Dengue viruses (DENVs) are mosquito-borne viruses which can cause disease ranging from mild fever to severe dengue infection. These viruses are endemic in several tropical and subtropical regions. Multiple outbreaks of DENV serotypes 1, 2 and 3 (DENV-1, DENV-2 and DENV-3) have been reported from the western region in Saudi Arabia since 1994. Strains from at least two genotypes of DENV-1 (Asia and America/Africa genotypes) have been circulating in western Saudi Arabia until 2006. However, all previous studies reported from Saudi Arabia were based on partial sequencing data of the envelope (E) gene without any reports of full genome sequences for any DENV serotypes circulating in Saudi Arabia. Here, we report the isolation and the first complete genome sequence of a DENV-1 strain (DENV-1-Jeddah-1-2011) isolated from a patient from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2011. Whole genome sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed high similarity between DENV-1-Jeddah-1-2011 strain and D1/H/IMTSSA/98/606 isolate (Asian genotype) reported from Djibouti in 1998. Further analysis of the full envelope gene revealed a close relationship between DENV-1-Jeddah-1-2011 strain and isolates reported between 2004–2006 from Jeddah as well as recent isolates from Somalia, suggesting the widespread of the Asian genotype in this region. These data suggest that strains belonging to the Asian genotype might have been introduced into Saudi Arabia long before 2004 most probably by African pilgrims and continued to circulate in western Saudi Arabia at least until 2011. Most importantly, these results indicate that pilgrims from dengue endemic regions can play an important role in the spread of new DENVs in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world. Therefore, availability of complete genome sequences would serve as a reference for future epidemiological studies of DENV-1 viruses.

The body’s normal immune response against any invading pathogen that causes infection in the body results in inflammation. The sudden transformation in inflammation leads to the rise of inflammatory diseases such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disorders, and colorectal cancer (different types of cancer develop at the site of chronic infection and inflammation). Inflammation results in two ways: short-term inflammation i.e., non-specific, involves the action of various immune cells; the other results in long-term reactions lasting for months or years. It is specific and causes angiogenesis, fibrosis, tissue destruction, and cancer progression at the site of inflammation. Cancer progression relies on the interaction between the host microenvironment and tumor cells along with the inflammatory responses, fibroblast, and vascular cells. The two pathways that have been identified connecting inflammation and cancer are the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways. Both have their own specific role in linking inflammation to cancer, involving various transcription factors such as Nuclear factor kappa B, Activator of transcription, Single transducer, and Hypoxia-inducible factor, which in turn regulates the inflammatory responses via Soluble mediators cytokines (such as Interleukin-6, Hematopoietin-1/Erythropoietin, and tumor necrosis factor), chemokines (such as Cyclooxygenase-2, C-X-C Motif chemokines ligand-8, and IL-8), inflammatory cells, cellular components (such as suppressor cells derived from myeloid, tumor-associated macrophage, and acidophils), and promotes tumorigenesis. The treatment of these chronic inflammatory diseases is challenging and needs early detection and diagnosis. Nanotechnology is a booming field nowadays for its rapid action and easy penetration inside the infected destined cells. Nanoparticles are widely classified into different categories based on their different factors and properties such as size, shape, cytotoxicity, and others. Nanoparticles emerged as excellent with highly progressive medical inventions to cure diseases such as cancer, inflammatory diseases, and others. Nanoparticles have shown higher binding capacity with the biomolecules in inflammation reduction and lowers the oxidative stress inside tissue/cells. In this review, we have overall discussed inflammatory pathways that link inflammation to cancer, major inflammatory diseases, and the potent action of nanoparticles in chronic inflammation-related diseases.

Nanomaterials (NMs) are receiving remarkable attention due to their unique properties and structure. They vary from atoms and molecules along with those of bulk materials. They can be engineered to act as drug delivery vehicles to cross blood-brain barriers (BBBs) and utilized with better efficacy and safety to deliver specific molecules into targeted cells as compared to conventional system for neurological disorders. Depending on their properties, various metal chelators, gold nanoparticles (NPs), micelles, quantum dots, polymeric NPs, liposomes, solid lipid NPs, microparticles, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes have been utilized for various purposes including the improvement of drug delivery system, treatment response assessment, diagnosis at early stage, and management of neurological disorder by using neuro-engineering. BBB regulates micro- and macromolecule penetration/movement, thus protecting it from many kinds of illness. This phenomenon also prevents drug delivery for the neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and primary brain tumors. For some neurological disorders (AD and PD), the environmental pollution was considered as a major cause, as observed that metal and/or metal oxide from different sources are inhaled and get deposited in the lungs/brain. Old age, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are other factors for rapid deterioration of human health and onset of AD. In addition, gene mutations have also been examined to cause the early onset familial forms of AD. AD leads to cognitive impairment and plaque deposits in the brain leading to neuronal cell death. Based on these facts and considerations, this review elucidates the importance of frequently used metal chelators, NMs and/or NPs. The present review also discusses the current status and future challenges in terms of their application in drug delivery for neurological disease management.

According to recent statistics, 96 million apparent dengue infections were estimated worldwide in 2010. This figure is by far greater than the WHO prediction which indicates the rapid spread of this disease posing a growing threat to the economy and a major challenge to clinicians and health care services across the globe particularly in the affected areas. This article aims at bringing to light the current epidemiological and clinical status of the dengue fever. The relationship between genetic mutations, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the pathophysiology of disease progression will be put into perspective. It will also highlight the recent advances in dengue vaccine development. Thus far, a significant progress has been made in unraveling the risk factors and understanding the molecular pathogenesis associated with the disease. However, further insights in molecular features of the disease and the development of animal models will enormously help improving the therapeutic interventions and potentially contribute to finding new preventive measures for population at risk.

The ongoing coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), poses a threat to human health. Despite this, many affected countries are now in the process of gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions that were initially implemented in response to the pandemic. The success of the so-called “exit strategy” requires continued surveillance of virus circulation in the community and evaluation of the prevalence of protective immunity among population. Serology tests are valuable tools for these purposes. Herein, SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike (S) recombinant protein was utilized to develop and optimize an indirect enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) that enables a reliable detection of virus-specific IgG antibody in human sera. Importantly, the performance of this assay was evaluated utilizing micro-neutralization (MN) assay as a reference test. Our developed ELISA offers 100% sensitivity, 98.4% specificity, 98.8% agreement, and high overall accuracy. Moreover, the optical density (OD) values of positive samples significantly correlated with their MN titers. The assay specifically detects human IgG antibodies directed against SARS-CoV-2, but not those to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) or human coronavirus HKU1 (HCoV-HKU1). The availability of this in-house ELISA protocol would be valuable for various diagnostic and epidemiological applications.

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most frequent types of cancer that affect women. Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is responsible for 20% of all BC cases. The use of anti-HER2 natural compounds in the cure of BC that is HER2-positive patients has resulted in significant increases in survival in both early and advanced stages. The findings of in-silico research support the use of ligands as possible HER2 inhibitors, and molecules with high free energy of binding may have considerable anti-BC action, making them candidates for future drug development. The inhibitory activity of selected ligands like ZINC43069427 and ZINC95918662 against HER2 was found to be −11.0 and −8.50 kcal/mol, respectively. The amino acid residues Leu726, Val734, Ala751, Lys753, Thr798, Gly804, Arg849, Leu852, Thr862, and Asp863 were found in common interaction as compared to the control compound Lapatinib. Molecular dynamics study calculations of these selected potent inhibitors were conducted and found to be stable over the 50 ns simulation time in terms of root mean square deviation (RMSD), root-mean square fluctuation (RMSF), radius of gyration (Rg), and solvent accessible surface area (SASA). In addition, there are several parameters such as absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion toxicity (ADMET), physicochemical, and drug-likeness that were checked and found in good range to be potential lead-like molecules. Several drug-likeness rules like Lipinski, Ghose, Veber, Egan, and Muegge were checked and found to be positive for these rules. Based on these calculations and different parameters, these top two selected natural compounds can be used as potential candidates for anti-HER2 for the management of BC.