Screening of potent phytochemical inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 protease and its two Asian mutants
Abstract Background COVID-19, declared a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus has already killed more than 2.3 million people worldwide. Object The principal intent of this work was to investigate lead compounds by screening natural product library (NPASS) for possible treatment of COVID-19. Methods Pharmacophore features were used to screen a large database to get a small dataset for structure-based virtual screening of natural product compounds. In the structure-based screening, molecular docking was performed to find a potent inhibitor molecule against the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-…
Sex differences in the relationship among alcohol, smoking, and Helicobacter pylori infection in asymptomatic individuals
Objective We aimed to investigate the relationship of Helicobacter pylori infection with alcohol and smoking. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among participants who underwent health check-ups for H. pylori infection between January 2013 and March 2017. We subsequently investigated the relationship of H. pylori infection with alcohol and smoking. Results A total of 7169 participants were enrolled in this study. The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 55.2%. Participants with H. pylori infection were more likely to be older than those without H. pylori infection. For male participants with H. pylori infection, multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that bo…