Protective effect of berberine chloride on Plasmodium chabaudi-induced hepatic tissue injury in mice

AbstractThe present study aimed to investigate the protective role of berberine (BER) against Plasmodium chabaudi-induced infection in mice. Animals were divided into three groups. Group I served as a vehicle control. Group II and group III were infected with 1000 P. chabaudi infected erythrocytes. Group III was gavaged with 100μl of 10mg/kg berberine chloride for 10days. All mice were sacrificed at day 10 post-infection. The percentage of parasitemia was significantly reduced more than 30%, after treatment of mice with BER. Infection caused marked hepatic injuries as indicated by histopathological alterations as evidenced by the presence of hepatic lobular inflammatory cellular infiltrations, dilated sinusoids, vacuolated hepatocytes, increased number of Kupffer cells and the malaria pigment, hemozoin. These changes in livers led to the increased histological score. Also, infection induced a significant increase in liver alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase and a significant increase in the total leucocytic count. Moreover, mice became anemic as proved by the significant decrease in erythrocyte number and haemoglobin content. BER showed a significant protective potential by improving the above mentioned parameters. Based on these results, it is concluded that berberine could offer protection against hepatic tissue damage

Morphological and molecular characterization of the monogenean gill parasite, Acleotrema maculatus, infecting Argyrops filamentosus fish in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT Fish are considered one of the important sources of protein which are invaded by different parasites. This study aimed to shed light on monogenean parasites that infect fish within the family Sparidae in Saudi Arabia. A total of 30 Argyrops filamentosus specimens were collected from the Red Sea, the city of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), and then examined for the presence of monogenean parasites. Parasitic species were isolated and studied morphologically using light microscopic examination and molecularly via the partial sequencing of the 28S rRNA gene. Only a monogenean parasitic species has been identified. This parasite is morphologically and morphometric compatible with previously Acleotrema maculatus Morsy, El-Fayoumi & Fahmy (2014), identified from Plectropomus maculatus in the Red Sea, Egypt. Phylogeny revealed that this putative diplectanid species nested well within a clade clustering Diplectanidae species, which along with morphological data, suggests it is a member of the genus Acleotrema. Query sequences showed identities of 98.92% for 28S rRNA (AF026118.1) of Acleotrema sp. This study reflects the first account of this genus as endoparasite taxa of the examined sparid fish, as well as providing novel DNA data for this species

In vitro antiparasitic activity of ethanolic leaves extract of Anethum graveolens

ABSTRACT Natural products are safe environmentally friendly agents and have no negative impact on the environment, they can be used to combat parasitic diseases. Helminthiasis and coccidiosis are parasitic diseases that harm both health and the economy. This research aimed to see how Anethum graveolens leaves extract (AGLE) worked as an anti-parasitic modulator during oocyst sporulation of an Eimeria papillata infection. FT-IR phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of eight compounds. The time required to induce paralysis and death in worms at the highest concentration (200 mg/mL) was 4.57±0.26 and 5.22±0.10 min, respectively. In an in vitro study, AGLE (300 mg/ml) inhibited sporulation by approximately 100% after 72 and 96 hr. AGLE (200, 100, and 50 mg/ml), amprolium, DettolTM, and phenol induced variable inhibition levels at 96 hr of 5.54%, 1.01%, 37.33%, 81.33%, and 89.33%, respectively. Our findings suggest that AGLE has potent anthelmintic and anticoccidial properties that could be further developed into a novel therapeutic agent

Efficacy of Teucrium polium leaves extract as anticoccidial and anthelmintic: In vitro study

ABSTRACT Natural sources are microbiological species and medicinal plants, which could be potential new sources for development of drugs against different diseases. Coccidiosis affects many animals and leads to great economic losses. Drug-resistant strains of Eimeria species have emerged because of overuse and misuse of drugs. In vitro, using Eimeria papillata oocyst and earthworm (Eisenia fetida), we evaluated the anticoccidial and anthelmintic effect of Teucrium polium leaves extract (TPLE). Using infrared spectroscopy showed the presence of thirteen compounds for TPLE. Mebendazole (10 mg/mL) caused paralysis and earthworm death by 13.91±0.373 and 18.2±0.980 min, respectively, while, for TPLE (100 mg/ml) were 4.23±0.077 and 4.817±0.386 min. Also, the histological study revealed obvious surface architecture abnormality for treated worms. Moreover, TPLE (300 mg/mL) and formalin (5%) at 72, 96, and 120 hrs led to inhibition of sporulation by approximately 100% with marked deformities, while TPLE (200, 100, 50, and 25 mg/mL), amprolium, DettolTM, and phenol at 120 hr approximately 65.9%, 23.6%, 4.8%, 3.2%, 12.6%, 68.4%, and 46.6%, respectively. This pilot investigation revealed that TPLE possesses anticoccidial and anthelmintic activity, encouraging additional testing in vivo to create a new medication for the treatment of coccidiosis and helminthiasis

The influence of nutritional factors and dietary patterns on the prevention and control of arterial hypertension: a review

Arterial hypertension is a growing public health problem worldwide with serious health consequences. However, hypertension can be prevented and controlled with a healthy diet and physical activity. For this reason, we conducted a search of recent articles and reviews on the influence of nutritional factors and dietary patterns on the prevention and control of arterial hypertension, then sifted and aggregated the data. Results showed that guidelines such as sodium restriction, weight control and moderate alcohol intake, improved diet (following the DASH diet or Vegetarian diet), and physical activity significantly impacted blood pressure control. Likewise, consuming less saturated fat with an increase in monounsaturated fatty acids and omega-3s, providing adequate calcium, magnesium, protein, vitamin D and fiber, and improving the antioxidant capacity of the diet also plays an important role in blood pressure control. In short, an appropriate diet combined with a healthy lifestyle will help achieve the best blood pressure, reduce cardiovascular risk factors, and thereby achieve many other health benefits.

INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE: CLINICAL FEATURES AND MANIFESTATIONS BEYOND THE BOWEL

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses a spectrum of diseases, with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) representing the two broadest subtypes of IBD. Multiple extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) are more frequent in (IBD); 5% –50% of the patients might be affected. The most often implicated sites of manifestations are musculoskeletal and dermatological structures. However, while some symptoms like peripheral arthritis and erythema nodosum correlate with IBD progression, others have their own course of disease like axial arthropathy, gangrenosis of the pioderma and primary sclerosic cholangitis. This review would provide a summary of the most frequent EIMs and their prevalence.                                       Peer Review History: Received 31 May 2020; Revised 7 June; Accepted 4 July, Available online 15 July 2020 Academic Editor: Dr. Muhammad Zahid Iqbal, AIMST University, Malaysia, [email protected] UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file:                Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 5.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Dr. Md. Parwez Ahmad, National Medical College, Birgunj, Nepal, [email protected] Dr. George Zhu, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, [email protected]

Highly Accurate Identification of Bacteria's Antibiotic Resistance Based on Raman Spectroscopy and U-Net Deep Learning Algorithms

Bacterial pathogens especially antibiotic-resistant ones are a public health concern worldwide. To oppose the morbidity and mortality associated with them, it is critical to select an appropriate antibiotic by performing a rapid bacterial diagnosis. Using a combination of Raman spectroscopy and deep learning algorithms to identify bacteria is a rapid and reliable method. Nevertheless, due to the loss of information during training a model, some deep learning algorithms suffer from low accuracy. Herein, we modify the U-Net architecture to fit our purpose of classifying the one-dimensional Raman spectra. The proposed U-Net model provides highly accurate identification of the 30 isolates of bacteria and yeast, empiric treatment groups, and antimicrobial resistance, thanks to its capability to concatenate and copy important features from the encoder layers to the decoder layers, thereby decreasing the data loss. The accuracies of the model for the 30-isolate level, empiric treatment level, and antimicrobial resistance level tasks are 86.3, 97.84, and 95%, respectively. The proposed deep learning model has a high potential for not only bacterial identification but also for other diagnostic purposes in the biomedical field

The antiplasmodial and spleen protective role of crude Indigofera oblongifolia leaf extract traditionally used in the treatment of malaria in Saudi Arabia

Mohamed A Dkhil,1,2 Mahmoud Y Lubbad,1,3 Esam M Al-Shaebi,1 Denis Delic,4 Saleh Al-Quraishy1 1Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt; 3General Directorate of Environmental and Occupational Health, Public Health Agency, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharma, Biberach, Germany Abstract: Malaria is one of the most serious natural hazards faced by human society. Although plant leaves of Indigofera oblongifolia have been used for the treatment of malaria in Saudi Arabian society, there is no laboratory-based evidence for the effectiveness and safety of the plant. This study therefore was designed to investigate the antimalarial and spleen protective activity of I. oblongifolia leaf extract (IOLE) in mice. Three doses (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) of IOLE were used to treat mice infected with Plasmodium chabaudi-parasitized erythrocytes. The suppressive effect produced by the 100 mg/kg dose on parasitemia was highly significant compared to the infected nontreated group. This dose was also able to repair the change in the thickness of the mice spleen and significantly lower the number of apoptotic cells in the spleen. Moreover, I. oblongifolia also altered gene expression in the infected spleen. On day 7 postinfection, the mRNA expression of six genes – with immune response functions – was upregulated by more than twofold, while that of 24 other genes was downregulated. Among the differentially up- and downregulated genes under the effect of IOLE, we quantified the expression of Ccl8, Saa3, Cd209a, and Cd209b mRNAs. The expression data, determined by microarrays, were largely consistent with the expression analyses we performed with several arbitrarily selected genes using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Based on our results, I. oblongifolia exhibits antimalarial activity and could protect the spleen from P. chabaudi-induced injury. Keywords: spleen, malaria, Indigofera oblongifolia, apoptosis, microarra

Morphological and molecular analyses Protolamellodiscus senilobatus (Monogenea: Diplectanidae), a gill parasite infecting the soldier bream Argyrops filamentosus (Sparidae)

Monopisthocotyleans belonging to the family Diplectanidae infect marine fish and are distinguished by a posterior complex haptor. The solider bream Argyrops filamentosus Valenciennes (Perciformes: Sparidae), is one such species that is under consideration caught from the Red Sea (Saudi Arabia). This study is the first description of a diplectanid species from the gills of the soldier bream fish, morphologically by light as well as by molecular analysis of the parasite partial 28S rRNA sequences through multiple alignments and phylogeny by maximum likelihood (ML) analysis which is provided for the first time for the described parasite species. Thirty soldier bream fish were collected from marine water off Saudi Arabia; gills were detached and further analyzed for parasitic infection. A monogenean parasite with a complicated haptor made up of two comparable lamellodiscs, three bilateral pairs of lobes, two pairs of anchors, three bars, and seven pairs of marginal hooks was discovered to naturally infect 21 samples of the examined fish. The molecular analysis of the parasite 28S rRNA and phylogeny revealed a percentage of identities 98.41–77.97 % for Diplectanidae species within a monophyletic clade of Dactylogyridea where a maximum percentage of 98.41 % were obtained for morphologically different sister taxon Lamellodiscus acanthopagri. The results of phylogeny are in line with those obtained through morphological classification, which showed that the parasite identified shared morphological characteristics with Protolamellodiscus senilobatus, a species that had not before been identified by DNA analysis. Under accession number OP419541.1, the obtained parasite sequences were added to the GenBank database

Susceptibility of mice strains to oxidative stress and neurotransmitter activity induced by Plasmodium berghei

This study investigated the susceptibility of female C57Bl/6 and Swiss Albino mice to oxidative stress and neurotransmitters activity induced by Plasmodium berghei. On day 9 p.i. with P. berghei infected erythrocytes, the mice reduced in weight. This weight loss was markedly higher in SW mice and reached about −14%. Also, the infection was able to cause oxidative damage to the brain tissue. Catalase activity as well as glutathione, malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels were different in the two mice strains. Moreover, the brain content of neurotransmitters, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin in mice brain was higher in SW mice than B6 mice. We concluded that, the strain of mice is one factor that could alter the response of mice to P. berghei infection