1.Therapeutic potential of ginger against COVID-19:Is there enough evidence?
Jafarzadeh ABDOLLAH ; Jafarzadeh SARA ; Nemati MARYAM
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences 2021;8(4):267-279
In addition to the respiratory system,severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)strikes other systems,including the digestive,circulatory,urogenital,and even the central nervous system,as its receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is expressed in various organs,such as lungs,intestine,heart,esophagus,kidneys,bladder,testis,liver,and brain.Different mechanisms,in particular,massive virus replication,extensive apoptosis and necrosis of the lung-related epithelial and endothelial cells,vascular leakage,hyper-inflammatory responses,overproduction of pro-inflammatory mediators,cytokine storm,oxidative stress,downregulation of ACE2,and impairment of the renin-angiotensin system contribute to the COVID-19 pathogenesis.Currently,COVID-19 is a global pandemic with no specific anti-viral treatment.The favorable capabilities of the ginger were indicated in patients suffering from osteoarthritis,neurodegenerative disorders,rheumatoid arthritis,type 2 diabetes,respiratory distress,liver diseases and primary dysmenorrheal.Ginger or its compounds exhibited strong anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative influences in numerous animal models.This review provides ev-idence regarding the potential effects of ginger against SARS-CoV-2 infection and highlights its antiviral,anti-inflammatory,antioxidative,and immunomodulatory impacts in an attempt to consider this plant as an alternative therapeutic agent for COVID-19 treatment.
2.Cancer stem cell-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy: Challenges and prospects.
Javad MASOUMI ; Abdollah JAFARZADEH ; Jalal ABDOLALIZADEH ; Haroon KHAN ; Jeandet PHILIPPE ; Hamed MIRZAEI ; Hamid Reza MIRZAEI
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2021;11(7):1721-1739
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) with their self-renewal ability are accepted as cells which initiate tumors. CSCs are regarded as interesting targets for novel anticancer therapeutic agents because of their association with tumor recurrence and resistance to conventional therapies, including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells are engineered T cells which express an artificial receptor specific for tumor associated antigens (TAAs) by which they accurately target and kill cancer cells. In recent years, CAR-T cell therapy has shown more efficiency in cancer treatment, particularly regarding blood cancers. The expression of specific markers such as TAAs on CSCs in varied cancer types makes them as potent tools for CAR-T cell therapy. Here we review the CSC markers that have been previously targeted with CAR-T cells, as well as the CSC markers that may be used as possible targets for CAR-T cell therapy in the future. Furthermore, we will detail the most important obstacles against CAR-T cell therapy and suggest solutions.