Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as a pandemic in March 2020, and more than 117 million people worldwide have been confirmed to have been infected. Scientists, medical professionals, and other stakeholders are racing against time to find and develop effective medicines for COVID-19. However, no drug with high efficacy to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection has been approved. With the increasing popularity of gene therapy, scientists have explored the utilization of small RNAs such as microRNAs as therapeutics. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs with high affinity for the 3′-UTRs of targeted messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Interactions between host cells and viral genomes may induce the upregulation or downregulation of various miRNAs. Therefore, understanding the expression patterns of these miRNAs and their functions will provide insights into potential miRNA-based therapies. This review systematically summarizes the potential targets of miRNA-based therapies for SARS-CoV-2 infection and examines the viability of possible transfection methods.

Angka beban global yang diakibatkan oleh kejadian resistensi antimikroba mendorong untuk dilakukan lebih banyak studi yang menelusuri strategi terapi terbaru guna mengurangi penambahan angka morbiditas dan mortalitas terutama pada negara dengan kasus penyakit infeksi yang sering. Salah satu pendekatan yang dapat dilakukan ialah melalui pengamatan terhadap potensi alam. Bunga telang (Clitoria ternatea) merupakan tanaman hias yang banyak ditemukan di negara tropis seperti Asia Pasifik, Amerika Selatan dan Madagaskar. Warna ungu terang yang menjadi khas tanaman tersebut sudah banyak dimanfaatkan sebagai pewarna makanan alami di beragam masakan Asia. Selain itu, tanaman ini juga telah digunakan sejak lama sebagai obat tradisional dalam berbagai sediaan, terutama seduhan rebusan. Namun, pendekatan saintifik diperlukan untuk mendukung pernyataan berbasis empiris. Komponen antimikroba milik bunga telang tidak hanya terbatas pada bagian kelopak bunganya saja namun semua bagian tubuhnya, mulai dari akar hingga batang. Proses ekstraksi tanaman bunga telang menunjukkan komponen fitokimia yang berkhasiat terutama sebagai antimikroba melawan E. coli dan Bacilus cereus. Oleh karena itu, ulasan ini dibuat guna mengkompilasi berbagai penelitian yang melaporkan aktivitas antibakteri Clitoria ternatea.

Objective: The development of nanomedicine, such as miRNA transfection to cancer cells,has widely gained interest in the past decade. Unfortunately, miRNA tends to decay easily by the cellular enzymatic process and requires a carrier. As a cationic biopolymer, chitosan is widely known as a non-viral vector. However, research about chitosan as a miRNA delivery system remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the effect and characters of synthetic miRNA loaded chitosan nanoparticles on breast cancer cell lines. Methods: To obtain the nanocomplex, chitosan-antimiR-106b-5p was formulated using natriumtripolyphosphate through ionic gelation methods. The nanochitosan formula was characterized by using gel electrophoresis; Nano Quant for encapsulation of entrapment quantification; morphology appearance as viewed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), nanochitosan size analysis; in vitro analysis using MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cell lines; in silico prediction of possible gene target; polymerase chain reaction analysis and gel electrophoresis for E2F1/GAPDH expression. Results: The efficiency entrapment value was 96.7%, particle size analysis was 458±11.79 nm, and polydispersity index (PDI) was 0.65±0.07, with spherical morphology as viewed in SEM. There was no significant difference between the nanochitosan supplemented group and the control group in MCF-7 cells (p=0.067). However, the ratio of E2F1 to GAPDH was significantly lower than the control group after nanochitosan antimiR-106b-5p was loaded at concentration 140 nmol (p=0.022) and 35 nmol (p=0.016). Conclusion: Our nanochitosan formula is non-toxic to use in MCF-7 cell lines. Most importantly, as the formula was conjugated to synthetic antimiR-106b-5p, the E2F1 expression decreased.

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Catha edulis (khat), belongs to a group of psychotropic plants, which has an amphetamine-like structure and contains many catin and cation. The plant contains hallucinogenic compounds and known for its calming effect. The excessive catin contained inside the fresh leave of khat could potentially induce a plenty of side effects especially when the leaves are directly consumed and uncooked. The side effects vary according to how long the plant has been consumed, started from local organ disruption to cardiovascular complication such as increased blood pressure to myocardial infarction. In the contrary, positive effects of the composition of khat have also been reported such as anti-inflammatory effect, antidiabetic, anticancer, immunomodulatory and increased improvement in respiratory diseases. Although myriad studies have been conducted to examine the best benefit obtained from the such plant, the legal issue on its utilization is still questionable. Therefore, khat consumption must be maintained with a proper and strong regulation to lessen the negative impacts. However, studies on the potency of khat are still ongoing. The literature review was written based on various books, journals, and search databases in Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane and Google Scholar to show the positive and negative effects of the habit in consuming khat.