e-SQUARE, January 2022

Features

Choline Transporters !

Exercise & Aging !

Male Infertility !

COVID-19 Drugs !

Fight Against Leukemia !

Covid-19 Vaccine !

New Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

EDITORIAL TEAM

OMAR AKRAMUR RAB

MBBS, FCGP, FIAGP,

P G Dip. Business Management

MAHFUZUR RAHMAN

MBBS, MBA

RUBYEAT ADNAN

MBBS, MPH

MD. RAKIBUL ISLAM

MBBS, CCD

EDITORIAL

Dear Doctor,

Happy New Year 2022 !

Welcome to our online healthcare bulletin e- SQUARE !

In this issue, we focused on some interesting features like -
"Choline Transporters !", "Exercise & Aging !", "Male Infertility !", "COVID-19 Drugs !", "Fight Against Leukemia !", "Covid-19 Vaccine !".

In our regular feature, we have some products information of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd. as well.

Please send your feedback ! We always value your comments !

Click on to reply mode.

On behalf of the management of SQUARE, we wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous life.

Yours sincerely,

Editorial Team

Reply Mode : e-square@squaregroup.com

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of its editor or SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Choline Transporters !
Choline transporters cause the hypersensitivity in autism spectrum disorder
In habituation, an organism gets so used to a ubiquitous sight, smell, sensation or sound that it virtually disappears. Researcher have identified a transporter protein in the brain that plays a vital role in habituation. Habituation is common in humans and other organisms because it enables them to pay attention to the most essential features in their surroundings food, mates, and danger, while safely ignoring extraneous information. Currently, the circuitry in the brain and the molecular mechanisms involved in habituation are poorly understood. Research team investigated these mechanisms by studying the ability of fruit flies to tune out a specific scent. They discovered that the choline transporter, a protein that takes up choline into neurons so that the cells can produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, regulates habituation to smells. Fruit flies with fewer choline transporters in certain parts of the brain did not become habituated to the scent and instead became hypersensitive. The hypersensitivity and other changes observed in the flies with fewer choline transporters are similar to symptoms seen in people with Autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, previous work has shown that variations in the choline transporter have been associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study's findings open new avenues for future research to investigate the role of choline transporters in disorders related to habituation. This work may have far-reaching implications for our understanding of several neurological disorders.
SOURCE: Science Daily, January 2022	Return to top

Exercise & Aging !
Exercise alters brain chemistry to protect aging process
When elderly people stay active, their brains have more of a class of proteins that enhances the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition. This protective impact was found even in people whose brains at autopsy were riddled with toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers found that elderly people who remained active had higher levels of proteins that facilitate the exchange of information between neurons. This result is similar to an earlier finding that people who had more of these proteins in their brains when they died were better able to maintain their cognition late in life. It is surprisingly found that the effects ranged beyond the hippocampus, the brain's seat of memory, to encompass other brain regions associated with cognitive function. It may be that physical activity exerts a global sustaining effect, supporting and stimulating healthy function of proteins that facilitate synaptic transmission throughout the brain. The brains of older adults accumulate amyloid and tau, toxic proteins that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease pathology. Many scientists believe amyloid accumulates first, then tau, causing synapses and neurons to fall apart. It’s been previously found that synaptic integrity, whether measured in the spinal fluid of living adults or the brain tissue of autopsied adults, appeared to dampen the relationship between amyloid and tau, and between tau and neurodegeneration. In older adults with higher levels of the proteins associated with synaptic integrity, this cascade of neurotoxicity that leads to Alzheimer's disease appears to be attenuated.
SOURCE: Science Daily, January 2022	Return to top

Male Infertility !
Breakthrough into the cause of male infertility
Scientists have identified a new genetic mechanism that can cause severe forms of male infertility. This breakthrough in understanding the underlying cause of male infertility offers hope of better treatment options for patients in the future. The study shows that new mutations, not inherited from father or mother, play a major role in this medical condition. Experts have found that mutations occurring during the reproduction process, when the DNA of both parents is replicated, can result in infertility in men later in life. It is hoped that this new knowledge will help to provide more answers in the future about the cause and best treatment options available to infertile couples. Researchers said that most genetic studies look at recessively inherited causes of infertility, whereby both parents are a carrier of a mutation in a gene, and the infertility occurs when the son receives both mutated copies, resulting in problems with their fertility. However, research has found that mutations which occur when the DNA is replicated during reproduction in parents plays a significant role in the infertility in their sons. Experts identified mutations in the gene RBM5 in multiple infertile men. Importantly, these mutations mostly cause a dominant form of infertility, where only one mutated gene is required. As a consequence, there is a 50% chance that infertility caused by these mutations will be passed on to the man's and this may result in infertility, particularly in sons. Millions of children have already been born through assisted reproductive approaches as a result of infertility. This research indicates a significant proportion of these children may inherit infertility from their father.
SOURCE: Science Daily, January 2022	Return to top

COVID-19 Drugs !
COVID-19 drugs against Omicron
The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant causes less severe disease than Delta due to its better form of immune protection by vaccinations and previous infections. Researchers have now shown that Omicron variant viruses are particularly sensitive to inhibition by interferon response, an unspecific immune response that is present in all body cells. This provides the first explanation of why COVID-19 patients infected with the Omicron variant are less likely to experience severe disease. The cell culture study also showed that Omicron viruses remain sensitive to eight of the most important antiviral drugs and drug candidates for the treatment of COVID-19. This included active metabolite of Molnupiravir, Remdesivir, Favipravir, Ribavirin, Nirmatrelvir, Nafamostat, Camostat, and Aprotinin. Researchers also said that their study provides for the first time an explanation, why Omicron infections are less likely to cause severe disease. This is due to Omicron, in contrast to Delta, does not effectively inhibit the host cell interferon immune response. Although cell culture experiments do not exactly reflect the more complex situation in a patient, our data provide encouraging evidence that the available antiviral COVID-19 drugs are also effective against Omicron.
SOURCE: Science Daily, January 2022	Return to top

Fight Against Leukemia !
Obscure protein is spotlighted in fight against leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of white blood cells. Researchers discovered that AML cancer cells depend on a protein called SCP4 to survive. They think the previously little known protein is involved in a metabolic pathway the cancer cells need to survive. SCP4 provides researchers with a potential new therapeutic approach for this aggressive cancer. SCP4 is a phosphatase, a type of protein that regulates cell activity by taking phosphates off other proteins. Another type of protein called a kinase puts those phosphates back on. The number of phosphates added to or subtracted from a protein determines its activity. Scientists discovered that SCP4 could pair with either one of two similar kinases called STK35 and PDIK1L. AML cells appear to need the phosphatase and kinases to work together to survive; turning off the gene that produces SCP4 kills the cancer cells. As researchers have encountered something that was never previously studied in the context of cancer or hasn't been understood at all, it is very promising. The researchers think SCP4 may control an important metabolic pathway on which AML cells depend. Drugs directed against SCP4 could starve and kill the cancer cells while allowing other healthy blood cells to grow. Fortunately, other phosphatases have been successfully targeted by drugs before. Scientists admit that deciding to study SCP4 was risky. But now that its important role in AML cells has been discovered. Other researchers can use this system and tweak some other things to really try and pinpoint the exact pathway. This work underscores the importance of fundamental research for discovering future therapies.
SOURCE: Science Daily, January 2022	Return to top

Covid-19 Vaccine !
Neutralizing antibodies following heterologous BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) booster vaccination
The recent emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is raising concerns because of its increased transmissibility and by its numerous spike mutations with potential to evade neutralizing antibodies elicited by COVID-19 vaccines. Here, researchers evaluated the effects of a heterologous BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer–BioNTech) booster on the humoral immunity of participants that had received a two-dose regimen of CoronaVac, an inactivated vaccine used globally. They found that heterologous CoronaVac prime followed by BNT162b2 booster regimen induces elevated virus-specific antibody levels and potent neutralization activity against the ancestral virus and Delta variant, resembling the titers obtained after two-doses of mRNA vaccines. While neutralization of Omicron was undetectable in participants that had received a two-dose regimen of CoronaVac vaccine, BNT162b2 booster resulted in a 1.4-fold increase in neutralization activity against Omicron, compared to two-dose mRNA vaccine. Despite this increase, neutralizing antibody titers were reduced by 7.1-fold and 3.6-fold for Omicron compared to ancestral and Delta variant, respectively. These findings have immediate implications for multiples countries that previously used a CoronaVac regimen and reinforce the notion that the Omicron variant is associated with immune escape from vaccines or infection-induced immunity, highlighting the global need for vaccine boosters to combat the impact of emerging variants.
SOURCE: PubMed, January 2022	Return to top

New Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

	Product	Antiscar^TM
	Generic Name	Extractum Cepae +Heparin +Allantoin
	Strength	100 mg+ 0.278 mg+10 mg
	Dosage form	Gel
	Therapeutic Category	Antiscar
	Product	Nomi^TM
	Generic Name	Zolmitriptan
	Strength	2.5 mg/spray
	Dosage form	Nasal Spray
	Therapeutic Category	Antimigraine
	Product	Magnide^TM
	Generic Name	Magnesium Oxide
	Strength	365 mg
	Dosage form	Tablet
	Therapeutic Category	Mineral

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Healthcare online	Keeping you up-to-date
*VOL. 20 ISSUE: 1 January 2022*	Medical Services Department **SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.**