) ranges associated with each form of radiant energy are also indicated in Figure 1.

Introduction to Spectroscopy

The therapeutic journey of benzimidazoles: a review.

The freely accessible web resource PASS Online is presented. This resource is designed for the prediction of the biological activity spectra of organic compounds based on their structural formulas for more than 4000 types of biological activity with average accuracy above 95% (
 http://www.way2drug.com/passonline
 ). The prediction is based on an analysis of the structure-activity relationships in the training set containing information on the structure and biological activity of more than 300000 organic compounds. The possibilities and limitations of this approach are described. Recommendations are given for interpreting the prediction results. Examples are given for the practical use of the PASS Online web resource in order to establish priorities for chemical synthesis and biological testing of substances on the basis of prediction results. The further trends are considered for the using PASS Online as an Internet platform for joint projects of academic researchers for the search and development of new pharmaceutical agents.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10593-014-1496-1.pdf

Prediction of the Biological Activity Spectra of Organic Compounds Using the Pass Online Web Resource

Antimicrobial resistance represents an enormous global health crisis and one of the most serious threats humans face today. Some bacterial strains have acquired resistance to nearly all antibiotics. Therefore, new antibacterial agents are crucially needed to overcome resistant bacteria. In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published a list of antibiotic-resistant priority pathogens, pathogens which present a great threat to humans and to which new antibiotics are urgently needed the list is categorized according to the urgency of need for new antibiotics as critical, high, and medium priority, in order to guide and promote research and development of new antibiotics. The majority of the WHO list is Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Due to their distinctive structure, Gram-negative bacteria are more resistant than Gram-positive bacteria, and cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Several strategies have been reported to fight and control resistant Gram-negative bacteria, like the development of antimicrobial auxiliary agents, structural modification of existing antibiotics, and research into and the study of chemical structures with new mechanisms of action and novel targets that resistant bacteria are sensitive to. Research efforts have been made to meet the urgent need for new treatments; some have succeeded to yield activity against resistant Gram-negative bacteria by deactivating the mechanism of resistance, like the action of the β-lactamase Inhibitor antibiotic adjuvants. Another promising trend was by referring to nature to develop naturally derived agents with antibacterial activity on novel targets, agents such as bacteriophages, DCAP(2-((3-(3,6-dichloro-9H-carbazol-9-yl)-2-hydroxypropyl)amino)-2(hydroxymethyl)propane1,3-diol, Odilorhabdins (ODLs), peptidic benzimidazoles, quorum sensing (QS) inhibitors, and metal-based antibacterial agents.

/pdf/resistance-of-gram-negative-bacteria-to-current-5cxo3hd4p9.pdf

Resistance of Gram-Negative Bacteria to Current Antibacterial Agents and Approaches to Resolve It

Coumarin hybrids as novel therapeutic agents.

Numerous research reports have indicated the coumarin nucleus as a potential candidate for development of anti-inflammatory drugs. Various phytoconstituents such as umbelliferone, scopoletin, columbiatnetin, visniadin, marmin, and many more derived from coumarin nucleus are found to have potent anti-inflammatory as well as antioxidant activities. A large number of coumarin derivatives have also been designed, synthesized, and evaluated to have mild-to-very potent anti-inflammatory activity through different mechanisms. However, despite the continuing efforts in search of these drugs, no major breakthrough has been achieved so far. In the present review, a critical analysis of various reports on naturally as well as the synthetically derived coumarin derivatives having anti-inflammatory activity has been carried out and a structural–activity relationship around the coumarin nucleus has been proposed to assist the medicinal chemists in rationally designing the anti-inflammatory drugs.

/pdf/coumarin-a-potential-nucleus-for-anti-inflammatory-molecules-19b3qw18je.pdf

Yogita Bansal

Papers

The therapeutic journey of benzimidazoles: a review.

Coumarin hybrids as novel therapeutic agents.

Coumarin: a potential nucleus for anti-inflammatory molecules

A panoramic review of IL-6: Structure, pathophysiological roles and inhibitors.

Multifunctional compounds: smart molecules for multifactorial diseases.