Resistance to conventional anticancer therapies in patients with advanced solid tumors has prompted the need of alternative cancer therapies. Moreover, the success of novel cancer therapies depends on their selectivity for cancer cells with limited toxicity to normal tissues. Several decades after Coley's work a variety of natural and genetically modified non-pathogenic bacterial species are being explored as potential antitumor agents, either to provide direct tumoricidal effects or to deliver tumoricidal molecules. Live, attenuated or genetically modified non-pathogenic bacterial species are capable of multiplying selectively in tumors and inhibiting their growth. Due to their selectivity for tumor tissues, these bacteria and their spores also serve as ideal vectors for delivering therapeutic proteins to tumors. Bacterial toxins too have emerged as promising cancer treatment strategy. The most potential and promising strategy is bacteria based gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy. Although it has shown successful results in vivo yet further investigation about the targeting mechanisms of the bacteria are required to make it a complete therapeutic approach in cancer treatment.

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has already affected a large population of the world. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the same family of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). COVID-19 has a complex pathology involving severe acute respiratory infection, hyper-immune response, and coagulopathy. At present, there is no therapeutic drug or vaccine approved for the disease. There is an urgent need for an ideal animal model that can reflect clinical symptoms and underlying etiopathogenesis similar to COVID-19 patients which can be further used for evaluation of underlying mechanisms, potential vaccines, and therapeutic strategies. The current review provides a paramount insight into the available animal models of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV for the management of the diseases.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to infect both humans and animals. However, the evidence of intertransmission of coronavirus between humans and companion animals is still a debatable issue. There is substantial evidence that the virus outbreak is fueled by zoonotic transmission because this new virus belongs to the same family of viruses as SARS-CoV associated with civet cats, and MERS-CoV associated with dromedary camels. While the whole world is investigating the possibility about the transmission of this virus, the transmission among humans is established, but the interface between humans and animals is not much evident. Not only are the lives of human beings at risk, but there is an equal potential threat to the animal world. With multiple reports claiming about much possibility of transmission of COVID-19 from humans to animals, there has been a significant increase in the number of pets being abandoned by their owners. Additionally, the risk of reverse transmission of COVID-19 virus from companion pets like cats and dogs at home is yet another area of concern. The present article highlights different evidence of human-animal interface and necessitates the precautionary measures required to combat with the consequences of this interface. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have suggested various ways to promote awareness and corroborate practices for helping people as well as animals to stay secure and healthy.

The present study was planned to evaluate the role of curcumin in the formalin-induced orofacial pain in rats that mimics typical human orofacial pain. Adult Wistar rats of either sex received an injection of 50 microL of 5% v/v subcutaneous formalin injection into one vibrissal pad and consequent facial grooming behavior was monitored. Animals exhibited two distinct periods of nocifensive grooming: (a) an acute phase lasting 0-6 min; and (b) a tonic phase lasting 6-45 min. The analgesic response of curcumin was observed at doses of 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg i.p., administered 15 min prior to formalin injection. Another group received subanalgesic dose of diclofenac (0.2 mg/kg) and curcumin 25 mg/kg. Curcumin and diclofenac were administered 15 and 5 min prior to formalin injection respectively. Curcumin produced a dose-dependent inhibition of facial grooming in both acute and tonic phases compared to vehicle and potentiated the subanalgesic dose of diclofenac. The study results for the first time demonstrated the per se antinocifensive effect of curcumin and also exhibited a synergistic interaction with the subanalgesic dose of an NSAID in the facial pain model. More studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanisms of curcumin in this model of pain.

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