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Microorganisms
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Pharmacological Interventions against Respiratory Viral Infections
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Pharmacological Interventions against Respiratory Viral Infections

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 7206

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giuseppe Gancitano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
2. 1st “Tuscania” Paratrooper Regiment Carabinieri, Italian Ministry of Defence, 57127 Livorno, Italy
Interests: HRV; Heart Rate Variability; HRV biofeedback
Dr. Roland Schoop

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Medical Department, Bioforce, Roggwil, Switzerland
Interests: respiratory tract infections; antiviral activity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Respiratory viruses represent a substantial threat to the healthcare system and humanity. In addition to epi- and pandemic influenza or coronaviruses, common rhinoviruses or respiratory syncytial viruses produce significant morbidity, days off work/school and, overall, substantial socioeconomic drain. In Western civilization, viral respiratory tract infections (RTI’s) are the most frequent illnesses and the main reason for overuse of antibiotics. Effective antiviral interventions for the prevention and the treatment of RTIs are urgently needed. This Special Issue aims to publish reviews or original research work on therapeutic approaches for the management of viral RTIs. Preclinical and in vitro studies on pharmacological interventions and modes of actions as well as clinical trials in phases I to IV will be considered for publication.

Dr. Giuseppe Gancitano
Dr. Roland Schoop
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • viruses
  • respiratory tract infections
  • antiviral
  • intervention
  • pharmacology

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3732 KiB  
Article
Broad Antiviral Effects of Echinacea purpurea against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern and Potential Mechanism of Action
by Selvarani Vimalanathan, Mahmoud Shehata, Kannan Sadasivam, Serena Delbue, Maria Dolci, Elena Pariani, Sarah D’Alessandro and Stephan Pleschka
Microorganisms 2022, 10(11), 2145; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10112145 - 29 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2699
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) represent an alarming threat as they show altered biological behavior and may escape vaccination effectiveness. Broad-spectrum antivirals could play an important role to control infections. The activity of Echinacea purpurea (Echinaforce® extract, EF) against (i) VOCs B1.1.7 [...] Read more.
SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) represent an alarming threat as they show altered biological behavior and may escape vaccination effectiveness. Broad-spectrum antivirals could play an important role to control infections. The activity of Echinacea purpurea (Echinaforce® extract, EF) against (i) VOCs B1.1.7 (alpha), B.1.351.1 (beta), P.1 (gamma), B1.617.2 (delta), AV.1 (Scottish), B1.525 (eta), and B.1.1.529.BA1 (omicron); (ii) SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein-pseudotyped viral particles and reference strain OC43 as well as (iii) wild type SARS-CoV-2 (Hu-1) was analyzed. Molecular dynamics (MD) were applied to study the interaction of Echinacea’s phytochemical markers with known pharmacological viral and host cell targets. EF extract broadly inhibited the propagation of all investigated SARS-CoV-2 VOCs as well as the entry of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoparticles at EC50′s ranging from 3.62 to 12.03 µg/mL. The preventive addition of 25 µg/mL EF to epithelial cells significantly reduced sequential infection with SARS-CoV-2 (Hu-1) and OC43. MD analyses showed constant binding affinities to VOC-typical S protein variants for alkylamides, caftaric acid, and feruloyl-tartaric acid in EF extract and interactions with serine protease TMPRSS-2. EF extract demonstrated stable virucidal activity across seven tested VOCs, likely due to the constant affinity of the contained phytochemical substances to all spike variants. A possible interaction of EF with TMPRSS-2 partially would explain the cell protective benefits of the extract by the inhibition of membrane fusion and cell entry. EF may therefore offer a supportive addition to vaccination endeavors in the control of existing and future SARS-CoV-2 virus mutations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmacological Interventions against Respiratory Viral Infections)
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Review

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22 pages, 394 KiB  
Review
Clinically Evaluated COVID-19 Drugs with Therapeutic Potential for Biological Warfare Agents
by Ido-David Dechtman, Ran Ankory, Keren Sokolinsky, Esther Krasner, Libby Weiss and Yoav Gal
Microorganisms 2023, 11(6), 1577; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11061577 - 14 Jun 2023
Viewed by 2684
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak resulted in hundreds of millions of coronavirus cases, as well as millions of deaths worldwide. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease resulting from exposure to this pathogen, is characterized, among other features, by a [...] Read more.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak resulted in hundreds of millions of coronavirus cases, as well as millions of deaths worldwide. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease resulting from exposure to this pathogen, is characterized, among other features, by a pulmonary pathology, which can progress to “cytokine storm”, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory failure and death. Vaccines are the unsurpassed strategy for prevention and protection against the SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, there is still an extremely high number of severely ill people from at-risk populations. This may be attributed to waning immune response, variant-induced breakthrough infections, unvaccinated population, etc. It is therefore of high importance to utilize pharmacological-based treatments, despite the progression of the global vaccination campaign. Until the approval of Paxlovid, an efficient and highly selective anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug, and the broad-spectrum antiviral agent Lagevrio, many pharmacological-based countermeasures were, and still are, being evaluated in clinical trials. Some of these are host-directed therapies (HDTs), which modulate the endogenic response against the virus, and therefore may confer efficient protection against a wide array of pathogens. These could potentially include Biological Warfare Agents (BWAs), exposure to which may lead to mass casualties due to disease severity and a possible lack of efficient treatment. In this review, we assessed the recent literature on drugs under advanced clinical evaluation for COVID-19 with broad spectrum activity, including antiviral agents and HDTs, which may be relevant for future coping with BWAs, as well as with other agents, in particular respiratory infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmacological Interventions against Respiratory Viral Infections)

Other

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7 pages, 478 KiB  
Brief Report
Single Center Experience Using Monoclonal COVID-19 Antibodies in the Management of Immunocompromised Patients with COVID-19
by David Klank, Bernd Claus, Raoul Bergner and Peter Paschka
Microorganisms 2022, 10(12), 2490; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122490 - 16 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1295
Abstract
The medical care of immunocompromised patients with COVID-19 infection causes major hurdles in the management of these patients in clinical practice. However, poor responses to vaccinations in patients with oncological or autoimmune diseases require rapid action and effective care in this fragile patient [...] Read more.
The medical care of immunocompromised patients with COVID-19 infection causes major hurdles in the management of these patients in clinical practice. However, poor responses to vaccinations in patients with oncological or autoimmune diseases require rapid action and effective care in this fragile patient population. Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) offer an effective therapeutic option with a favorable toxicity profile. We have retrospectively reviewed the first 100 patients treated with mAb in our clinic and assessed the individual vaccine response, side effects of mAb, hospitalization rate and mortality. None of the outpatients treated with mAb had to be hospitalized. In particular, the third SARS-CoV-2 vaccination had a significant effect on the seroconversion (37.5% vs. 77.8% positive patients) in the entire group of patients studied. No side effects of 3°/4° were observed following mAb administration; the mortality in the entire cohort was 7%. Our data and experience show good effectiveness and a favorable tolerability profile of mAb, supporting the feasibility of this therapy in everyday clinical practice. Of note, in immunocompromised patients, both the vaccination status and success need to be recorded in a systematic manner and taken into account in terms of therapeutic intervention using mAb in case of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmacological Interventions against Respiratory Viral Infections)
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