Sonam Chawla
@jiit.ac.in
Assistant Professor at Department of Biotechnology, JIIT
Jaypee Institute of Information Technology
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Molecular Medicine, Physiology, Biochemistry
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Gurpreet Kaur, Sonam Chawla, Piyush Kumar, and Ritu Singh
MDPI AG
Candida albicans, along with several non-albicans Candida species, comprise a prominent fungal pathogen in humans, leading to candidiasis in various organs. The global impact of candidiasis in terms of disease burden, suffering, and fatalities is alarmingly high, making it a pressing global healthcare concern. Current treatment options rely on antifungal drugs such as azoles, polyenes, and echinocandins but are delimited due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains and associated adverse effects. The current review highlights the striking absence of a licensed antifungal vaccine for human use and the urgent need to shift our focus toward developing an anti-Candida vaccine. A number of factors affect the development of vaccines against fungal infections, including the host, intraspecies and interspecies antigenic variations, and hence, a lack of commercial interest. In addition, individuals with a high risk of fungal infection tend to be immunocompromised, so they are less likely to respond to inactivated or subunit whole organisms. Therefore, it is pertinent to discover newer and novel alternative strategies to develop safe and effective vaccines against fungal infections. This review article provides an overview of current vaccination strategies (live attenuated, whole-cell killed, subunit, conjugate, and oral vaccine), including their preclinical and clinical data on efficacy and safety. We also discuss the mechanisms of immune protection against candidiasis, including the role of innate and adaptive immunity and potential biomarkers of protection. Challenges, solutions, and future directions in vaccine development, namely, exploring novel adjuvants, harnessing the trained immunity, and utilizing immunoinformatics approaches for vaccine design and development, are also discussed. This review concludes with a summary of key findings, their implications for clinical practice and public health, and a call to action for continued investment in candidiasis vaccine research.
Nikita Singh, Smriti Gaur, Sonam Chawla, Sachidanand Singh, and Azamal Husen
Elsevier
Kajal Pandey, Manvi Arora, and Sonam Chawla
CRC Press
Ishita Pandey, Srishti Vashishtha, and Sonam Chawla
CRC Press
Shubhi Singh, Rishibha Gupta, Sonam Chawla, Pammi Gauba, Manisha Singh, Raj Kumar Tiwari, Shuchi Upadhyay, Shalini Sharma, Silpi Chanda, and Smriti Gaur
Frontiers Media SA
Probiotics are known as the live microorganisms which upon adequate administration elicit a health beneficial response inside the host by decreasing the luminal pH, eliminating the pathogenic bacteria in the gut as well as producing short chain fatty acids (SCFA). With advancements in research; probiotics have been explored as potential ingredients in foods. However, their use and applications in food industry have been limited due to restrictions of maintaining the viability of probiotic cells and targeting the successful delivery to gut. Encapsulation techniques have significant influence on increasing the viability rates of probiotic cells with the successful delivery of cells to the target site. Moreover, encapsulating techniques also prevent the live cells from harsh physiological conditions of gut. This review discusses several encapsulating techniques as well as materials derived from natural sources and nutraceutical compounds. In addition to this, this paper also comprehensively discusses the factors affecting the probiotics viability and evaluation of successful release and survival of probiotics under simulated gastric, intestinal conditions as well as bile, acid tolerant conditions. Lastly applications and challenges of using encapsulated bacteria in food industry for the development of novel functional foods have also been discussed in detail too. Future studies must include investigating the use of encapsulated bacterial formulations in in-vivo models for effective health beneficial properties as well as exploring the mechanisms behind the successful release of these formulations in gut, hence helping us to understand the encapsulation of probiotic cells in a meticulous manner.
Bhupinder Kaur, Nitish Kumar, Sonam Chawla, Deepika Sharma, Suresh Korpole, Rajni Sharma, Manoj K. Patel, Kanwaljit Chopra, Om Prakash Chaurasia, and Shweta Saxena
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Abstract Aim The study aimed to profile the volatile phytocomposition of snow mountain garlic (SMG) compared to normal garlic and investigate the anti-Candida efficacy against clinically relevant multi-drug resistant isolates of Candida species. Methods and Results Herein, SMG has shown significantly superior fungicidal power at 2x-MIC dose against C. albicans and C. glabrata in killing kinetic evaluation unlike the fungistatic effect of normal garlic. GC–MS headspace-based profiling of SMG showed 5 unique volatile compounds and a 5-fold higher content of saponins than normal garlic. In an in-silico analysis, cholesta-4,6-dien-3-ol,(3-beta) was uniquely identified in SMG as a potential inhibitor with high binding affinity to the active site of exo-1,3-betaglucan synthase, an established anti-candida drug target crucial for the biofilm matrix formation, thus suggesting a plausible anti-Candida mechanism. Conclusion The in-vitro and in-silico studies have demonstrated the Candida-cidal and anti-biofilm activities of SMG, distinguishing it from the Candida-static efficacy of normal garlic. Significance and Impact of the study This is the first report that identifies several phytochemical signatures of SMG along with a potential anti-Candida compound, that is cholesta-4,6-dien-3-ol,(3-beta)-, which appears worthy of detailed studies in the future to explore the utility of SMG as a fungal phytotherapy agent, especially against drug-resistant Candida sp.
Sonam Chawla, Babita Rahar, Rajkumar Tulswani, and Shweta Saxena
Elsevier BV
Babita Rahar, Sonam Chawla, Rajkumar Tulswani, and Shweta Saxena
Mary Ann Liebert Inc
AIM
High altitude exposure alters biochemical, metabolic, and physiological features of heart and skeletal muscles, and hence has pathological consequences in these tissues. Central to these hypoxia-associated biochemical/metabolic shuffling are energy deficit accumulation of free radicals and ensuing oxidative damage in the tissue. Recent preclinical/clinical studies indicate sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) axis, comprising S1P G protein coupled receptors (S1PR1-5) and its synthesizing enzyme-sphingosine kinase (SphK) to have key regulatory roles in homeostatic cardiac and skeletal muscle biology. In view of this, the aim of the present study was to chart the initiation and progression of biochemical/metabolic shuffling and assess the coincident differential modulation of S1PR(1-5) expression and total SphK activity in cardiac and skeletal muscles from rats exposed to progressive hypobaric hypoxia (HH; 21,000 feet for 12, 24, and 48 hours).
RESULTS
HH-associated responses were evident as raised damage markers in plasma, oxidative stress, decreased total tissue protein, imbalance of intermediate metabolites, and aerobic/anaerobic enzyme activities in cardiac and skeletal muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) culminating as energy deficit.
CONCLUSION
Cardiac and gastrocnemius muscles were more susceptible to hypoxic environment than soleus muscle. These differential responses were directly and indirectly coincident with temporal expression of S1PR(1-5) and SphK activity.
Babita Rahar, Sonam Chawla, Sanjay Pandey, Anant Narayan Bhatt, and Shweta Saxena
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sonam Chawla, Babita Rahar, and Shweta Saxena
Wiley
AbstractSphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) is emerging to have hypoxic preconditioning potential in various preclinical studies. The study aims to evaluate the preclinical preconditioning efficacy of exogenously administered S1P against acute hypobaric hypoxia (HH)‐induced pathological disturbances. Male Sprague Dawley rats (200 ± 20 g) were preconditioned with 1, 10, and 100 μg/kg body weight (b.w.) S1P (i.v.) for three consecutive days. On the third day, S1P preconditioned animals, along with hypoxia control animals, were exposed to HH equivalent to 7,620 m (280 mm Hg) for 6 h. Postexposure status of cardiac energy production, circulatory vasoactive mediators, pulmonary and cerebral oxidative damage, and inflammation were assessed. HH exposure led to cardiac energy deficit indicated by low ATP levels and pronounced AMPK activation levels, raised circulatory levels of brain natriuretic peptide and endothelin‐1 with respect to total nitrate (NOx), redox imbalance, inflammation, and alterations in NOx levels in the pulmonary and cerebral tissues. These pathological precursors have been routinely reported to be coincident with high‐altitude diseases. Preconditioning with S1P, especially 1 µg/kg b.w. dose, was seen to reverse the manifestation of these pathological disturbances. The protective efficacy could be attributed, at least in part, to enhanced activity of cardioprotective protein kinase C and activation of small GTPase Rac1, which led to further induction of hypoxia‐adaptive molecular mediators: hypoxia‐inducible factor (HIF)−1α and Hsp70. This is a first such report, to the best of our knowledge, elucidating the mechanism of exogenous S1P‐mediated HIF‐1α/Hsp70 induction. Conclusively, systemic preconditioning with 1 μg/kg b.w. S1P in rats protects against acute HH‐induced pathological disturbances. © 2016 IUBMB Life 68(5):365–375, 2016
Sonam Chawla and Shweta Saxena
Wiley
AbstractRecent preclinical and clinical studies have unfolded the potential of pharmacological modulation of activities of sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) receptors and S1P metabolizing enzymes for the development of therapeutic interventions against a variety of pathologies. An understanding of differential and temporal effects of hypoxia exposure on the key components of S1P signalling would certainly aid in designing improved drug development strategies in this direction. In view of this, the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of progressive hypobaric hypoxia exposure on expression of S1P receptors (S1PR1–5) and specific activities of S1P synthesizing enzymes—neutral sphingomyelinase (nSMase) and sphingosine kinase (Sphk) in pulmonary and cerebral tissues of rats exposed to simulated altitude of 21,000 feet in an animal decompression chamber. Along with this, development of cerebral and pulmonary edema and markers of inflammation were studied at 12, 24, and 48 h to validate our study model of hypobaric hypoxia‐induced stress. The protein expression of S1PR1–5 and activities of Sphk and nSMase enzymes were observed to be dramatically affected by simulated hypobaric hypoxia exposure, concurrent with deterioration of pathology, with 12 h of exposure appearing to be the most critical of the various time points studied.
Sonam Chawla, Babita Rahar, Mrinalini Singh, Anju Bansal, Deepika Saraswat, and Shweta Saxena
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Background The physiological challenges posed by hypobaric hypoxia warrant exploration of pharmacological entities to improve acclimatization to hypoxia. The present study investigates the preclinical efficacy of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) to improve acclimatization to simulated hypobaric hypoxia. Experimental Approach Efficacy of intravenously administered S1P in improving haematological and metabolic acclimatization was evaluated in rats exposed to simulated acute hypobaric hypoxia (7620m for 6 hours) following S1P pre-treatment for three days. Major Findings Altitude exposure of the control rats caused systemic hypoxia, hypocapnia (plausible sign of hyperventilation) and respiratory alkalosis due to suboptimal renal compensation indicated by an overt alkaline pH of the mixed venous blood. This was associated with pronounced energy deficit in the hepatic tissue along with systemic oxidative stress and inflammation. S1P pre-treatment improved blood oxygen-carrying-capacity by increasing haemoglobin, haematocrit, and RBC count, probably as an outcome of hypoxia inducible factor-1α mediated erythropoiesis and renal S1P receptor 1 mediated haemoconcentation. The improved partial pressure of oxygen in the blood could further restore aerobic respiration and increase ATP content in the hepatic tissue of S1P treated animals. S1P could also protect the animals from hypoxia mediated oxidative stress and inflammation. Conclusion The study findings highlight S1P’s merits as a preconditioning agent for improving acclimatization to acute hypobaric hypoxia exposure. The results may have long term clinical application for improving physiological acclimatization of subjects venturing into high altitude for occupational or recreational purposes.
Sonam Chawla and Shweta Saxena
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sonam Chawla, Chayanika Sahni, Rajkumar Tulsawani, Mrinalini Singh, Deepika Saraswat, Anju Bansal, and Shweta Saxena
Wiley
AbstractSphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P), a biologically active pleiotropic lipid, is involved in several physiological processes especially in the area of vascular biology and immunology encompassing cell survival, angiogenesis, vascular tone, immune response etc. by interacting with specific cell surface receptors. Hypoxia, a condition common to innumerable pathologies, is known to lethally affect cell survival by throwing off balance global gene expression, redox homeostasis, bioenergetics etc. Several molecular events of cellular adaptations to hypoxia have been closely linked to stabilization of hypoxia inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α). Signalling functions of S1P in physiological events central to hypoxia‐induced pathologies led us to investigate efficacy of exogenous S1P in preconditioning murine splenocytes to sustain during cellular stress associated with sub‐optimal oxygen. The present study recapitulated the pro‐survival benefits of exogenous S1P under normobaric hypoxia. Results indicate a direct effect of S1P supplementation on boosting cellular adaptive responses via HIF‐1α stabilization and, activation of pro‐survival mediators ERK and Akt. Overwhelming anti‐oxidative and anti‐inflammatory benefits of S1P preconditioning could also be captured in the present study, as indicated by improved redox homeostasis, reduced oxidative damage, balanced anti/pro‐inflammatory cytokine profiles and temporal regulation of nitric oxide secretion and intra‐cellular calcium release. Hypoxia induced cell death and the associated stress in cellular milieu in terms of oxidative damage and inflammation could be alleviated with exogenous S1P preconditioning.