Assay of Antibacterial Activity of Twenty various Endophytic Fungi Isolated from Calotropis procera

Calotropis procera is used in traditional medicine; it has a variety of therapeutic properties such as: analgesic, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer effects. Rani et al., evaluated the endophytic fungi isolated from differenttissues of Calotropis procera for antibacterial properties.

Calotropis procera 

The authors found that of the total 20 endophytic fungal strains isolated, 7 exhibited antibacterial activity; these endophytic fungi belonged to the genus Aspergillus and Fusarium. The maximum zone of inhibition was exhibited by extracts of Aspergillus nomius, Aspergillus oryzae, Curvularia hawaiiensis, and Fusarium solani.  Endophytes are the organisms which are in an imperceptible relationship with the plant in which they reside for their whole lifetime or a part of their life. These include fungi, bacteria and some algae. They colonize all the plants evaluated till now and isolated from almost all the plant parts like leaves, roots, stems, flowers, barks and even from dry seeds. Read more>>>>>>

New Antiretrovirals on the Block: Pharmacological news from Croi 2017

The Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infections, CROI, 2017 at Seattle, USA, presented several new substances, therapy strategies and other data about the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The following article discusses a pharmacological selection of these, and shows data of new integrase inhibitors (INSTI), nucleoside (NRTI) and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) as well as protease inhibitors (PI), CCR5-inhibitors and several long-acting antibodies or new formulations of already widely used drugs, such as Nano particle PI and NNRTI (NANO-NNRTI, NANO-PI).

Nukleos(t) ide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors

Karen White and colleagues presented the new NRTI GS-9131, which reveals strong activity against NRTI-resistant HIV-1.At a very low EC50 of only 0.16 μM (± 0.02) GS-9131 is still active against most of NRTI-resistant HIV-1, showing mutations of K65R, M184V, L74V/I, 6TAMs+184V or Q151M+M184V.Unlike TAF, GS-3131 is an adenosine-analogue. But alike TAF it is a prodrug, which is modified by cathepsin A into its intracellular form of GS-9148 and then phosphorylated by intracellular kinases into its antiretroviral active diphosphate.(Read more)

Isolation of a Peniophora Strain Capable of Producing Ethanol from Starch and Kitchen Waste

Worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are increasing and are thought to contribute to global warming, which has the potential to affect climate, ecosystems, and the spread of diseases. Among the various approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emission,the use of bioethanol has attracted international attention because it is a carbon-neutral fuel that is produced from naturally abundant biological materials. As bioethanol is predominantly derived from sugar or starch crops, it represents a sustainable, renewable, environmentally friendly transportation fuel that is a promising alternative to gasoline. Although bioethanol is increasingly being used as a fuel source around the world, the rapid increase in bioethanol use has also affected crop production patterns, resulting in increased food prices. 

Therefore, second-generation bioethanol production requires the development of economically feasible and sustainable processes utilizing renewable lignocellulosic materials that do not compete with food sources.Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant and inexpensive material available for bioethanol production. Lignocellulose, which is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, is hydrolytically stable and is not readily broken down into fermentable sugars. Cellulose and hemicellulose are polysaccharides that can be hydrolyzed to hexose and pentose sugars, whereas lignin is a phenolic compound that cannot be used for ethanol production. A major practical limitation in biomass-to-ethanol conversion is the cost associated with the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, which requires enzymes such as cellulases.(Read more) 

Diagnostic Value of Widal Test in the Diagnosis of Typhoid Fever: A Systematic Review

Typhoid fever is a systemic disease caused by Salmonella typhi and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Reports by the World Health Organization revealed that about 21 million cases and >600,000 annual deaths from typhoid fever occur throughout the world. Developing nations share the highest burdendue to rapid population growth, increased urbanization, and limited safe water and health systems.

Accurate diagnosis of typhoid fever at an early stage is important not only for etiological diagnosis, but also to identify individuals that may serve as potential carriers, who may be responsible for acute typhoid fever outbreaks. Additionally, the diagnosis of typhoid fever on clinical grounds is difficult, as the presenting symptoms are diverse and similar to those observed with other febrile illnesses. Serodiagnosis of typhoid fever has been attempted since the late nineteenth century by Widal and Secard. The test is based on demonstrating the presence of agglutinins (antibodies) in the serum of an infected patient, against the H (flagellar) and O (somatic) antigens of Salmonella enterica serotype typhi (S. typhi).(Read more)

Particular Aspects of Medical Care Provided to Elderly Patients with Clostridium difficile Enterocolitis - Considerations

Clostridium difficile colitis currently represents a major public health problem worldwide. Its incidence is increasing, much of patients requiring hospitalization. Hospital costs areincreased both in the first episode of the disease and relapses, which mayaffect up to a quarter of patients. Until present were identified a variety of favorable factors for the occurrence of Clostridium difficile colitis and for severe disease. Advanced age, over 65, it is one of them and has an important role.

In hospitals Clostridium difficile colitis is a matter of becoming more acute, especially related to elderly patients. Health care for the elderly are complex and multiple, different from those of adult. This care should take into account the particularities linked to old age: presence of a multitude of chronic diseases associated, mobility and mobilization increasingly difficult and low, dependence in different degrees of helping from another person, less capacity to adapt to environmental changes (e.g. hospitalization), mental impairment, incontinence, etc. For example in Infectious Diseases Hospital of Brasov in 2015 were 228 hospitalizations for Clostridium difficile colitis. Of these 66.23 % were patients older than 65 years and 21.05% over 80 years of age.(Read more)

Evaluation of a Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Giardia intestinalis in Stool Samples from Schoolchildren from the Centre-Ouest and Plateau Central Regions of Burkina Faso.

Giardiasis is a zoonotic disease that affects at least 280 million people worldwide each year. It is one of the main causes of nonviral diarrhoea in industrialized countries and it is associated with additional digestive disorders in children and adults including abdominal pain, nausea. Giardiasis can develop into a chronic condition, anddisease can be aggravated in immunocompromised hosts. Infection with the causative intestinal protozoa Giardia intestinalis is commonly associated with unsafe drinking water, poor hygiene and sanitation, poverty and warm climate. Correspondingly, the prevalence of G. intestinalis is estimated at 2-7% in developed countries and up to 20-30% in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Owing to their common faecal-oral mode of transmission G. intestinalis is often found in coinfection with other intestinal protozoa.

Studies among school-aged children across Africa are scarce; however, those available reports a G. intestinalis prevalence’s of 16% in urban and 24% in rural areas of Morocco and 11.7% in a rural setting in southern Ethiopia. From Côte D'Ivoire a 17.3% and 13.9% prevalence was demonstrated in the Man area and the region of Agboville, respectively. G. intestinalis prevalence in school children in Burkina Faso is currently described by several smaller studies reporting on local numbers, while the national prevalence unknown. One such study, conducted in 2014, has shown G. intestinalis prevalence’s of 13.3%, 12.5% and 9.8% among children aged 6-15 years from three different schools of the Central region. Another setting revealed a prevalence of 43.7% in patients aged 5 months to 72 years suffering from gastroenteritis visiting the Saint Camille Hospital of Ouagadougou. A retrospective study of parasitological aetiology assessments of gastroenteritis patients from the same hospital showed an infection rate of 24.8%.(Read more)

Challenges in Searching for Zika Therapeutics.

Zika virus was discovered nearly 70 years ago, but received little attention prior to 2015, as the virus infection causes no or only a mild, self-limiting illness without need for treatment. However, large scale outbreaks in South and Central Americaand the Caribbean in 2015 strongly suggested Zika epidemic may have associations with the increased cases of birth defect called microcephaly. Microcephaly is a condition in which a person’s head is significantly smaller than normal for their age and sex, and occurs most often when a baby’s brain has not developed properly during pregnancy. 

The microcephalus babies may have life-long intellectual or physical disabilities. Now, a compilation of evidences solidified the link between the Zika virus infection in pregnant mothers and microcephaly of their babies. As the Zika virus has ‘explosive’ pandemic potential in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in early 2016.(Read more)

Grave’s Disease.

A young man aged about 29 years attended the Outpatient’s Department of Glocal Hospital, Krishnanagore, West Bengal, India with thecomplains of tiredness, loss of body weight, excessive sweating, and protrusion of the eye balls. On further enquiry, it was found that he had bilateral exophthalmos, raised systolic blood pressure 160/80 mmHg, tachycardia 120 beats per minute, and fine tremor in the outstretched fingers of the hands, and had diarrheoa. Laboratory tests showed that T₄ was raised and TSH was below normal. A diagnosis of Grave’s disease was made. 

He was advised to take Carbimazole (Neomercazole) 10 mg three times a day. He improved on treatment. Grave’s disease is a combination of thyrotoxicosis and exophthalmos. The other options of treatment are radio-iodine treatment and when required surgery. The tremor may be controlled by using propranolol. Grave’s disease though not common is also not rare. In my clinical experience, I saw 3 cases of Grave’s disease in one year.(Read more)

Construction and Detection of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Co- Expressing PRRSV GP5, M Proteins and shRNA.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a contagious disease of swine caused by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). PRRS wasfirst reported in America in the late 1980s and subsequently reported in Europe. The main clinical symptoms of this highly pathogenic disease are abortion, stillbirth, breeding problems, and respiratory problems in newborns. The vaccines that are currently commercially available contain inactivated or attenuated virus immunogens and can lessen the clinical severity of PRRS. 

However, these regimens offer limited protective efficacy and have a poor safety profile. Design of a more effective immunogen or regimen is limited by the lack of information available about the immune response to PRRSV. The protective immune mechanism elicited by current vaccines is undetermined, and the immune mechanisms responsible for clearing a natural infection of PRRSV remain unknown. Furthermore, an efficacious immunogen must elicit an immune response capable of protecting animals from genetically diverse strains of this virus.(Read more)

TBSURE: An Improved Multiplex Real-Time PCR for TB Detection and Differentiation from Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Diseases in Adult Indian Population.

During the last decade, resurgence of TB has been seen in both developed and developing nations; especially due to increase in cases of co-infection with human immune deficiency virus (HIV). India contributes to approximately one quarter of globalTB burden. In 2015, 2.2 million new cases of active TB were detected in India, out of global incidence of 9.6 million.

Rapid and reliable diagnosis of disease is required for early start of lengthy treatment for TB. Acid fast bacterial (AFB) culture followed by Ziehl-Neelsen staining of Mycobacteria is time consuming and often not able to differentiate between tuberculous and nontuberculous mycobacteria. The EPTB is even more difficult to detect by AFB culture and smear methods due to low bacillary load. The paucibacillary nature of EPTB, lack of uniform distribution of mycobacteria at various sites in the body makes the early diagnosis of this disease even more cumbersome.(Read more)

Diagnostic Value of Widal Test in the Diagnosis of Typhoid Fever: A Systematic Review

Typhoid fever is a systemic disease caused by Salmonella typhi and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Reports by the World Health Organization revealed that about 21 million cases and >600,000 annual deaths from typhoid fever occurthroughout the world. Developing nations share the highest burden due to rapid population growth, increased urbanization, and limited safe water and health systems.

Accurate diagnosis of typhoid fever at an early stage is important not only for etiological diagnosis, but also to identify individuals that may serve as potential carriers, who may be responsible for acute typhoid fever outbreaks. Additionally, the diagnosis of typhoid fever on clinical grounds is difficult, as the presenting symptoms are diverse and similar to those observed with other febrile illnesses. Serodiagnosis of typhoid fever has been attempted since the late nineteenth century by Widal and Secard.(Read more)

Breast Hydatid Cyst - Case Report

The mammary gland may represent an organ of primary localization of a hydatid cyst, but with an extremely rare frequency. Most of reported studies in the literature show isolated cases. Patients usually present a palpable and painless lump of the breast, and it is difficult to differentiate these cysts from other tumoral lesions of the breast.

 Diagnosis is frequently delayed because the symptoms lack specificity and, moreover, they mimic other pathological conditions. We report the case of a patient with breast hydatid cyst in Transylvania, Romania, an area that is not considered endemic.(Read more)

Evasion of Innate Immunity by Dengue Virus Non-Structural Proteins through Interfereing with Type I Interferon Production and Jak/STAT Signaling

Dengue Virus (DENV), a mosquito-borne virus, is a member of the Flaviviridae family and transmits to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, most often Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) and Ae. Albopictus. DENV includes four serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, DENV-4). Generally, infected patients experience a spectrum of clinical diseases ranging from an acute debilitating self-limited dengue fever (DF) to a life-threatening syndrome, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), dengue shock syndrome (DSS). 

At present, no specific antiviral drugs and vaccines are available against DENV. Therefore, DENV infections cause dramatic public health issues in more than 100 countries and regions, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions in the world. The geographic expansion of the vector contributes to a widespread of disease with various severities. (Read more)