Biomedical research topics 2022

Summary: Breast cancer is the world's most common cancer in women and is the leading cause of their cancer-related mortality. Its early diagnosis with conventional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy can give good results in most breast cancer patients. However, these therapies provide poor outcomes in metastatic breast cancers or late-stage breast cancer. Therefore, as another effort for breast cancer treatment, immunotherapy is now considered the fourth-line cancer treatment besides conventional therapies. In this article, we focus on breast cancer treatment by transplantation of cytokine-induced killer cells [CIKs] and dendritic cells [DCs]. While CIKs are effector cells that can directly attack and kill breast cancer cells, DCs support other immune cells in including CIKs in antitumor activities. Although transplantation of CIKs or DCs alone gave limited results in breast cancer treatment, the combination of CIKs and DCs in current clinical trials demonstrated significant results. Thus, we propose that CIK-DC therapy will emerge as a new option for breast cancer treatment soon.

Summary: The current pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19] is spreading at an accelerated rate globally. Global concerns were raised following its discovery in December 2019, as previous similar diseases. Diseases such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus [SARS-CoV] and the Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus [MERS-CoV] are known to lead to adverse outcomes in pregnant women and those in early maternal stages, with significantly higher rates of complication and mortality compared to other groups of individuals. The anatomical, physiological, and immunological changes that occur during pregnancy lead to higher risks associated with respiratory infections for pregnant women, as they can directly affect the well-being of pregnant women and infants. Vertical transmission of COVID-19 from mother to child was a concern, as such transmission could endanger a child. Three mechanisms of vertical transmission have been suggested: intrauterine transmission, placental blood transmission, and intrapartum transmission. This review discusses the impact and pathogenicity of COVID-19 on the well-being of pregnant and early maternal women, both the clinical aspect, health aspects, and diagnostic and therapeutic options. It will also discuss the adverse outcomes among pregnant women and newborn infants who contract the disease and the different mechanisms of vertical transmission from infected mother to child. The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of COVID- 19 that have been recently used have also been highlighted, in addition to the challenges faced by pregnant women who have contracted the virus during the pandemic.

Summary: Erectile dysfunction [ED] is one of the most common conditions affecting the sexual lives of middleaged and older men. The pathophysiology of penile erection is rather complex and concerns many specialists, such as andrologists, urologists, endocrinologists, and cardiologists. Recently, there has been a significant increase in our understanding of ED, detailed up to the gene and molecular level. Therefore, treatments for this disease are also more advanced and comprise numerous novel medications and therapies such as oral medications with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor and modern penile prosthesis implantation. However, these therapeutic approaches have an impact in relieving the symptoms of ED and have not thoroughly resolved their reasons. Regenerative therapeutics including intracavernosal injection with platelet-rich plasma and stem cell therapy have gained considerable attention because of their ability to generate new penile tissue as well as reverse ED. The use of these novel ED treatments is emerging due to their safety and long-term efficacy based on substantial preclinical evidence. However, only a few clinical trials have been conducted and demonstrate promising outcomes. This article will briefly review the scientific evidence on these regenerative therapeutics for ED.

Summary: In most people, COVID-19 presents as a mild disease. However, in many people, especially those with comorbidities, profound inflammation manifesting as a cytokine storm may lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ failure. This novel study reports two severe COVID-19 patients from Koja Regional Hospital: a male aged 52 and a female aged 65. Both patients had poor prognoses based on prognostic biomarkers, disseminated intravascular coagulation, nosocomial infections, and were reintubated more than once. Both patients were treated with adjunct autologous activated platelet-rich plasma a safe and promising therapy and were ultimately discharged. Thus, this study reports the potential of autologous activated platelet-rich plasma as supportive therapy for severe COVID-19 patients.

Summary: Gene therapy is an experimental approach for treating or preventing disease by using genes. Due to its promised therapeutic benefits for various diseases, this technology has drawn much interest in recent years. Despite reports of adverse events caused by gene therapies, success stories have increasingly emerged. The key to the success of gene therapy is finding a suitable DNA vector that will transport the gene into host cells, thus leading to the expression of the desired protein. An effective vector must be very efficient in delivering a gene to the target cells, non-toxic and safe to patients, inexpensive, and simple to use. This review discusses various aspects of the viral vectors currently in use in gene delivery systems and their great potential to unlock effective transgene expression in gene therapy applications based on this platform.