Mutagenic properties of modified hydrothermal nanotitania extract

Backgrounds: The mutagenic properties of modified hydrothermal nanotitania extract were carried out using the Ames test (genotoxicity). Materials and methods: The Ames test was performed on Salmonella strains (TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537 and TA 102) which contain mutations in several genes with and without S9 metabolic activation from rat liver using the standard assay. The materials were extracted in distilled water and the serial dilutions of concentration ranging from 313 to 5000 μg/mL were used after the incubation period of 24 h at 37° C. Results: These results suggested that all tested concentrations of the material extracts did not produce mutagenic effect in all the strains tested. Conclusions: Findings from this study showed that the modified hydrothermal nanotitania extract was non-mutagenic under present conditions

Spontaneous Massive Streptococcus constellatus Empyema Thoracis in a healthy individual: a case report

Empyema thoracis is a well-known condition that is characterised by a collection of pus in the pleural space and has historically been related to high mortality rate. The cause of high mortality rate is unknown, but it may have higer risk in pneumonia cases or immunocompromised patients. This case study presented a 50-year-old man with no chronic co-morbidities, admitted with the diagnosis of sepsis secondary to community-acquired pneumonia, which was covered with ceftriaxone. Subsequently, he developed massive spontaneous right lung empyema, necessitating an urgent thoracotomy and comprehensive right decortication. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, meropenem, was then given to him. Streptococcus constellatus was discovered in the pleural fluid’s culture and sensitivity test. On his tenth day of stay, the patient had a right thoracotomy and decortication. The patient was extubated on day two post-operative and recovered on subsequent days. He was then discharged at 30 days post-operatively. We reported a case of adult spontaneous empyema thoracis from a patient with few risk factors: he was not immunocompromised, had no chronic illnesses and had no interaction with tuberculosis patients

Childhood allergy disease, early diagnosis, and the potential of salivary protein biomarkers

Allergic disease has risen to epidemic proportions since the last decade and is among the most common noncommunicable, chronic diseases in children and adolescents worldwide. Allergic disease usually occurs in early life; thus, early biomarkers of allergic susceptibility are required for preventive measures to high-risk infants which enable early interventions to decrease allergic severity. However, to date, there is no reliable general or specific allergy phenotype detection method that is easy and noninvasive for children. Most reported allergic phenotype detection methods are invasive, such as the skin prick test (SPT), oral food challenge (OFC), and blood test, and many involve not readily accessible biological samples, such as cord blood (CB), maternal blood, or newborn vernix. Saliva is a biological sample that has great potential as a biomarker measurement as it consists of an abundance of biomarkers, such as genetic material and proteins. It is easily accessible, noninvasive, collected via a painless procedure, and an easy bedside screening for real-time measurement of the ongoing human physiological system. All these advantages emphasise saliva as a very promising diagnostic candidate for the detection and monitoring of disease biomarkers, especially in children. Furthermore, protein biomarkers have the advantages as modifiable influencing factors rather than genetic and epigenetic factors that are mostly nonmodifiable factors for allergic disease susceptibility in childhood. Saliva has great potential to replace serum as a biological fluid biomarker in diagnosing clinical allergy. However, to date, saliva is not considered as an established medically acceptable biomarker. This review considers whether the saliva could be suitable biological samples for early detection of allergic risk. Such tools may be used as justification for targeted interventions in early childhood for disease prevention and assisting in reducing morbidity and mortality caused by childhood allergy