2.Discovery of cockroach specimens of the genus Squamoptera (Ectobiidae: Pseudophyllodromiinae) from Okinawa, Japan, showing wing polymorphism
Komatsu, N. ; Bando, N. ; Uchida, A. ; Ooi, H.K.
Tropical Biomedicine 2021;38(No.3):222-225
Cockroach specimens of the genus, Squamoptera were collected from the Iriomote island of Okinawa prefecture, Japan. The morphological features of the specimens were characterized as having a white band on the dorsal surface of its thorax, its tegmen reduced into a tiny scale-like structure and the hindwing was absent. Ocelli was also absent and the small compound eyes not extending to apex of the head nor to the frontal face but extend further lower than the base of the antennae. When the specimens were reared in the laboratory, besides the short wing form, the long wing form began to appear in the rearing colony. In our reproductive biological study, we observed that hatching of the ootheca from the short wing female takes about 30 days, with an average of 6.6 nymphs being hatched from one ootheca. The male to female ratio of the offspring was 36:30. However, the frequency appearance of the offspring from the ootheca of the short wing female was 98.5% short wing and 1.5% long wing form. Our specimens occasionally show body polymorphism in the form of individuals having long wings instead of the usual short one. The long wing form does not show the white band on the dorsal surface of its thorax.
3.Diverse effects of clarithromycin and proposal of its clinical application for treating COVID-19 as a repurposing drug
Takemori, N. ; Ooi, H.K. ; Imai, G. ; Saio, M.
Tropical Biomedicine 2021;38(No.3):343-352
Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has been declared a pandemic, which is a serious threat to human
health. The disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Until now, several
vaccines and a few drugs have been approved for the prevention and treatment for COVID-19.
Recently, the effect of some macrolides including clarithromycin (CAM) on COVID-19 has
attracted attention. CAM is known to have diverse effects including immunomodulatory and
immunosuppressive effects, autophagy inhibition, steroid sparing effect, reversibility of
drug resistance, antineoplastic effect, antiviral effect as well as bacteriostatic/bactericidal
effect. Many patients with COVID-19 died due to an overwhelming response of their own
immune system characterized by the uncontrolled release of circulating inflammatory
cytokines (cytokine release syndrome [CRS]). This CRS plays a major role in progressing
pneumonia to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients. It is
noteworthy that CAM can suppress inflammatory cytokines responsible for CRS and also has
anti-SARS-CoV-2 effect. Considering the rapidly progressive global disease burden of COVID-
19, the application of CAM for treating COVID-19 needs to be urgently evaluated. Recently, an
open-labeled non-randomized trial using CAM for treating COVID-19 (ACHIEVE) was initiated
in Greece in May, 2020. Its results, though preprint, indicated that CAM treatment of patients
with moderate COVID-19 was associated with early clinical improvement and containment
of viral load. Thus, treatment with CAM as a single agent or combined with other anti-SARSCoV-
2 drugs should be tried for treating COVID-19. In this article, we discussed the significance
and usefulness of CAM in treating COVID-19.