A Qualitative Study Investigating Stroke Survivors’ Perceptions of their Psychosocial Needs Being Met During Rehabilitation

Background: Depression and anxiety can negatively impact one’s recovery, outcomes, and quality of life. Even though therapists consider the mental health needs of their clients to be a priority, they are dissatisfied with their ability to completely address these needs. The purpose of this study was to examine the client’s perspective regarding the extent to which health care professionals addressed their psychosocial needs after a stroke. Method: A phenomenological research design was used to collect data from six participants. Interviews and focus group were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Member checks, peer-review, multiple coders, triangulation, and expert examination were used to increase trustworthiness of findings. Results: Five themes emerged. People with strokes: (a) experience an array of emotions, (b) are not likely to initiate disclosure of their state of mental health, (c) feel their psychosocial needs are not being addressed by health care professionals, (d) grieve the loss of prior roles post stroke and work hard to establish a new normal routine and purpose in life, and (e) have suggestions for improved care. Conclusion: These findings reinforce the importance of addressing the mental health needs of individuals post stroke and the importance of identifying methods to enhance the ability to effectively address the psychosocial needs of clients post stroke

Gene-centric coverage of the human liver transcriptome: QPCR, Illumina, and Oxford Nanopore RNA-Seq

It has been shown that the best coverage of the HepG2 cell line transcriptome encoded by genes of a single chromosome, chromosome 18, is achieved by a combination of two sequencing platforms, Illumina RNA-Seq and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), using cut-off levels of FPKM > 0 and TPM > 0, respectively. In this study, we investigated the extent to which the combination of these transcriptomic analysis methods makes it possible to achieve a high coverage of the transcriptome encoded by the genes of other human chromosomes. A comparative analysis of transcriptome coverage for various types of biological material was carried out, and the HepG2 cell line transcriptome was compared with the transcriptome of liver tissue cells. In addition, the contribution of variability in the coverage of expressed genes in human transcriptomes to the creation of a draft human transcriptome was evaluated. For human liver tissues, ONT makes an extremely insignificant contribution to the overall coverage of the transcriptome. Thus, to ensure maximum coverage of the liver tissue transcriptome, it is sufficient to apply only one technology: Illumina RNA-Seq (FPKM > 0)

The Size of the Human Proteome: The Width and Depth

This work discusses bioinformatics and experimental approaches to explore the human proteome, a constellation of proteins expressed in different tissues and organs. As the human proteome is not a static entity, it seems necessary to estimate the number of different protein species (proteoforms) and measure the number of copies of the same protein in a specific tissue. Here, meta-analysis of neXtProt knowledge base is proposed for theoretical prediction of the number of different proteoforms that arise from alternative splicing (AS), single amino acid polymorphisms (SAPs), and posttranslational modifications (PTMs). Three possible cases are considered: (1) PTMs and SAPs appear exclusively in the canonical sequences of proteins, but not in splice variants; (2) PTMs and SAPs can occur in both proteins encoded by canonical sequences and in splice variants; (3) all modification types (AS, SAP, and PTM) occur as independent events. Experimental validation of proteoforms is limited by the analytical sensitivity of proteomic technology. A bell-shaped distribution histogram was generated for proteins encoded by a single chromosome, with the estimation of copy numbers in plasma, liver, and HepG2 cell line. The proposed metabioinformatics approaches can be used for estimation of the number of different proteoforms for any group of protein-coding genes

Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of methanol extract, fractions and compounds from the stem bark of Entada abyssinica Stend ex A. Satabie

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the methanol extract, fractions and isolated compounds from <it>Entada abyssinica </it>stem bark, plant used traditionally against gastrointestinal infections.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The methanol extract of <it>E. abyssinica </it>stem bark was pre-dissolved in a mixture of methanol and water, and then partitioned between <it>n</it>-hexane, ethyl acetate and <it>n</it>-butanol. The ethyl acetate portion was fractionated by column chromatography and the structures of isolated compounds elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data and comparison with literature data. Antimicrobial activity was assayed by broth microdilution techniques on bacteria and yeasts. The antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH radical scavenging method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four known compounds [(5<it>S</it>,6<it>R</it>,8a<it>R</it>)-5-(carboxymethyl)-3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-5,6,8a-trimethylnaphthalenecarboxylic acid (<b>1</b>), methyl 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate (<b>2</b>), benzene-1,2,3-triol (<b>3</b>) and 2,3-dihydroxypropyltriacontanoate (<b>4</b>)] were isolated. Compared to the methanol extract, fractionation increased the antibacterial activities of the <it>n</it>-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions, while the antifungal activities increased in ethyl acetate, <it>n</it>-butanol and aqueous residue fractions. The isolated compounds were generally more active on bacteria (9.7 to 156.2 μg/ml) than yeasts (78.1 to 312.5 μg/ml). Apart from compound <b>1</b>, the three others displayed DPPH^·scavenging activity (RSa), with RSa₅₀values of 1.45 and 1.60 μg/ml.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results obtained from this study support the ethnomedicinal use of <it>E. abyssinica </it>in the treatment of gastrointestinal infections and the isolated compounds could be useful in the standardisation of antimicrobial phytomedicine from this plant.</p

Анализ лёгкой пептидной фракции Лаеннека методами современной протеомики

Laennec preparation is based on standardized human placenta hydrolyzate and is highly effective in the regeneration of tissues. This study presents the results of analysis of the light peptide fraction of Laennec (Препарат Лаеннек основан на стандартизованном гидролизате плаценты человека и отличается высокой эффективностью при регенерации тканей. В настоящем исследовании проведён анализ лёгкой пептидной фракции препарата Лаеннек до 3 000 Да тремя методами: (1) высокоточной масс-спектрометрией на масс-спектрометре Q-Exactive (Thermo Scientific, Германия); (2) иммуноферментным анализом на содержание эпитопов белков посредством иммуноферментного анализа (ИФА, ELISA) с использованием моноклональных антител к IGF-1, TGF-1, HGF, VEGF, PDGF, EGF и др. и хемокинов (IL-8, IL-1a, IL-1b, TNFa, IL-12) и (3) секвенирование выделенных пептидов. Установлена высокая степень стандартизации препарата по пептидам. С использованием стандартного программного обеспечения были установлены аминокислотные последовательности 47 пептидов. Установлено наличие в составе Лаеннека пептидов альбумина, коллагенов Ia2, Va2, XIXa1, «цинковых пальцев», а также активных пептидных фрагментов ростовых факторов IGF-1, TGF-1, HGF, VEGF, PDGF, EGF и др. Наличие этих пептидов в составе Лаеннека позволило сформулировать ряд ранее неизвестных молекулярных механизмов действия препарата

Antimicrobial activity and rutin identification of honey produced by the stingless bee Melipona compressipes manaosensis and commercial honey

Background: Honey has been identified as a potential alternative to the widespread use of antibiotics, which are of significant concern considering the emergence of resistant bacteria. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of honey samples produced by a stingless bee species and by Apis sp. against pathogenic bacteria, as well as to identify the presence of phenolic compounds.Methods: Honey samples from the stingless bee M. compressipes manaosensis were collected twice, during the dry and rainy seasons. Three commercial honey samples from Apis sp. were also included in this study. Two different assays were performed to evaluate the antibacterial potential of the honey samples: agar-well diffusion and broth macrodilution. Liquid-liquid extraction was used to assess phenolic compounds from honey. HPLC analysis was performed in order to identify rutin and apigenin on honey samples. Chromatograms were recorded at 340 and 290 nm.Results: Two honey samples were identified as having the highest antimicrobial activity using the agar diffusion method. Honey produced by Melipona compressipes manaosensis inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli (0157: H7), Proteus vulgaris, Shigella sonnei and Klebsiella sp. A sample of honey produced by Apis sp. also inhibited the growth of Salmonella paratyphi. The macrodilution technique presented greater sensitivity for the antibacterial testing, since all honey samples showed activity. Flavonoid rutin was identified in the honey sample produced by the stingless bee.Conclusions: Honey samples tested in this work showed antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The results reported herein highlight the potential of using honey to control bacterial growth. © 2013 Pimentel et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Geroprotective properties of neuroprotective and neurotrophic peptides

Objective: to elucidate whether cerebrolysin contains peptide fragments that promote geroprotection.Material and methods. The peptide composition of cerebrolysin underwent a comprehensive mass spectrometric analysis, followed by a systemic biological assessment.Results and discussion. Thirty-six peptides with geroprotective properties were isolated in the multipeptide composition of cerebrolysin. These peptides included those of mimetics of adrenomedullin and enkephalins; those of inhibitors of seven targeted human proteins (the protein kinases MAPK1, VPRBP, and PKC, the gamma-secretase PS1, the kinases CDK1, SGK1 and mTOR). The established cerebrolysin peptides were shown to be competitive inhibitors of the seven targeted proteins. In particular, inhibition of PKC and mTOR stimulated the increased autophagy (the utilization of waste and abnormal proteins), which contributes to an increase in the survival of cells and model organisms.Conclusion. Cerebrolysin can have geroprotective effects, by inhibiting the seven targeted proteins, by activating endorphinergic neurotransmission, and can be indirectly involved in vascular tone normalization