Johnston McCaffrey (locknumber8)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is global pandemic with various clinical presentations, ranging from cold to sometimes unrecoverable acute respiratory distress syndrome. Although urgently needed, currently there are no specific treatments for COVID-19. Repurposing existing pharmaceuticals to treat COVID-19 is crucial to control the pandemic. In silico and in vitro studies suggest that a nucleotide inhibitor called Sofosbuvir, has also antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), apart from suppressing other positive-strand ribonucleic Acid viruses with conserved polymerase (hepatitis C virus). The aim of this study was to assess if Sofosbuvir improves clinical outcomes in patients with moderate or severe COVID-19. A compre-hensive overview of scientific literature has been made. Terms searched in PubMed were COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, nucleotide inhibitors, pandemic, Sofosbuvir. Results clinical trials conducted among adults with moderate or severe COVID-19 were analyzed. Patients were divided in treatment and control arms, receiving Sofosbuvir plus standard care and standard care alone respectively. The addition of Sofosbuvir to standard care significantly reduced the duration of hospital stay compared with standard care alone in clinical trials examined. If efficacy of these repurposed, cheap and easily available drug against SARS-CoV-2 is further demonstrated, it could be essential to refine the treatment of COVID-19.N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an abundantly available antioxidant with a wide range of antidotal properties currently best studied for its use in treating acetaminophen overdose. It has a robustly established safety profile with easily tolerated side effects and presents the Food and Drug Administration's approval for use in treating acetaminophen overdose patients. It has been proven efficacious in off-label uses, such as in respiratory diseases, heart disease, cancer, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and seasonal influenza. Clinical trials have recently shown that NAC's capacity to replenish glutathione stores may significantly improve coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes, especially in high risk individuals. Interestingly, individuals with glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency have been shown to experience even greater benefit. The same study has concluded that NAC's ability to mitigate the impact of the cytokine storm and prevent elevation of liver enzymes, C-reactive protein, and ferritin is associated with higher success rates weaning from the ventilator and return to normal function in COVID-19 patients. Considering the background knowledge of biochemistry, current uses of NAC in clinical practice, and newly acquired evidence on its potential efficacy against COVID-19, it is worthwhile to investigate further whether this agent can be used as a treatment or adjuvant for COVID-19.The 2020 year-end wrap-up session of Baishideng Publishing Group was held on December 31, 2020. All staff attended this session. We shared our key results area and made a business plan regarding the journal management. World Journal of Virology (WJV) is now abstracted and indexed in PubMed and PubMed Central. It received 23 manuscripts and published 9 papers which included 6 articles reporting coronavirus 19 in 2020. On the other hand, we made major strategies for WJV's development in 2021. At present, WJV only has 28 Editorial Board members and cannot receive many manuscripts. We must redouble our efforts to invite more highly influential scientists to join our Editorial Board member and write high-quality manuscripts. The T-cell costimulation blocking agent belatacept has been identified as a possible substitute for calcineurin inhibitors, however, no consensus has been established against its use over the standard care agent Tacrolimus. To evaluate the effectiveness of belatacept based maintenance immuno-suppressive regimens in comparison to tacrol