Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major viruses affecting the world today. It is a highly variable virus, having a rapid reproduction and evolution rate. The variability of genomes is due to hasty replication catalyzed by nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) which is also a potential target site for the development of anti-HCV agents. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration approved sofosbuvir as a novel oral NS5B inhibitor for the treatment of HCV. Unfortunately, it is much highlighted for its pricing issues. Hence, there is an urgent need to scrutinize alternate therapies against HCV that are available at affordable price and do not have associated side effects. Such a need is crucial especially in underdeveloped countries. The search for various new bioactive compounds from plants is a key part of pharmaceutical research. In the current study, we applied a pharmacoinformatics-based approach for the identification of active plant-derived compounds against NS5B. The results were compared to docking results of sofosbuvir. The lead compounds with high-binding ligands were further analyzed for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters based on in silico absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profile. The results showed the potential alternative lead compounds that can be developed into commercial drugs having high binding energy and promising ADMET properties.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused by loss in nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons and is ranked as the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. Dopamine receptor D3 is considered as a potential target in drug development against PD because of its lesser side effects and higher degree of neuro-protection. One of the prominent therapies currently available for PD is the use of dopamine agonists which mimic the natural action of dopamine in the brain and stimulate dopamine receptors directly. Unfortunately, use of these pharmacological therapies such as bromocriptine, apomorphine, and ropinirole provides only temporary relief of the disease symptoms and is frequently linked with insomnia, anxiety, depression, and agitation. Thus, there is a need for an alternative treatment that not only hinders neurodegeneration, but also has few or no side effects. Since the past decade, much attention has been given to exploitation of phytochemicals and their use in alternative medicine research. This is because plants are a cheap, indispensable, and never ending resource of active compounds that are beneficial against various diseases. In the current study, 40 active phytochemicals against PD were selected through literature survey. These ligands were docked with dopamine receptor D3 using AutoDock and AutoDockVina. Binding energies were compared to docking results of drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration against PD. The compounds were further analyzed for their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion-toxicity profile. From the study it is concluded that glycyrrhetinic acid and E.resveratroloside are potent compounds having high binding energies which should be considered as potential lead compounds for drug development against PD.

Recent interest in the diverse ecosystem of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses that make up the skin microbiome has led to several studies investigating the microbiome in healthy skin and in a variety of dermatological conditions. An imbalance of the normal skin flora can cause some skin diseases, and current culture techniques are often unable to detect a microorganism to further our understanding of the clinical–microbiological correlates of disease and dysbiosis. Atopic dermatitis and rosacea are presentations that GPs often manage that may have an infective or microbiological component and can be challenging to treat. We aim to discuss the implications of the skin microbiome including the impact of dysbiosis on conditions such as these. We will also discuss some clinical pearls for initial and future directions of the management of conditions such as atopic dermatitis, rosacea, and hidradenitis suppurativa. Further research using culture-independent techniques is needed for conditions involving microbial dysbiosis to advance our knowledge of skin disease pathophysiology and guide future management.

The structure and function of infant skin is not fully developed until 34 weeks of gestation, and this immaturity is associated with risk of late-onset sepsis (LOS). Topical coconut oil improves preterm-infant skin integrity and may reduce LOS. However, data on early-life skin-microbiome succession and potential effects of emollient skin care in preterm infants are scarce. We therefore collected skin-microbiome samples from the ear, axilla, and groin on days 1, 7, 14, and 21 from preterm infants born <30 weeks of gestation as part of a randomized clinical trial of standard skin care vs. topical coconut oil. We found that within-sample microbiome diversity was highest on day 1 after birth, with a subsequent decline and emergence of Staphylococcus genus dominance from day 7. Moreover, microbiome assembly was less diverse in infants receiving coconut oil vs. standard skin care. Our study provides novel data on preterm-infant skin-microbiome composition and highlights the modifying potential of emollient skin care.

Lake Magic is an extremely acidic, hypersaline lake found in Western Australia, with the highest concentrations of aluminum and silica in the world. Previous studies of Lake Magic diversity have revealed that the lake hosts acid- and halotolerant bacterial and fungal species. However, they have not canvassed microbial population dynamics across flooding, evapo-concentration and desiccation stages. In this study, we used amplicon sequencing and potential function prediction on sediment and salt mat samples. We observed that the bacterial and fungal diversity in Lake Magic is strongly driven by carbon, temperature, pH and salt concentrations at the different stages of the lake. We also saw that the fungal diversity decreased as the environmental conditions became more extreme. However, prokaryotic diversity was very dynamic and bacteria dominated archaeal species, both in abundance and diversity, perhaps because bacteria better tolerate the extreme variation in conditions. Bacterial species diversity was the highest during early flooding stage and decreased during more stressful conditions. We observed an increase in acid tolerant and halotolerant species in the sediment, involved in functions such as sulfur and iron metabolism, i.e., species involved in buffering the external environment. Thus, due to activity within the microbial community, the environmental conditions in the sediment do not change to the same degree as conditions in the salt mat, resulting in the sediment becoming a safe haven for microbes, which are able to thrive during the extreme conditions of the evapo-concentration and desiccation stages.