Use of Nanoparticles to Combat COVID-19

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Introduction

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral disease caused by coronavirus 2 that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). The World Health Organization (WHO) proclaimed the COVID-19 outbreak a worldwide public health crisis of global outrage on January 20, 2020. COVID-19 has become much more prevalent, with more than 18 crore cases documented globally and > 4 million fatalities(Allawadhi et al., 2021; Poggio et al., 2020; Prajapati et al., 2020). COVID-19 can cause moderate symptoms like fever, coughs, and asthma to life-threatening conditions including acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and sometimes fatality. COVID-19 has a strong tendency to spread, rendering prevention and control complicated. A range of antiviral medicines is already being studied in clinical studies. In India, the anti-malarial medicine ‘Hydroxychloroquine' was approved by the government to cure extreme COVID-19 cases, however, several hospitals began treating very ill patients with plasma therapy and vaccinations such as COVISHIELD and COVAXIN. Other medications being tested against COVID-19 include ‘Lopinavir' with ‘Ritonavir,' which is used to treat HIV; 'Remdesivir,' which binds to viral RNA polymerase, ‘Interferon-beta-1a', which combines ritonavir and lopinavir to treat numerous sclerosis. Outside the host cell, the virus is usually inactive, but it replicates rapidly within the host via its replication machinery(Spigaglia, 2020; Zhao et al., 2021). As a result, there is a great need to understand how the virus interacts with the host that can be examined with cutting-edge technology and a reliable system. COVID-19 has three primary challenges: prevention, efficient and early detection, and treatment. Nanotechnology has already been shown to be effective against the human immunodeficiency virus, lyme disease, influenza virus, and numerous respiratory viruses, therefore it could be an effective therapy for COVID-19(Li et al., 2020). Figure 1 shows the basic route of transmission for COVID-19.

Figure 1.

Infected persons generate respiratory fluid drops carrying live viruses, which can infect those nearby by breathing airborne droplets or by direct touch with droplets or an infected hand. In addition, these droplets can infect other surfaces (fomites) and infect individuals through indirect touch

(Figure adapted from the source (Ruiz-Hitzky et al., 2020))

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Background

Numerous researchers have suggested that nanotechnology could be used to detect COVID-19 infection and design successful therapy techniques based on gut microbiome modification. Nanoparticles (NPs) constitute tiny particles with several 100 atoms whose size is measured in nano-units. Such polymeric particles might be naturally occurring or lab-made. NPs are generally made using top-down and bottom-up synthesis techniques like spinning molecular condensation, mechanical milling, biological synthesis, chemical etching puttering, laser pyrolysis, and electro-explosion(El-Megharbel et al., 2021; Kelleni, 2021). NPs are used in a variety of industries, including engineering, healthcare, biotech, and pharmaceuticals. The surface layer of such particles is fabricated with diverse molecules including metal ions, polymers, and surfactants. The shell is the intermediate layer, which is chemically distinct from the other layers, while the core is the innermost layer or central section, which is also known as NP. In the fabrication of the core and shell, a variety of inorganic and organic nanomaterials could be employed, resulting in nano- composites. The core-shell layers contents determine the physiological, photonic, and physicochemical aspects of these nanocomposites. Nanoparticles react rapidly in their natural condition. They absorb a lot of solar energy and show quantum phenomena(Chaudhary et al., 2021; Chintagunta et al., 2021). Metal NPs generally fabricated of metal precursors that have a unique optical property called localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR). These NPs have a wide variety of functions in research: for example, gold NPs are commonly used to enhance the electronic stream in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) materials in order to get a high-quality image. The certain viral particle-like SARS-Cov-2 virus is smaller than antiviral NPs having an avg. size of 120 nm as shown in Figure 2. As a result, NPs may interact directly on the entire viral particles, as well as their surface proteins, triggering viruses inactive.

Key Terms in this Chapter

WHO: The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.

RT-PCR: Real time RT–PCR is a nuclear-derived method for detecting the presence of specific genetic material in any pathogen, including a virus. Originally, the method used radioactive isotope markers to detect targeted genetic materials, but subsequent refining has led to the replacement of isotopic labelling with special markers, most frequently fluorescent dyes. This technique allows scientists to see the results almost immediately while the process is still ongoing, whereas conventional RT–PCR only provides results at the end of the process.

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. However, some will become seriously ill and require medical attention. Older people and those with underlying medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. Anyone can get sick with COVID-19 and become seriously ill or die at any age.

SARS: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by a SARS-associated coronavirus. It was first identified at the end of February 2003 during an outbreak that emerged in China and spread to 4 other countries. SARS is an airborne virus and can spread through small droplets of saliva in a similar way to the cold and influenza. It was the first severe and readily transmissible new disease to emerge in the 21 st century and showed a clear capacity to spread along the routes of international air travel.

COVAXIN®: COVAXIN ® , India ' s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech is developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). The indigenous, inactivated vaccine is developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) high containment facility. The vaccine is developed using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell derived platform technology. Inactivated vaccines do not replicate and are therefore unlikely to revert and cause pathological effects. They contain dead virus, incapable of infecting people but still able to instruct the immune system to mount a defensive reaction against an infection.

PPE: Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as “PPE”, is equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that cause serious workplace injuries and illnesses. These injuries and illnesses may result from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards. Personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits.

DNA: DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

Nanoparticles: A nanoparticle is a small particle that ranges between 1 to 100 nanometers in size. Undetectable by the human eye, nanoparticles can exhibit significantly different physical and chemical properties to their larger material counterparts.

RNA: Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a molecule similar to DNA. Unlike DNA, RNA is single-stranded. An RNA strand has a backbone made of alternating sugar (ribose) and phosphate groups. Attached to each sugar is one of four bases--adenine (A), uracil (U), cytosine (C), or guanine (G). Different types of RNA exist in the cell: messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and transfer RNA (tRNA). More recently, some small RNAs have been found to be involved in regulating gene expression.

MERS: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS-CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Covishield: Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 vaccine, called Covishield, is a version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that manufacturers in India produce locally. According to AstraZeneca’s primary analysis of phase 3 trial data, the vaccine has a 76% efficacy rate after both doses.