Indonesian Archives of Biomedical Research

Microneedle with Chitosan Adjuvant as an Alternative Method of Administration of COVID-19 Vaccination with Nucleocapsid Protein Targets

2022-01-27T07:45:29+00:00

Background: Researchers had been contriving to develop vaccines as a way to eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic. Several vaccines had been inaugurated with the intramuscular administration (IM) route, which has a higher risk of a shoulder injury. Microneedle, an alternative administration route that had been studied, showed more advantages compared to IM. Besides, chitosan as an adjuvant was also studied to increase immune response. This study aimed to explore further the use of microneedle as a method of COVID-19 vaccine administration with chitosan as adjuvants and nucleocapsid as vaccine target due to their benefits in the future. Aims: This literature review was assembled by exploring and analysing various studies of our topic from several sources, which accounted for 24 studies. Results: A potential vaccination target was spike protein due to its essential role in binding to ACE2 for virus entry into target cells. However, due to the large number of vaccinations targeting spike protein and many mutations, research about vaccination with nucleocapsid protein as the target was carried out. COVID-19 vaccine targeting nucleocapsid proteins exhibited a robust immune response even stronger than spike protein by dot blot analysis, and microneedles target SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein has a balanced ratio of IgG1 and IgG2A nucleocapsid antibodies that are essential for virus extermination. The use of chitosan as an adjuvant helped reduce the dose of vaccine and the risk of allergy. Conclusion: Vaccine administration through microneedles, chitosan as an adjuvant, and nucleocapsid as vaccine target had the potential to be an alternative, especially in a pandemic situation.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 protein, COVID-19 vaccination, Microneedles COVID-19 vaccination, Chitosan adjuvant, Chitosan allergy, Infection disease

Does Cytoglobin Play a Role as Anti-Fibrosis?

2022-01-12T17:15:48+00:00

Cytoglobin (Cygb) is a vertebrate globin protein that is synthesized by fibroblasts and expressed in a variety of organs. Cygb’s function is not fully understood. In contrast, activated fibroblasts (myofibroblasts) are known to produce collagen, which is the major component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and contributes to abnormal wound healing. There are three phases in wound healing: (1) injury; (2) inflammation; and (3) tissue regeneration. Myofibroblasts will apoptosis throughout the healing phase. If myofibroblasts fail to undergo apoptosis, this might end in fibrosis. This condition induces relative hypoxia in fibrosis. Several investigations have found that overexpression of Cygb serves as an antifibrosis agent by reducing collagen production. The potential involvement of Cygb in avoiding fibrosis in diverse tissues is discussed in this article.

Keywords: Cytoglobin (Cygb), wound healing, anti-fibrosis, collagen

Detection of COVID-19 Cases in the Hospital of Universitas Brawijaya Malang

2022-10-06T10:41:44+00:00

The global pandemic of COVID-19 was caused by a novel coronavirus identified as SARS-CoV-2. The outbreak started in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly all over the world. Escalation of daily test capacity can accelerate the new suspect of COVID-19 cases finding and rapidly trace the close contacts of confirmed cases. In this study, we reported the total number of confirmed cases based on the number of samples tested in the diagnostic laboratory of the Hospital of Universitas Brawijaya Malang. The data for this study were collected from the result of the RT-qPCR test, which was used as the gold standard to identify active cases of COVID-19. The data collection was started from May 2020 until April 2021. Based on our findings, it appeared that the peak of the first wave of COVID-19 happened between December 2020 and January 2021.

Keywords: COVID-19; RT-qPCR; ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎SARS-CoV-2

The Comparison of COVID-19 Preventive Strategies in Indonesia, Turkey, and China Based on the Number of New COVID-19 Cases in 2020

2022-01-10T14:16:53+00:00

Background; There is no specific drug for COVID-19 yet, therefore it is important to focus on preventing its spread in the community. COVID-19 prevention strategies in each country are certainly different. This review will compare strategies to prevent COVID-19 in Indonesia, Turkey, and China by the number of COVID-19 new cases.

Reviews; The number of new cases in Turkey showed a decline after implementing social distancing policies, calling for activities from home, and implementing policies to limit the mobility of people, especially vulnerable groups. In China, the number of new cases shows a decline and tends to ramp up until there are no new cases for some time with additional preventive measures (different from others) shifting offline consultations and treatment to online. In Indonesia, the prevention strategy to stop the spread of COVID-19 which is almost the same as in other countries, but the number of new positive cases of COVID-19 continues to increase.

Conclusion; China and Turkey can be said to have succeeded in preventing the spread of COVID-19 by restricting people's entry and exit policies in an area, working from home, and having a good health system, meanwhile Indonesia's COVID-19 new cases tend to continue to increase because of lack of hygiene awareness.

Keywords: COVID-19, Prevention, Indonesia, Turkey, China

Moringa oleifera Seeds Extract Effervescent Tablets as Water Purifier: to Overcome Clean Water Issues

2022-06-07T18:32:47+00:00

Background; Water quantity and quality are important determinants of health. However, this does not fit with the availability of clean water. Today, 771 million people in the world lack access to it. In Indonesia, only 84.91% of households have access to clean water. Moreover, with the COVID-19 pandemic, access to clean water becomes a vital part to eliminate the spread of the virus.

Reviews; People usually treat groundwater, river water, and wastewater by adding inorganic coagulants, such as aluminium sulphate to meet this need. But these coagulants aren't completely safe for health and the environment. Aluminium sulphate could cause neurological disease and carcinogens. In the environment, it’s causing pollution since it's undegradable. Hence, alternative coagulants to overcome these problems should be considered. Among the plants that have shown coagulant effect is Moringa oleifera. Many researchers have shown that Moringa seeds can reduce water effluent by up to 80-99%. The seeds are biodegradable and safe for humans. However, the use of Moringa seeds as a coagulant is only in the form of dry powder without further formulation. Therefore, to maximize its activity as a coagulant, Moringa seeds need to be processed further by forming effervescent tablets.

Conclusion; Effervescent tablets were chosen because they can dissolve quickly and evenly so that all active compounds of Moringa can work perfectly. This formulation is expected to increase the ability as a coagulant so that public access to clean water can increase. So, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) number six, Clean Water and Sanitation.

Keywords: Moringa oleifera, clean water, coagulant, effervescent, SDGs