Outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases continue to challenge human health. Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has triggered a global coronavirus pandemic, known as ...COVID-19. Multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus are circulating, thus raising questions with respect to the effectiveness of different lines of treatment, such as vaccines and antiviral drugs. To find the appropriate prevention/treatment, 21 plant-based ingredients (Glycyrrhizin, Withanone, Aloe-emodin, Rhein, Emodin, Chrysophanol, Physcion, Kaempferol, Progallin A, Gallic acid, Naringin, Quercetin, Luteolin, and Apigenin) having antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties were identified. We pseudo-typed SARS-CoV-2 on a lentiviral vector plasmid and tested the impact of five different herbal formulations in mammalian HEK293T cells. Viral inactivation assay showed that the natural extracts in a herb-derived phytoconstituent-based formulation, BITS-003, comprising Bacopa monnieri, Glycyerrhiza glabra, Asparagus racemosus-wild, and Nigella sativa had strong virucidal properties, inactivating enveloped viruses from 2log10 (or 99%) to >4log10 (or 99.99%). Moreover, bacterial and yeast cells treated with BITS-003 displayed reduced growth. Topical use of the formulation as a mouthwash/gargle could be effective in reducing symptoms of respiratory viral infections, with the potential to decrease the viral load in the buccal/oral cavity. This may inhibit the coronavirus spreading to the lungs of infected persons and at the same time may reduce the risk of viral transmission to other susceptible persons through micro-droplets originating from the oral cavity of the infected person.
Obesity and hyper-intestinal permeability are interconnected. This study is designed to evaluate the ability of Mangifera indica seed kernel extract (MESK) in restoring the intestinal barrier and ...preventing obesity and associated metabolic complications in a high-fat diet-induced obese mouse model. Four groups of Swiss albino mice: (1) normal diet (ND), (2) high-fat diet (HFD), (3) HFD + Orlistat (100 µg/kg), and (4) HFD + MESK (75 µg/kg), were used to monitor various biochemical parameters associated with metabolic syndrome (glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides) and body weight in an eight-week-long study. In vivo intestinal permeability was determined by the FITC-dextran method. Interestingly, MESK significantly reduced HFD-induced body weight gain, hepatic lipid accumulation, hepatic fibrosis, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. Additionally, MESK treatment restored the expression of tight junction protein Zonula Occludens-1 (ZO-1) and Claudin-1 and hence prevented increased intestinal permeability induced by a high-fat diet. Moreover, it also increased the expression of potent satiety molecule Nesfatin-1 in the mouse jejunum. Our results, for the first time, establish MESK as a nutraceutical which prevents disruption of the intestinal barrier and thereby intercepts the adverse consequences of compromised intestinal permeability such as obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and systemic inflammation.
Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) are retinal degenerative diseases which cause severe retinal dystrophy affecting the photoreceptors. LCA is predominantly inherited as ...an autosomal recessive trait and contributes to 5% of all retinal dystrophies; whereas RP is inherited by all the Mendelian pattern of inheritance and both are leading causes of visual impairment in children and young adults. Homozygosity mapping is an efficient strategy for mapping both known and novel disease loci in recessive conditions, especially in a consanguineous mating, exploiting the fact that the regions adjacent to the disease locus will also be homozygous by descent in such inbred children. Here we have studied eleven consanguineous LCA and one autosomal recessive RP (arRP) south Indian families to know the prevalence of mutations in known genes and also to know the involvement of novel loci, if any. Complete ophthalmic examination was done for all the affected individuals including electroretinogram, fundus photograph, fundus autofluorescence, and optical coherence tomography. Homozygosity mapping using Affymetrix 250K HMA GeneChip on eleven LCA families followed by screening of candidate gene(s) in the homozygous block identified mutations in ten families; AIPL1 - 3 families, RPE65- 2 families, GUCY2D, CRB1, RDH12, IQCB1 and SPATA7 in one family each, respectively. Six of the ten (60%) mutations identified are novel. Homozygosity mapping using Affymetrix 10K HMA GeneChip on the arRP family identified a novel nonsense mutation in MERTK. The mutations segregated within the family and was absent in 200 control chromosomes screened. In one of the eleven LCA families, the causative gene/mutation was not identified but many homozygous blocks were noted indicating that a possible novel locus/gene might be involved. The genotype and phenotype features, especially the fundus changes for AIPL1, RPE65, CRB1, RDH12 genes were as reported earlier.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Antisense Therapy offers a comprehensive, state-of-the art perspective on the role of antisense therapy in the treatment of human disease, with a special focus on cancer. Use of antisense ...oligonucleotides is a growing field of pharmaceutical and biotech companies and research programs for treatment of several diseases. This book summarizes and presents the best updates, therapeutic principles, methods, and applications in the field and offers meaningful information to move treatment discovery forward.
Premature babies suffer higher mortality and life-long disabilities. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is postulated to induce preterm labor. Routine antenatal screening for ASB using urine culture is ...not feasible in most developing countries due to long turn-around time, user-unfriendliness, and lack of resources. The current parallel-group superiority pragmatic randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of screening and evidence-based treatment of ASB using an optical-sensor-based point-of-care rapid-test on the incidence of preterm birth and low birthweight (LBW).
240 consenting asymptomatic pregnant women visiting an Indian tertiary public hospital for first antenatal check-up, irrespective of trimester/gravida, who had not consumed antibiotics in the preceding week, were enrolled from February-May 2017. Computer-generated concealed simple randomization allocation sequence was used to assign participants to intervention (120) and control arm (120). Usual hospital-care was provided in the control arm. In the intervention arm, urine samples were additionally screened for ASB using the rapid-test and the positive women were prescribed susceptible antibiotics. Blinded outcome assessors followed up with women post-delivery. The study was registered with the Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2016/09/007240).
213 participants were analyzed (intervention: 103, control: 110). 21 women were found positive for ASB and prescribed pathogen-specific antibiotics. The incidence of preterm birth/LBW in intervention arm (n = 27) was lower than control arm (n = 45) by 14·7% (95% CI: 2·2–27·2); RR: 0.64, (95% CI: 0·43–0·95); p = 0·023, X2=5·13.
Rapid-test-guided treatment for ASB reduced the incidence of preterm birth/LBW in a pragmatic setting without any adverse event.
Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are amongst the most common infections described in outpatient settings. Increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of urinary tract pathogens is a matter of global ...public health concern. Treatment of UTI depends on both prevalence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of causative bacteria at any specific geographical location.
This study was undertaken to compare the prevalence of uropathogens and their AMR profile in two different geographical parts of India.
Clean-catch mid-stream urine samples were collected from adult patients, bacterial flora isolated from human urine was evaluated for antimicrobial susceptibility profile using Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method among patients from Hyderabad (Southern India), Rajasthan and Punjab (Northern India). The data were analysed using Chi-square (χ2) test, confidence interval (CI), odds ratio (OR) analysis and p-value using SPSS 16 software.
Escherichia coli (55.1%) were the most prevalent isolates followed by Enterococcus faecalis (15.8%). Amikacin was the most active antimicrobial agents which showed low resistance rate of 14%. The present study revealed the geographical difference in prevalence of uropathogens with Klebsiella pneumoniae being the second most common uropathogen followed by E. faecalis in the states from northern India while no K. pneumoniae was seen in samples from southern India but E. faecalis was the second most prevalent organism.
Therefore, development of regional surveillance programs is highly recommended for implementation of national CA-UTI guidelines in Indian settings.
Chlorophyll fluorescence-based method shows great potentials for on-site assessing the vitality of algae in treated ship's ballast water. However, there is very limited information on the mechanism ...of chlorophyll fluorescence in photosystem II (PSII) after the NaClO treatment. In this paper, the effects of NaClO treatments with five concentrations (0.01, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12 and 0.15 mg/L) and treating periods (6, 24 and 48 h) on the chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics and spectra of Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) and Platymonas helgolandica (P. helgolandica) were investigated. Experimental results showed that both exposure time and dose were important factors that affect the toxicity of NaClO to microalgae. Further analyses showed that the maximum photochemical quantum yield of PSII, photochemical quenching and yield decreased rapidly with the increase in NaClO concentrations in the range of 0.04 mg/L to 0.15 mg/L, suggesting that NaClO seriously inhibited PSII reaction centers of algae. In addition, the maxima value of fluorescence at excitation wavelength still appeared near 437 nm and 468 nm under NaClO stress, pointing to the pigments for fluorescence produced by algae were mainly chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b antenna. As compared to chlorophyll a, the relative fluorescence intensity of chlorophyll b decreased significantly in the all of NaClO treatments. According to the fluorescence emission spectra, treatment of NaClO resulted in a shift of the maximum peak of C. vulgaris and P. helgolandica from 685.2 nm to 681.9 nm and 685.2 nm to 680.5 within 6 h, respectively. This indicates that the structure of antenna light-absorbing pigments of PSII changed under NaClO stress. These results revealed that the chlorophyll fluorescence mechanism in PSII of damaged microalgae occurred variation, which was important for the reliable application of on-site analysis of ballast water indicator based on chlorophyll fluorescence detection.
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•FV/FM and qP decreased due to NaClO interruption of photosynthetic electron transport.•The optical absorption behavior of chl a and b antenna remain unchanged under NaClO.•437 nm was selected as the characteristic excitation wavelength under NaClO.•The peak position of emission wavelength in algae had blue shift under NaClO stress.•Full width at half maxima is increased due to decomposition of dead algae into organic matter.
A facile one-pot expeditious synthesis of 2-amino-4H-pyrans and 2-amino-5-oxo-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-chromenes has been described under solvent-free conditions using magnesium oxide as a catalyst in ...very good yields. The reaction catalyst, magnesium oxide was reused and recycled without any loss of activity and product yield. All the synthesized compounds were screened for in vitro antibacterial activity, and compounds 3a, 3b, 3f, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e and 4g showed complete inhibition of bacterial growth at 128 microg/mL or less and the rest of the compounds exhibited incomplete inhibition.
Electrostatic charging on microalgae surface is a complex phenomenon which is influenced both by the algae’s living activities and their surrounding environments. While the surface charge character ...property had been long discovered, clearly understanding of its charging mechanism is still challenging. Despite of its complexity, the property of electrostatic charge on algae surface has been widely utilized, for example, for algae separation or harvesting. In this paper, the mechanisms of algae surface charging including Donnan potential or surface potential, and its influencing factors such as pH, ionic strength, microalgae species and growth conditions was reviewed firstly. Meanwhile, the Zeta potential value of microalgae under different conditions are summarized. Focus is then given to the latest development of the applications of surface charges such as flocculation, flotation, coagulation and electrophoretic separation. The challenges and potential research directions on algae surface charging in the future are also outlined. This work provides some insights on the roles of electrostatic charges on microalgae surface, especially on influence factors and mechanisms.
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•Physiochemical characteristics of algae surface were reviewed.•mechanisms of Donnan potential or surface potential on algae were summarized.•Zeta potential value of microalgae at different conditions were discussed.•Application of surface charges in algae separation harvesting has been reviewed.•Potential research direction on algae surface charging technology was prospected.
Infections caused by antimicrobial resistance are a serious problem in the world. Currently, commercial devices for antimicrobial susceptibility testing and resistant bacteria identification are ...time‐consuming. There is an urgent need to develop fast and accurate methods, especially in the process of sample pretreatment. Electrokinetic (EK) is a family of electric‐field‐based kinetic phenomena of fluid or embedded objects, and EK applications have been found in various fields. In this paper, EK bacteria manipulation, including enrichment and separation, is reviewed. Focus is given to the rapid electric‐based minimum inhibitory concentration measurement. The future directions and major challenges in this field are also outlined.
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