Using Nanotechnology to Identify those Most at Risk from COVID-19
It’s now obvious that the pandemic of COVID-19 is the number one concern for everyone from all over the world as the surge of Coronavirus has led to the closedown of proactive closure of schools and universities and the lockdown of many cities in all four corners of the world.
Furthermore, many scientific conferences have been called off and the global economy has seriously been affected due to the consequences of the outbreak.
Vahid Javan Kouzegaran
Analytical Chemist (Ph.D.) / Nanografi Nano Technology
Introduction
In order to get over the problem, several biopharmaceutical companies and research organizations namely Moderna/National Institutes of Health (NIH), Medicago, Inovio, Clover/GSK and the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences have claimed the synthesis of the potential COVID-19 candidates.
Current Strategies for Vaccine Trial and Production
In so doing, some of the mentioned scientific organizations have already started their clinical trials as well. Nevertheless, it is estimated that the process of clinical trials could take 12 to 18 months in order to achieve the production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine across the world 1.
Old Viral Medication Trials
The reintroduction of the existing antiviral strategies and vaccines could also be an alternative and a shortcut until the vaccines have been finalized. Chloroquine, which has already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for malaria treatment, has shown to inhibit endocytosis of nanoparticles in the sizes as big as that virus. For quite a while, it was believed that it could be consumed potentially against the COVID-19 and was put in practice for the treatment in China. Later, it was revealed that chloroquine is not a practically efficient agent but shows satisfactory results with minor side effects according to reports.
Nanotechnological Viewpoint towards COVID-19 Treatment
There are now investigations and clinical experiments concerning the effects of several potential drug and therapies. Remdesivir among all, has shown much more satisfactory outcomes in vitro and in vivo experiment against the Coronavirus family pathogens. The need for antibodies in conjunction with other testing regimes is essential in order to confirm infections since titers antibody are left undetected in the course of the first few days of the infection. However, immunoassays conducted based on straightforward chemiluminescence operation and probe-based colloid nanoparticles immunoassays make it possible to carry out immediate identification of asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms leading to the immediate contact tracing/mandated quarantine consecutively. At the moment, antibody test kits are being developed to facilitate the self-diagnosis at home. The examination of nucleic acids based on a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction as well as next-generation sequencing combined with detecting antibodies can considerably promote the isolation rate and identification. Furthermore, antibodies quantification against COVID-19 can potentially lead to evaluation of whether a convalescent survivor can donate convalescent plasma or not. Moreover, diagnoses based on identification of viral proteins are under investigation and will make it possible carry out fast diagnosis with no hesitation using a simple setup 1.
Nanotechnology and nanoscience as a whole have the potential to study systems and organisms whose properties change according to their size. For instance, if you can conduct a reaction in a flask of 500 µL up to 10 mL, the result of the reaction will be almost the same. However, in the case of choosing nanoscale sizes and containers, the interaction between the walls of the container and the reagents become sort of relevant and therefore, in such a condition the container size will appear to play a critical role in the chemistry of the reaction.
To get more information about the applications of nanotechnology in medicine,
you can read our blog post here.
COVID-19 Identification Techniques Based on Nanotechnology in High-Risk Individuals
It is argued that the best technique to take the control of COVID-19 in the absence of practical vaccines has to be a reliable cheat, portable diagnostic device. Recently, a study has revealed the possibility of new approach based on nanotechnology. Developing plug-and-play diagnostics to control the COVID-19 outbreak could come in efficient in preventing the surge of epidemics in the future. Researchers from Michigan State University state there are pre-existing comorbidities among patients at high risk of COVID-19 infection. In addition, the identification of patients at serious risk of COVID-19 mortality, especially those with comorbidities including progressive respiratory failure, cardiovascular disease and massive alveolar damage, could remarkably strengthen health care providers and increase their resistance in order to take immediate actions and minimize any overwhelming care centers and consecutively save those with critical conditions. It is necessary to have a complementary technique for an early identification. It is considered crucially important to evaluate the risk of mortality before the progression of the disease in order to protect healthcare resources and lower death toll. On the other hand, it is impossible to categorize patients with a high risk of life-threatening condition and those with asymptomatic carriers different from clinical observations where there more reliable and faster strategies are required. Basically, there are two major areas for any possible point-of-care diagnostics in the case of COVID-19 with high risk as magnetic levitation and bimolecular Corona 2.
Nanoparticles Identification Mechanism
Once a nanoparticle enters into the human blood or any biological environment, it engages in an immediate contact with a variety of biomolecules, more importantly, protein which create a coating layer on the surface of the nanoparticle giving rise to the so-called biomolecular corona importing a unique biological characteristics and identity to the nanoparticle which is particularly distinct form that of the original nanoparticle surface. It has also been demonstrated that the combination with advanced classifiers and the protein corona with the relevant specific disease can help detect and discriminate cancers prior to their occurrence. Similarly, there is a technique that could be employed for precise discrimination between nonfatal and fatal COVID-19 infection considering the fact that the common cold is capable of altering the profile of protein corona at the surface of polystyrene and silica nanoparticles. A technology known as protein corona sensor array is capable of defining the plasma protein/biomolecule patterns to identify life-threatening case of COVID-19 infection at practically early stages. Even though the surface of biomolecular corona is covered by proteins, other biomolecules including nucleic acids, metabolomes and lipids possess diagnostic capabilities in the corona composition. Considering the fast point-of-care testing, the application of fluids with biological grades such as urine, saliva and tears could be taken into account in protein coronavirus sensory techniques as these biological systems contain mostly the disease-related protein markers 2.
The application of biological fluids that are easy to gather any platform with discriminative capabilities is the purpose behind creating a point-of-care in the absence of a healthcare expert compared to human plasma which requires a blood sample to be taken by an expert. However, the major downsize of biological fluids with known plasma nature compared to human is plasma they appear to contain smaller quantities and range of biomolecules leading to poor sensitivity and specificity to be applied in a precise prediction.
Conclusion
The suggested mechanisms and approaches might eventually lead to a sensitive and simple system to precisely identify patients with positive COVID-19 cases at high risk of fatality. This viewpoint could remarkably promote strategies towards any probable future pandemic and healthcare resources as well as management strategies without suffering from the large social and economic burden the world is facing today.
To get more information, you can visit Blografi.
References
1. Moscatelli, A. Chemistry under nanoconfinement. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 239 (2020).
2. Udugama, B. et al. Diagnosing COVID-19: The Disease and Tools for Detection. ACS Nano 14, 3822–3835 (2020).
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