The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an arduous global health challenge, and the increasing number of fatalities calls for the speedy pursuit of a remedy. This review emphasizes the changing aspects of the COVID-19 disease, featuring the cytokine storm’s pathological processes. Furthermore, we briefly reviewed potential therapeutic agents that may modulate and alleviate cytokine storms. The literature exploration was made using PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, Google scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases to retrieve the most recent literature on the etiology, diagnostic markers, and the possible prophylactic and therapeutic options for the management of cytokine storm in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 disease. The causative agent, severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), continually threatens the efficiency of the immune system of the infected individuals. As the first responder, the innate immune system provides primary protection against COVID-19, affecting the disease’s progression, clinical outcome, and prognosis. Evidence suggests that the fatalities associated with COVID-19 are primarily due to hyper-inflammation and an aberrant immune function. Accordingly, the magnitude of the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1, (IL-6), and tumor necrosis alpha (TNF-α) significantly differentiate between mild and severe cases of COVID-19. The early prediction of a cytokine storm is made possible by several serum chemistry and hematological markers. The prompt use of these markers for diagnosis and the aggressive prevention and management of a cytokine release syndrome is critical in determining the level of morbidity and fatality associated with COVID-19. The prophylaxis and the rapid treatment of cytokine storm by clinicians will significantly enhance the fight against the dreaded COVID-19 disease.

Melanin is s most widely distributed pigment and is found in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. Melanogenesis is under complex regulatory control by multiple agents interacting through pathways activated by hormonal and receptor-dependent and -independent mechanisms. There are about 20 genes that are involved in the biochemical pathway of melanogenesis and its regulation, which include: tyrosinase, microphthalmia-associated transcription factor, melanocortin1 receptor, adenylate cyclase, protein kinase A. Human melanogenesis regulatory proteins such as MAPK1, CREB3, and CREBP, have binary interaction with the protein of herpesvirus, hepatitis C virus, Human immunodeficiency virus type 1, Simian virus 40, and Human adenovirus A and C. Melanin is a double-edged sword in host-pathogen interaction (e.g., human-bacteria and/or fungi interaction). The inducers of upregulation of melanogenesis include fluvoxamine, famotidine, terbutaline, heliotrine, sirolimus, dicoumarol, Prestwick-860, carbimazole, (-)-MK-801, rilmenidine, hydrastine hydrochloride, haloperidol, scopolamine N-oxide, raubasine, and dihydroergocristine. In melanogenesis, GSK3B, CSNK2A, MAPK1, MAPK3, MAPK14, ERK1, and HIPK2 were the major kinases, while RUNX1, GATA1, and REST, SUN12, and RCOR1 were the major transcription factors. This study has reviewed the melanogenesis pathway, its regulations as well as applications to viral infection. The antiviral activity of melanin and its complex in the presence of antibacterial and antifungal compounds should be investigated to further provide insight for biomedical, biotechnological, and pharmacological applications.

In recent years, water pollution has become one of the major challenges faced by humans because of consistent rise in population and industrial activities. Water pollution due to discharge from cosmetics and pharmaceutical wastes, organic dyes, and heavy metal seen as carcinogens has the potential to disrupt hormonal processes in the body. Different approaches such as chlorination, aerobic treatment, aeration, and filtration have been deployed to treat wastewaters before being discharged into the streams, lakes, and rivers. However, more attention has been accorded to treatment approaches that involve use of nanomaterial due to non-secondary pollution, energy efficiency, and ease of operation. Titanate-based perovskite (TBP) is one of the most frequently studied nanomaterials for photocatalytic applications because of its stability and flexibility in optical band-gap modification. This chapter provided an overview of basic principles and mechanisms of a semiconductor photocatalyst, and current synthesis techniques that have been used in formulating TBP nanomaterial. The effect of reaction conditions and approaches such as doping, codoping, composites, temperature, pH, precursor type, surface area, and morphology on surface defects and optical band-gap energy of TBP nanomaterial was highlighted. Importantly, the impact of surface defects and optical band-gap energy of TBP on its photocatalytic activities was discussed. Finally, how to enhance the degradation efficiency of TBP was proposed.

Purpose Lassa fever is a zoonotic acute viral hemorrhagic disease caused by Lassa virus (LASV). There is currently no licensed vaccine for the prevention of the disease. This study is aimed at discovering immunodominant epitopes from the envelope glycoprotein of the Lassa mammarenavirus and designing of a multi-epitope vaccine candidate (VC). Materials and Methods The amino acid sequences of the envelope glycoprotein of 26 strains of LASV from five countries were selected. After evaluation for antigenicity, immunogenicity, allergenicity, and toxicity, immunodominant CD8, CD4, and linear B lymphocytes were also selected. The selected epitopes were modelled and a molecular docking with the appropriate major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins was performed. Using an adjuvant and linkers, a multi-epitope VC was designed. The VC was evaluated for its physicochemical and immunological properties and structurally refined, validated, and mutated (disulphide engineering). The complex formed by the VC and the toll-like receptor-4 receptor was subjected to molecular dynamic simulation (MDS) followed by in silico cloning in a plasmid vector. Results A VC with 203 sequences, 22.13 kDa weight, isoelectric point of 9.85 (basic), instability index value of 27.62, aliphatic index of 68.87, and GRAVY value of -0.455 (hydrophilic) emerged. The VC is predicted to be non-allergenic with antigenicity, MHC I immunogenicity, and solubility upon overexpression values of 0.81, 2.04, and 0.86 respectively. The VC also has an estimated half-life greater than 10 hours in Escherichia coli and showed stability in all the parameters of MDS. Conclusion The VC shows good promise in the prevention of Lassa fever but further tests are required to validate its safety and efficacy.