Extracellular matrix (ECM) is an essential component of skeletal muscle. It provides a framework structure that hold myofibers, and blood capillaries and nerves supplying the muscle. In addition, it has a principal role in force transmission, maintenance and repair of muscle fibers. Excessive accumulation of ECM components, especially collagens, either due to excessive ECM production, alteration in ECM-degrading activities, or a combination of both is defined as fibrosis. Skeletal muscle fibrosis impairs muscle function, negatively affects muscle regeneration after injury, and increases muscle susceptibility to re-injury, therefore, it considered as a major cause of muscle weakness. Fibrosis of skeletal muscle is a hallmark of muscular dystrophies, aging, and severe muscle injuries. Thus, better understanding of the mechanisms of muscle fibrosis will help to advance our knowledge of the events that occur in dystrophic muscle diseases and develop innovative antifibrotic therapies to reverse fibrosis in such pathologic conditions. This paper explores an overview of the process of muscle fibrosis, as well as the different murine models for studying fibrosis in skeletal muscles. In addition, factors regulating fibrosis, and strategies to inhibit muscle fibrosis are discussed.

Many universities and colleges worldwide suspended classroom teaching due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and switched to online teaching. The current cross-sectional study was carried out to analyze the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of veterinary medical students and researchers. Veterinary medical students and researchers were invited to answer an online google form questionnaire. A total of 1,392 participants were from 92 different countries answered the questionnaire with response rate of 94.1%. The data showed that COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected the academic performance of most participants (96.7%) with varying degrees. The mean evaluation score for the online education in general was 5.1 ± 2.4 while that for the practical parts was 3.6 ± 2.6. Although online education provides an opportunity for self-study, the main challenge that online education faces in veterinary medical science is how to give practical lessons. Since most of the subjects are practical; therefore, it is not easy to learn it online. Students think that it is difficult to fulfill the veterinary competencies only with online education system. Online education could be improved by making it more interactive, showing medical procedures in real situations, giving concise information, and providing 3D virtual tools to mimic the real situation.

A novel coronavirus has been reported as the causative pathogen of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan city, China in December 2019. Due to the rapid spread of the virus worldwide, it has been announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Hospitalized patients in Wuhan were associated with the Huanan seafood wholesale market where live animals, such as poultry, bats, snakes, frogs, rabbits, marmots, and hedgehogs are sold in that market which suggests a possible zoonotic infection. It was suggested that bat is the natural host of SARS-CoV-2, but the intermediate host is still unclear. It is essential to identify the potential intermediate host to interrupt the transmission chain of the virus. Pangolin is a highly suspected candidate as an intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2. Recently, SARS-CoV-2 infection has been reported in cats, dogs, tigers, and lions. More recently SARS-CoV-2 infection affected minks severely and zoonotic transfer with a variant SARS-CoV-2 strain evidenced in Denmark, Netherlands, USA, and Spain suggesting animal-to-human and animal-to-animal transmission within mink farms. Furthermore, experimental studies documented the susceptibility of different animal species to SARS-CoV-2, such as mice, golden hamsters, cats, ferrets, non-human primates, and treeshrews. It is also essential to know the possibility of infection for other animal species. This short review aims to provide an overview on the relation between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and animals.