Evaluation of liver fibrosis is necessary to make the therapeutic decision and assess the prognosis of CHB patients. The current study aimed to describe the progression and identify some influencing ...factors in patients with chronic hepatitis B at a General Hospital in Northern Vietnam. The longitudinal study included 55 eligible subjects diagnosed Hepatitis-B-virus. Dependent variable was the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index and we collected some demographic variables and disease related and behaviour variables. Bayesian Model Averaging was used to select variables into model. Mixed-effect linear models were used to evaluate the change of the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index over time and identify related factors. the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index differences between examinations, age of participants, working status were statistically significant. This pattern indicated that the average the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index of the population decreased by 0.005 (95% CI=-0.009; -0.001) after each patient's visit, and increased by 0.013 if the patient's age increased by 1 year (95% CI=0.005; 0.0219). For non-working patients, the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index was lower, coefficient was -0.054 (95% CI=-0.108; 0.001). Other variables such as gender, education level, time for disease detection, drinking tea, alcohol consumption, forgetting to take medicine and the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index were not significantly different. The study showed that the majority of study subjects had average the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index, and were relatively well controlled and treated during the study. Age and working status are factors that influence the the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index.
Although medicinal herbs contain many biologically active ingredients that can act as antibiotic agents, most of them are difficult to dissolve in lipids and absorb through biofilms in the ...gastrointestinal tract. Besides, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been widely used as a potential antibacterial agent, however, to achieve a bactericidal effect, high concentrations are required. In this work, AgNPs were combined into plant-based antibiotic nanoemulsions using biocompatible alginate/carboxyl methylcellulose scaffolds. The silver nanoparticles were prepared by a green method with an aqueous extract of Allium sativum or Phyllanthus urinaria extract. The botanical antibiotic components in the alcoholic extract of these plants were encapsulated with emulsifier poloxamer 407 to reduce the particle size, and make the active ingredients both water-soluble and lipid-soluble. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed that the prepared nanosystems were spherical with a size of about 20 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the interaction of the extracts and the alginate/carboxyl methylcellulose carrier. In vitro drug release kinetics of allicin and phyllanthin from the nanosystems exhibited a retarded release under different biological pH conditions. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized nanoformulations were tested against Escherichia coli. The results showed that the nanosystem based on Allium sativum possesses a significantly higher antimicrobial activity against the tested organisms. Therefore, the combination of AgNPs with active compounds from Allium sativum extract is a good candidate for in vivo infection treatment application.
In the present study, a series of 6-substituted aminoindazole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for bio-activities. The compounds were initially designed as indoleamine ...2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) inhibitors based on the structural feature of five IDO1 inhibitors, which are currently on clinical trials, and the important anticancer activity of the indazole scaffold. One of them, compound
N
-(4-fluorobenzyl)-1,3-dimethyl-1
H
-indazol-6-amine (
36
), exhibited a potent anti-proliferative activity with an IC
50
value of 0.4 ± 0.3 μM in human colorectal cancer cells (HCT116). This compound also remarkably suppressed the IDO1 protein expression. In the cell-cycle studies, the suppressive activity of compound
36
in HCT116 cells was related to the G2/M cell cycle arrest. Altogether, the current findings demonstrate that compound
36
would be promising for further development as a potential anticancer agent.
In the present study, a series of 6-substituted aminoindazole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for bio-activities.
Phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria pose a threat to plant health and cause large losses in crop quality and production. Currently, green methods for controlling phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria ...have been paid attention to. In this study, in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activities of Desmodium styracifolium and its metabolites against phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria were investigated to find a new solution for the green method. The result showed the crude extract of D. styracifolium exerts a potent suppression against fungal plant diseases in vivo. At 3000 µg/mL, n-hexane and dichloromethane-soluble extracts of D. styracifolium effectively controlled rice blast (84.6% and 53.8%) and tomato late blight (67.7% and 61.3%), respectively. Using in vitro antifungal bioassay-guided fractionation, sixteen compounds were isolated and identified. The occurrence of isoflavanones 5 and 7 in D. styracifolium, as well as pyrrole lactone alkaloid 14 in the genus Desmodium was firstly reported. Compound 9, a new isoflavone isolated from nature, displayed potent antifungal and antibacterial activities in vitro. The two remarkable bioactive groups of isoflavanones (5–7) and isoflavones (8–10) were determined as antifungal constituents from D. styracifolium with a wide-spectrum antifungal activity. Magnaporthe oryzae and Phytophthora species were susceptible to the isoflavonoid groups. Especially, in a range of 125–500 µg/mL, isoflavonoids 5 and 10 effectively inhibited M. oryzae in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Compounds 5, 6, 8–11 significantly suppressed the bacterial growth of Acidovorax avenae subsp. cattlyae in vitro. Among them, 5 (IC50 = 33.1 µg/mL) and 9 (IC50 = 42.2 µg/mL) were the best inhibitors against A. avenae subsp. cattlyae. Our findings indicate that the isoflavanones and isoflavones of D. styracifolium are worthy of further consideration as lead molecules to develop a new class of inhibitors against phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria.
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•The extracts of Desmodium styracifolium effectively suppressed various fungal plant pathogens in vitro and in vivo.•A new antimicrobial isoflavone 5,7,3′-trihydroxy-4′,5′-dimethoxyisoflavone (9) was isolated from nature.•Isoflavonoids of D. styracifolium inhibited Magnaporthe oryzae and oomycetes and bacterium Acidovorax avenae subsp. cattlyae.•Isoflavonoids 5 and 10 suppressed M. oryzae in both in vitro and in vivo bioassays.•Compounds 5 and 9 were potent inhibitors against A. avenae subsp. cattlyae.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid, which functions as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. GABA has been shown to have several positive effects on human ...health, including reducing anxiety and promoting relaxation. In this study, various fermented fish products were screened for their ability to produce GABA. A total of 35 acid lactic producing strains were isolated from 8 samples of marine organism, 10 strains were found to have GABA-producing abilities. These strains were identified using 16S rDNA sequencing. The GABA concentrations produced by the 10 isolates ranged from 725 to 5590 mg/L.
Lactobacillus brevis
GB111 is the best isolated GABA producing strain, with a conversion rate up to 90.3%, which suggests that these strains may have potential applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries as a source of GABA.
The catalytic properties of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) containing triangular Fe(
iii
) clusters in the promotion of organic syntheses and photocatalysis applications have been receiving ...substantial attention for decades. These clusters are appealing due to the strong Lewis acidity afforded by coordinatively unsaturated sites upon the removal of solvent from the framework. In this paper, triangular Fe(
iii
) cluster-based MOFs were shown to be highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the solvent-free one-pot condensation of 2-aminobenzamide and alcohols to form quinazolin-4-ones under microwave irradiation. The Fe-MOF catalysts ranging from microporous to mesoporous structures with a variety of geometrical pore structures were investigated. Because of the open accessible spaces for reactants and high density of active sites, MOF-907, built from trimer Fe clusters and a mixture of two linkers, was more effective than other Fe(
iii
)-MOFs. The catalyst can be used for a broad substrate scope and recycled several times without a significant drop-off in its activity.
Fe-MOFs were used as efficient heterogeneous catalysts in the tandem cyclooxidative reaction under microwave irradiation.
Purpose
In the programming of tumor-targeting bacteria, various therapeutic or reporter genes are expressed by different gene-triggering strategies. Previously, we engineered pJL87 plasmid with an ...inducible bacterial drug delivery system that simultaneously co-expressed two genes for therapy and imaging by a bidirectional
tet
promoter system only in response to the administration of exogenous doxycycline (Doxy). In this multi-cassette expression approach,
tetA
promoter (P
tetA
) was 100-fold higher in expression strength than
tetR
promoter (P
tetR
). In the present study, we developed pJH18 plasmid with novel Doxy-inducible gene expression system based on a
tet
promoter.
Procedures
In this system, Tet repressor (TetR) expressed by a weak constitutive promoter binds to
tetO
operator, resulting in the tight repression of gene expressions by P
tetA
and P
tetR
, and Doxy releases TetR from
tetO
to de-repress P
tetA
and P
tetR
.
Results
In
Salmonella
transformed with pJH18, the expression balance of bidirectional
tet
promoters in pJH18 was remarkably improved (P
tetA
:P
tetR
= 4~6:1) compared with that of pJL87 (P
tetA
:P
tetR
= 100:1) in the presence of Doxy. Also, the expression level by novel
tet
system was much higher in
Salmonella
transformed with pJH18 than in those with pJL87 (80-fold in
rluc8
and 5-fold in
clyA
). Interestingly, pJH18 of the transformed
Salmonella
was much more stably maintained than pJL87 in antibiotic-free tumor-bearing mice (about 41-fold), because only pJH18 carries
bom
sequence with an essential role in preventing the plasmid-free population of programmed
Salmonella
from undergoing cell division.
Conclusions
Overall, doxycycline-induced co-expression of two proteins at similar expression levels, we exploited bioluminescence reporter proteins with preclinical but no clinical utility. Future validation with clinically compatible reporter systems, for example, suitable for radionuclide imaging, is necessary to develop this system further towards potential clinical application.
From the aerial parts of Eupatorium fortunei, four thymol derivatives (1-4) were isolated and structurally elucidated by NMR and mass spectroscopic methods. Of which, a new dimeric thymol derivative ...(1) was characterized and its absolute configuration was established by electronic circular dichroism quantum method. In addition, the 1D and 2D NMR as well as HR-ESI mass spectral data of 2 were provided for the first time. Compounds 2-4 were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and acetylcholinesterase enzymes. All tested compounds showed weak inhibition at the concentration range of 1-256 μg/mL in both enzymatic assays.
In this work, we have carried out systematic studies on the critical role of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and citrate in the well-known chemical reduction route to synthesize silver nanodecahedra ...(AgND). Silver nitrate (AgNO
3
) was used as silver source, which can be directly converted to metallic silver after being reduced by sodium borohydride (NaBH
4
) under blue light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation (
λ
max
= 465 nm), and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as a capping agent to assist the growth of AgND. The obtained products were silver nanodecahedra of excellent uniformity and stability with high efficiency and yield. The results showed that PVP acted as a capping agent to stabilize the silver nanoparticles, prolonging the initiation time required for nanodecahedra nucleation, thus inducing anisotropic growth, allowing the size and morphology of the AgND to be controlled successfully. This improved understanding allows a consistent process for the synthesis of AgND with significantly enhanced reproducibility to be developed and the formation mechanism of these nanostructures to be elucidated. This is a simple, cost-effective and easily reproducible method for creating AgND. The typical absorption maxima in the UV-vis spectroscopy of Ag seeds was
λ
max
∼400 nm and that of AgND was
λ
max
∼480 nm. The size of the prepared AgND was in the range of 60-80 nm. SEM images confirmed the uniform and high density of AgND when the concentration of PVP was 0.5 mM. The XRD pattern showed that the final product of AgND was highly crystallized. In addition, the prepared AgND can be used to detect methylene blue (MB) in a sensitive manner with good reproducibility and stability using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) phenomenon. Out of the obtained products, the AgND prepared with 50 min blue LED light irradiation (AgND-50) displayed the strongest SERS signal. Interestingly, MB in diluted solution can be detected with a concentration as low as 10
−7
M (the limit of detection, LOD) and the linear dependence between SERS intensity and the MB concentration occurred in the range from 10
−7
to 10
−6
M. The enhancement factor (EF) of the SERS effect was about 1.602 × 10
6
with a MB concentration of 10
−7
M using 532 nm laser excitation.
In this work, we have carried out systematic studies on the critical role of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and citrate in the well-known chemical reduction route to synthesize silver nanodecahedra (AgND).
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