An Evaluation of Physical and Psychological Changes in School Children during Online Education - A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Covid -19 is a great pandemic that keeps people indoors. This has increased the levels of perceived stress among not only adults but also young children. Children are much exposed to online education that keeps them in front of a computer or mobile phone exposing them to virtual education. This causes them to get stressed very easily. Objective: To evaluate the physical and psychological changes in school children during online education. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of a sample consisting of 100 school children undergoing online education through their schools was conducted. The participants were administered with a self developed questionnaire consisting of 17 questions. The responses were collected using google forms. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis and chi square test was used to analyse the data. Results: The study reported that school children were stressed during online education. Crosstab evaluation was done for the questionnaire. It reported that the majority of the female children said that they feel good about online education and are able to manage the stress. Conclusions: This study concluded an innovative finding that there is a gradual increase in the level of stress from moderate high among school students after the start of the COVID-19  outbreak.

MicroRNA-532-3p Regulates Pro-Inflammatory Human THP-1 Macrophages by Targeting ASK1/p38 MAPK Pathway

Inflammation is a complex biological process which alters the normal physiological function of the immune system resulting in an abnormal microenvironment that leads to several clinical complications. The process of inflammation is mediated through various intracellular signaling factors inside the cells. Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is an inflammation-derived kinase that controls the activation of other family of kinases such as p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38 MAPKs), which mediates various the inflammatory processes. In this study, we cultured THP-1 macrophage cells to undergo inflammatory proliferation with LPS (1 μg/ml) and TNFα (10 ng/ml) stimulation. Initial in silico analysis was utilized to predict novel microRNAs (miRNAs) that target ASK1 signaling and its expression levels in LPS and TNFα stimulated THP-1 cells were estimated. Among the miRNAs, miR-532-3p showcased the highest binding affinity towards ASK1 kinase. We witnessed that transient transfection of miR-532-3p diminished the levels of ASK1 and downstream phosphorylation/translocation of p38 MAPK. Furthermore, direct targeting of ASK1 resulted in regulation of uncontrolled release of cytokines (TNFα, IL-6, and IL-23) and chemokines (GM-CSF and MIP-2α). Overall, we suggest that miR-532-3p attenuates the pro-inflammatory nature of macrophages by targeting ASK1/p38 MAPK signaling pathway and can be used as a molecular intervention for treating inflammatory diseases.

MiR-145-5p mitigates dysregulated Wnt1/β-catenin signaling pathway in rheumatoid arthritis

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) lining the arthritic synovial joint region have been implicated to be a key player in bone remodeling. The uncontrolled proliferation of this cell subtype is strictly regulated by various molecular elements including microRNAs (miRNAs). The Wnt1/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the survival of FLS cells. This study explores the underlying mechanism of miR-145-5p towards the Wnt1/β-catenin pathway. MiR-145-5p depicted a strong binding affinity towards frizzled class receptor 4 (FZD4) 3' UTR, a key receptor complex essential for recognizing circulating Wnt1 molecules. Adjuvant induced arthritic fibroblast-like synoviocytes (AA-FLS) isolated from rats stimulated with Wnt1 (10 ng/ml) elicited active Wnt1/β-catenin signaling. Transfection of miR-145-5p mimic (50 pmol) to AA-FLS stimulated with Wnt1 elicited reduced expression levels of various factors of Wnt1/β-catenin signaling including low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5), dishevelled segment polarity protein 1 (Dvl1) and β-catenin transcription factor. Moreover, pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-23) were regulated compared to the diseased groups. Furthermore, miR-145-5p counterbalanced the levels of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) at the cellular level, essential for bone remodeling. Hence, we suggest that miR-145-5p regulates the survival/proliferation of FLS cells in RA disease condition through attenuation of Wnt1/β-catenin signaling.

Berberine encapsulated PEG-coated liposomes attenuate Wnt1/β-catenin signaling in rheumatoid arthritis via miR-23a activation

Bone erosion is a debilitating pathological process of osteopathic disorder like rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Current treatment strategies render low disease activity but with disease recurrence. To find an alternative, we designed this study with an aim to explore the underlying therapeutic effect of PEGylated liposomal BBR (PEG-BBR) against Wnt1/β-catenin mediated bone erosion in adjuvant-induced arthritic (AA) rat model and fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) with reference to microRNA-23a (miR-23a) activity. Our initial studies using confocal microscopy and Near-Infrared Imaging (NIR) showed successful internalization of PEG-BBR and PEG-miR-23a in vitro and in vivo respectively and was retained till 48 h. The preferential internalization of PEG-BBR into the inflamed joint region significantly reduced the gene and protein level expression of major Wnt1 signaling mediators and reduced bone erosion in rats. Moreover, PEG-BBR treatment in FLS cells attenuated the gene and protein expression levels of FZD4, LRP5, β-catenin, and Dvl-1 through the induction of CYLD. Furthermore, inhibition of these factors resulted in reduced bone loss and increased calcium retainability by altering the RANKL/OPG axis. PEG-BBR treatment markedly inhibited the expression of LRP5 protein on par with the DKK-1 (LRP5/Wnt signaling inhibitor) and suppressed the transcriptional activation of β-catenin inside the cells. We further witnessed that miR-23a altered the expression levels of LRP5 through RNA interference. Overall, our findings endorsed that miR-23a possesses a multifaceted therapeutic efficiency like berberine in RA pathogenesis and can be considered as a potential candidate for therapeutic targeting of Wnt1/β-catenin signaling in RA disease condition.

Berberine modulates ASK1 signaling mediated through TLR4/TRAF2 via upregulation of miR-23a

The current study was designed to explore the underlying therapeutic effect of berberine (BBR), an alkaloid compound against LPS (1 μg/ml)/TNFα (10 ng/ml) mediated apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) signaling in RAW 264.7 macrophages and adjuvant-induced arthritic synovial macrophages (AA-SM) with relation to miR-23a levels. LPS and TNFα stimulation abrogated the expression of miR-23a resulting in TLR4/TRAF2 mediated ASK1 activation and downstream phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK). BBR (25-75 μM) treatment ameliorated the gene expression levels of TLR4, TRAF2, TNFα, IL-6, and IL-23 through the upregulation of miR-23a. Subsequently, BBR suppressed the levels of TLR4/TRAF2 mediated phosphorylation of ASK1/p38 and attenuated the expression of various pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL-6 & IL-23) in RAW 264.7 macrophages and AA-SM cells. BBR was able to counteract these factors through activation of miR-23a levels in LPS/TNFα stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and AA-SM cells. NQDI1 (30 μM) treatment inhibited ASK1 activation resulting in basal levels of miR-23a, owing to the conclusion that ASK1 activation downregulates miR-23a levels inside the cells. Overall, our current findings predict that BBR is a potential candidate for therapeutic targeting of TLR4/TRAF2 mediated ASK1 activation in inflammatory and in RA pathogenesis possibly through post-transcriptional gene silencing via upregulation of miR-23a.