4 | MNPs: PROMISING BIOMEDICAL RESOURCES FOR IRCVD
Generally speaking, chronic or acute infection highly links to CVD (hypertension, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, heart failure, and stroke), and other mNCDs, such as diabetes, cancer, respiratory and renal diseases, as well the related cardiovascular, diabetes, and cancer (CDC) strips [42, 43]. Here, the infection-related CVD is referred to as irCVD. Since MNPs have numerous health benefits, such as antioxidant, anti-infection, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, anti-diabetic effects, and cancer treatment [44, 45], they are not only suitable for treatment of infectious diseases, but also suitable for control and prevention irCVD and other mNCDs (Table 1).
In fact, MNPs derived compounds extracted from marine organisms are major sources of innovative medicine. And targeting lipid metabolism may treat related diseases [46]. Diphlorethohydroxycarmalol (DPHC) isolated from ishige okamurae (a brown algae) might be a potent inhibitor for alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase, which can alleviates postprandial hyperglycemia in diabetic mice [47]. Cytotoxic prodiginines isolated from marine bacteria have the antimelanoma effects by provoking cytostatic rather than cytotoxic effects, cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, induction of apoptosis and DNA damage, downregulation of survivin, and decreased clonogenic capacity in survivin knockdown cells [48].
Current studies showed that there are high associations between coronavirus (the SARS-CoV-2 and its variants) infection and CVD. As we known, cardiovascular health highly links to physical activity, nutrition, human immune status, and respiratory function, coronavirus can damage cardiovascular system by targeted respiratory and immune function [49]. On the one hand, COVID-9 may result in infection-related multi-organs failure in acute severe cases and mNCDs in the recovery cases, such as respiratory diseases, irCVD, and chronic kidney disease. On the other hand, as important risk factors for mortality, mNCDs are more strongly associated with outcomes and infection death in cases with COVID-19 [50].
Due to related vascular inflammation and direct vascular endothelial injury [51], SARS-CoV-2 infection may contribute to heart failure or other cardiovascular complications and multipleorgan failure. Heart failure in cases with COVID-19 involves in the abnormal activation of multiple inflammatory pathways [52]. Many studies found that a large number of cases with severe COVID-19 are easy to suffer from thrombotic complications in the venous and arterial systems. A report of an international panel showed that confirmed or suspected cases with COVID-19 infection have a high rate of acute ischemic stroke [53].
In fact, as a central feature of cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection, cerebrovascular events (stroke, ischemia, cerebrovascular injury, cerebral hemorrhage) often meet due to complement cascade, cytokine cascades, and endotheliopathy in the cerebral vasculature [54]. Thus, during the pandemic, there is an arising need of a more positive and intense thromboprophylaxis among cases hospitalized with COVID-19 due to asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) [55].
Due to acute cardiac injury [56], cardiac arrhythmias [57, 58], major adverse cardiocerebrovascular events (MACCE) such as acute arterial events, a hypercoagulable status [59], and high mortality rate in cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection, better strategies are necessary to fight against COVID-19 and protect cardiovascular health. Hence, effective anti-infection of SARS-CoV-2 will help to protect cardiovascular system, reduce cardiac injury and cardiac arrest, and other irCVDs.
Since MNPs have a great potential role of anti-infection of SARS-CoV-2, they will also help to prevent irCVD. Some bioactive molecules extracted from marine organisms (vertebrates, invertebrates, seaweeds, or sea microorganisms) can be used not only to prevent SARS-Cov-2 infection but also to treat hypertension due to ACE inhibitory activity [30]. As one of MNPs with anticoagulant, thrombolytic, and fibrinolytic activities [60], seaweed has potential value for clinical use due to their natural origin, safety, and low cost. However, regardless of its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, currently, no enough evidence to support the supposed favorable effects of statin (non-MNPs) therapy on COVID-19 outcomes [61].
A study found that mineral-balanced deep sea water [magnesium (Mg):calcium (Ca)=3:1] (MB-DSW) has anti-atopic dermatitis activity due to regression of inflammatory chemokines [62]. Other studies found that MB-DSW has anti-diabetic and anti-obesity action [63] due to the stimulatory effect on mitochondrial biogenesis and function and enriched with Mg and Ca, and the effects on cholesterol metabolism [64] due to prevention of the high glucose- or FFA/glucose-induced increase of cellular cholesterol levels, and the role of the prevention of ultraviolet light-induced skin cancer development [65] due to enhancing skin cell clearance through the activation of autophagic cell death.
In addition, recombinant photoproteins from different marine organisms as a promising analytical tool have a big role in biomedical research fields [66], such as the measurement of Ca2+ in different intracellular compartments of animal cells, as labels in the design and development of binding assays as well as the emerging use of bioluminescence. All in all, from anti-infection of coronavirus (the SARS-CoV-2 and its variants) to preventing irCVD, MNPs are huge biomedical resources, which is worthy of developing bio-agents.