Tobacco Smoke Carcinogens Induce DNA Repair Machinery Function Loss: Protection by Carbon Nanotubes

Purpose: DNA damage is a continuous process occurring within the cells caused by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, but it gets repaired regularly. If the DNA repair process is faulty, the incidences of damages/mutations can accumulate in cells resulting in cell transformation. It is hypothesized that the negative variations in DNA repair pathways in even at one point viz. genetic, translational or posttranslational stage may fairly be crucial for the beginning and development of carcinogenesis. Therefore, we investigated the potential of tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNs) related carcinogens to interact with the enzymes involved in DNA repair mechanisms in the current study. Methods: The derivatives of cigarettes’ smoke like NNK and NNAL are very well known and recognized carcinogens. Therefore, almost 120 enzymes playing crucial role in the DNA repair process have been analysed for their reactivity with NNK and NNAL. Results: The molecular docking study helped to screen out, 07 possible DNA repair enzyme targets for NNK, and 12for NNAL. Present study revealed the loss of activity of DNA repair enzymes in the presence of NNK and NNAL, and this accumulation may induce the tendency of DNA damage which can lead the transformation of exposed normal cells in to cancerous cells. This study also demonstrated the protective potential of nanoparticles like SWCNTs/MWCNTs against TSN’s induced toxicity; here SWCNT against NNK (-17.16 Kcal/Mol) and MWCNT against NNK -17.01 Kcal/Mol were showing maximum binding affinities than the known biomolecular target of NNK 1UGH (Uracil-DNA glycosylase,-7.82Kcal/Mol). Conclusion: CNTs can be applied as chemo-preventive agents against environmental and tobacco induced carcinogens owing to their scavenging potential and warrants for in vivo and in vitro experimental validation of the results obtained from the present study

Life style Factors Influencing BMI of Females In Ha’il Region

Background: Published health promoting or health risk behaviors data in a young population is sparse for Saudi Arabia. Identifying health risk factors early in life and promoting primary prevention interventions among the youth is of utmost importance to move in a healthier direction Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the socio-economic factors influencing BMI in female students in University of Hail. Methodology: A cross sectional survey was carried out to evaluate dietary behaviors in a random sample of 200 adolescent students, from UOH female campus during the winter semester. Self administered questionnaire for dietary behaviors was used for survey by following anonymity and privacy. Results: This study was conducted to measure BMI and determine the socioeconomic factors affecting the relative weight of young adult females living in the city of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia. A total of 200 female subjects (mean ± SD: age: 19.76 ± 1.98 years and BMI: 23.47 ± 5.58 kg/m2) participated in the present survey. 28.5 % percent of study sample were either overweight or obese. Age wise distribution indicates overweight and obesity significantly increases with age. Breakfast is frequently skipped in overweight and obese subjects while frequency of snacking less among them. Findings of the current study also suggest habit of frequent snacking behavior inverse association with BMI. The current study findings have indicated no clear impact of physical activity on obesity prevalenc

Designing of a Novel Multi-Antigenic Epitope-Based Vaccine against E. hormaechei: An Intergraded Reverse Vaccinology and Immunoinformatics Approach

Enterobacter hormaechei is involved in multiple hospital-associated infections and is resistant to beta-lactam and tetracycline antibiotics. Due to emerging antibiotics resistance in E. hormaechei and lack of licensed vaccine availability, efforts are required to overcome the antibiotics crisis. In the current research study, a multi-epitope-based vaccine against E. hormaechei was designed using reverse vaccinology and immunoinformatic approaches. A total number of 50 strains were analyzed from which the core proteome was extracted. One extracellular (curlin minor subunit CsgB) and two periplasmic membrane proteins (flagellar basal-body rod protein (FlgF) and flagellar basal body P-ring protein (FlgI) were prioritized for B and T-cell epitope prediction. Only three filtered TPGKMDYTS, GADMTPGKM and RLSAESQAT epitopes were used when designing the vaccine construct. The epitopes were linked via GPGPG linkers and EAAAK linker-linked cholera toxin B-subunit adjuvant was used to enhance the immune stimulation efficacy of the vaccine. Docking studies of the vaccine construct with immune cell receptors revealed better interactions, vital for generating proper immune reactions. Docked complexes of vaccine with MHC-I, MHC-II and Tool-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) reported the lowest binding energy of −594.1 kcal/mol, −706.7 kcal/mol, −787.2 kcal/mol, respectively, and were further subjected to molecular dynamic simulations. Net binding free energy calculations also confirmed that the designed vaccine has a strong binding affinity for immune receptors and thus could be a good vaccine candidate for future experimental investigations

Design of a Multi-Epitope Vaccine against Tropheryma whipplei Using Immunoinformatics and Molecular Dynamics Simulation Techniques

Whipple’s disease is caused by T. whipplei, a Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium. It is considered a persistent infection affecting various organs, more likely to infect males. There is currently no licensed vaccination available for Whipple’s disease; thus, the development of a chimeric peptide-based vaccine against T. whipplei has the potential to be tremendously beneficial in preventing Whipple’s disease in the future. The present study aimed to apply modern computational approaches to generate a multi-epitope-based vaccine that expresses antigenic determinants prioritized from the core proteome of two T. whipplei whole proteomes. Using an integrated computational approach, four immunodominant epitopes were found from two extracellular proteins. Combined, these epitopes covered 89.03% of the global population. The shortlisted epitopes exhibited a strong binding affinity for the B- and T-cell reference set of alleles, high antigenicity score, nonallergenic nature, high solubility, nontoxicity, and excellent binders of DRB1*0101. Through the use of appropriate linkers and adjuvation with a suitable adjuvant molecule, the epitopes were designed into a chimeric vaccine. An adjuvant was linked to the connected epitopes to boost immunogenicity and efficiently engage both innate and adaptive immunity. The physiochemical properties of the vaccine were observed favorable, leading toward the 3D modeling of the construct. Furthermore, the vaccine’s binding confirmation to the TLR-4 critical innate immune receptor was also determined using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which shows that the vaccine has a strong binding affinity for TLR4 (−29.4452 kcal/mol in MM-GBSA and −42.3229 kcal/mol in MM-PBSA). Overall, the vaccine described here has a promising potential for eliciting protective and targeted immunogenicity, subject to further experimental testing

Efeito do NaCI sobre o crecimento ea multiplicação in vitro de bananeira The effect of NaCl on the growth and multiplication of bananeira (MUSA SP) in vitro

A salinidade dos solos é um importante fator de estresse, ocorrendo em regiões semi-áridas e áridas do Nordeste brasileiro, onde a bananeira é cultivada. O efeito de diferentes concentrações de cloreto de sódio (NaCl) foi estudado sobre a multiplicação e o crescimento in vitro de brotos de bananeira da variedade "Grand Naine", visando a uma posterior seleção in vitro. Brotos de bananeira foram inoculados em meio de cultura MS (Murashige & SKoog) na ausência de T0=0 (controle) e na presença de três tratamentos contendo NaCl: T1= 50mM; T2=75mM e T3=100mM e subcultivados cinco vezes nos seus respectivos tratamentos. Os subcultivos foram realizados a cada 30 dias e observado o número de brotos multiplicados por broto inoculado em cada tratamento, a altura e o número de folhas dos brotos inoculados e a produção de matéria fresca aos 0; 30; 60; 90; 120 e 150 dias após a exposição ao sal. Os resultados mostraram que a adição de NaCl ao meio de cultura afetou a multiplicação in vitro, e que o aumento da concentração do sal é proporcional à diminuição do número de brotos produzidos. A multiplicação in vitro de brotos de bananeira foi reduzida em cerca de 80% na dose de 50mM e em cerca de 90% nas doses de 75 e 100mM. Nos tratamentos submetidos a 75 e 100 mM de NaCl, houve redução do número de folhas e também no crescimento dos brotos iniciais e na produção de matéria fresca. A melhor dose de NaCl entre as testadas e sob as condições experimentais utilizadas, para a realização de uma posterior seleção, foi 50mM por ter apresentado efeitos intermediários nos caracteres avaliados.<br>Soil salinity is an important factor of stress that occurs in many semi-arid and arid regions of Brazil where the bananeira is cultivated. The effect of different sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations, in vitro, on the growth and shoot multiplication derived from explants of "Grand Naine" variety was studied. The shoot-tips of the bananeira were inoculated in MS media in the absence: T0=0 (control) and in the presence of three NaCl treatments: T1=50mM, T2=75mM e T3=100mM and sub cultured five times in the respective treatments. The subcultures were carried out every 30 days and the number of shoots multiplicated on each inoculated shoot, length and total number leaves of inoculated shoot and production of fresh weight were observed at 0; 30; 60; 90; 120 e 150 days after salt exposition. The results showed that the presence of NaCl in the media affects the shoot's production in vitro. The increase of NaCl concentration in the media is proportional to the decrease in the number of shoots produced. The multiplication of bananeira's shoot reduced about 80% in the treatment T1, while the treatments T2 and T3 achieved 90% of reduction. On the other hand the two saline treatments 75 and 100 mM interfered at the same form in the growth of shoots, production of fresh weight, length and total number of leaves. Under experimental conditions the best dose among the different sodium chloride was 50 mM because this dose showed intermediary effects on the characters evaluated

Germinação e formação de mudas de coqueiro irrigadas com águas salinas Germination and seedling formation of coconut irrigated with saline waters

O cultivo de coqueiro vem crescendo no Nordeste, com aumento de produtividade, quando irrigado. Sendo comuns na região águas salinas e se considerando a carência de dados de pesquisa de salinidade em coqueiro anão-verde (Cocos nucifera L.), objetivou-se, através deste trabalho, avaliar os efeitos da irrigação com águas salinas (CEa = 2,2, 5, 10, 15 e 20 dS m-1) sobre a germinação e o crescimento inicial de plântulas, até 120 dias após semeadura (fase I), estendendo-se a avaliação, posteriormente, após repicagem para o viveiro, quando passaram a ser irrigadas com água de CEa = 2,2 dS m-1, durante 120 dias (fase II), estudando-se o efeito residual dos níveis de salinidade aplicados na fase I. Em ambos os experimentos, o delineamento foi inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições. As águas salinas foram preparadas com adição de NaCl comercial. Na primeira fase, o incremento da CEa não influenciou significativamente a germinação que variou de 80 a 97,5%, porém afetou a velocidade de germinação e o crescimento das plântulas; na fase de sementeira, a salinidade afetou a fitomassa total a partir de 5,4 dS m-1; o sistema radicular foi a variável mais afetada pela salinidade. Na fase II, as plantas oriundas de germinação sob condições de alta salinidade, após passarem a ser irrigadas com água de 2,2 dS m-1, cresceram no mesmo ritmo daquelas germinadas sem estresse salino.<br>The coconut cultivation is growing in the Northeast Brazil with increase in productivity under irrigated conditions. Saline waters are commonly found in this region and considering the lack of data related to salinity on dwarf-green coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), this work had the objective of evaluating the effects of the irrigation with saline waters (ECw = 2.2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 dS m-1) on the germination and the initial growth of seedlings until 120 days after sowing (phase I), extending the evaluation, later, after transplanting in the nursery, when seedlings were irrigated with water of ECw = 2.2 dS m-1, for another 120 days (phase II), studying the residual effect of the applied salinity levels in the phase I. In both the experiments a completely randomized design was used with four replications. The saline waters were prepared with the addition of commercial NaCl. In the first phase, the increment of ECw did not influence the germination significantly, which varied from 80 to 97.5%, however, it affected the germination speed and the growth of the seedlings; in the germination phase the salinity affected the total phytomass starting from 5.4 dS m-1; the root system was the most affected variable by the water salinity. In the phase II, the plants germinated under conditions of high salinity when irrigated with water of 2.2 dS m-1 maintained the rhythm of growth similar to those germinated without saline stress

Characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with and without asthma from the United States, South Korea, and Europe

Objective: Large international comparisons describing the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 are limited. The aim of the study was to perform a large-scale descriptive characterization of COVID-19 patients with asthma. Methods: We included nine databases contributing data from January to June 2020 from the US, South Korea (KR), Spain, UK and the Netherlands. We defined two cohorts of COVID-19 patients (‘diagnosed’ and ‘hospitalized’) based on COVID-19 disease codes. We followed patients from COVID-19 index date to 30 days or death. We performed descriptive analysis and reported the frequency of characteristics and outcomes in people with asthma defined by codes and prescriptions. Results: The diagnosed and hospitalized cohorts contained 666,933 and 159,552 COVID-19 patients respectively. Exacerbation in people with asthma was recorded in 1.6–8.6% of patients at presentation. Asthma prevalence ranged from 6.2% (95% CI 5.7–6.8) to 18.5% (95% CI 18.2–18.8) in the diagnosed cohort and 5.2% (95% CI 4.0–6.8) to 20.5% (95% CI 18.6–22.6) in the hospitalized cohort. Asthma patients with COVID-19 had high prevalence of comorbidity including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Mortality ranged from 2.1% (95% CI 1.8–2.4) to 16.9% (95% CI 13.8–20.5) and similar or lower compared to COVID-19 patients without asthma. Acute respiratory distress syndrome occurred in 15–30% of hospitalized COVID-19 asthma patients. Conclusion: The prevalence of asthma among COVID-19 patients varies internationally. Asthma patients with COVID-19 have high comorbidity. The prevalence of asthma exacerbation at presentation was low. Whilst mortality was similar among COVID-19 patients with and without asthma, this could be confounded by differences in clinical characteristics. Further research could help identify high-risk asthma patients