Can montelukast correct immune dysregulation in preschool children with mild persistent asthma?

Background: Asthma is the most common inflammatory disorder among preschool and school-age children. Regulation of immune cells and their cytokines is essential to control asthma. Montelukast is a leukotriene receptor antagonist that suppresses inflammatory cell proliferation, and reduces cytokines and mediator secretion. Objective: The research team's goal was to study the immunological parameters among mild  asthmatic patients before and after the treatment with Montelukast. Methods: Forty preschool children with mild persistent asthma and twenty healthy, non-allergic children were included in the study. Blood eosinophil count, total IgE, serum IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13 levels were  assessed. T helper (CD3+CD4+) and T regulatory (CD4+CD25+) cell counts were measured using flow cytometry; for mild asthmatics before and after six weeks of treatment with Montelukast and for the control group. Results: Asthmatic children have shown a significant elevation of serum levels of IgE, IL4 and IL13, and also an increase of eosinophils, total lymphocyte T cells and T helper cell count. However; serum levels of IL10 and Treg cell count was lower in asthmatics compared to control. Following six weeks of Montelukast treatment, all immunological parameters improved. There was a significant elevation of serum levels of IL10 and Treg cell count, with a decrease in serum levels of IgE, IL4 and IL13; eosinophil counts, and helper T cells. Conclusion: Montelukast treatment improves the impaired immunological balance of mild asthmatic children through the increase of serum IL-10, T regulatory cell counts that have anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects. It also decreases T helper cells and their proinflammatory cytokines

Zingiber officinale acts as a nutraceutical agent against liver fibrosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background/objective</p> <p><it>Zingiber officinale </it>Roscoe (ginger) (<it>Zingiberaceae</it>) has been cultivated for thousands of years both as a spice and for medicinal purposes. Ginger rhizomes successive extracts (petroleum ether, chloroform and ethanol) were examined against liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The evaluation was done through measuring antioxidant parameters; glutathione (GSH), total superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Liver marker enzymes; succinate and lactate dehydrogenases (SDH and LDH), glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase), acid phosphatase (AP), 5'- nucleotidase (5'NT) and liver function enzymes; aspartate and alanine aminotransferases (AST and ALT) as well as cholestatic markers; alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), total bilirubin were estimated. Liver histopathological analysis and collagen content were also evaluated. Treatments with the selected extracts significantly increased GSH, SOD, SDH, LDH, G-6-Pase, AP and 5'NT. However, MDA, AST, ALT ALP, GGT and total bilirubin were significantly decreased.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Extracts of ginger, particularly the ethanol one resulted in an attractive candidate for the treatment of liver fibrosis induced by CCl₄. Further studies are required in order to identify the molecules responsible of the pharmacological activity.</p

Prevalence and antimicrobial sensitivity of Escherichia coli and Salmonella species in field cases of rabbit intestinal coccidiosis treated with prebiotic

This study aimed to investigate the effect of prebiotic treatment on E. coli and Salmonella species during natural intestinal coccidiosis in rabbits. The experiment was conducted on 45 selected farm rabbits of which 15 were coccidian free (Negative control; NC, group) and 30 were naturally coccidian infected. The infected animals were allocated into two equal groups including positive control (PC) and prebiotic treated (PT) that were orally treated with prebiotic for 8 successive days. Fecal oocyst count was assessed daily during the course of treatment. Meanwhile, the PC group had a significantly high oocyst count (21.67×103 ± 0.82 OPG), with a significant increase in the prevalence of E. coli and Salmonella (86.7 % and 46.7 %, respectively). Moreover, the NC group remained coccidian free and exhibited E. coli infection only with no detection of salmonella isolates. Findings of in-vitro susceptibility testing showed that E. coli isolates were highly resistant to most of the tested antimicrobials while Salmonella isolates showed variable degrees of resistance. In conclusion, the prebiotic treatment significantly reduced the prevalence of E. coli and Salmonella infections coexisted with intestinal coccidiosis in naturally infected rabbits

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Biomedical Applications, Antibacterial and Anticancer Activities, and their Hemato-Biochemical Impacts: A Review

Nanobiotechnology has grown rapidly as an essential branch of modern research, which deals with synthesis, design and manipulation of particles with at least one dimension &lt;100nm. As well as they have an important role in diagnosis and treatment of modern diseases. AgNPs are mostly used NPs in a variety of applications because of their exceptional physicochemical characteristics with low toxicity and biocompatibility. Also, their great chemical stability, catalytic activity, conductivity and antimicrobial potential leads to its high commercial use. AgNPs produced by the action of reducing reagents, such as, physical, chemical and biological techniques. Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles are most attractive nanomaterial of interest among several metallic nanoparticles, which characterized by its hazard free and eco-friendly cost-effective, biological and therapeutic properties. The natural resources for biosynthesis of nanoparticles include plants, bacteria, yeast, algae, fungi and viruses. The AgNPs has great importance in several fields of the science and some technology as electronics, therapeutics, environmental protection, textile industry, cosmetics, biomedical, photonics and agriculture. Also they act as an effective antimicrobial, anticancer and diagnostic agents through the distinctive characteristics of Ag nanostructures, like its exceptional SERS/SPR, the properties and charge of its surface, variety of the shape, rate of dissolution, as well as its ability to organized Ag+ release for mediating both antimicrobial toxicity and cytotoxicity toward cancer cells. This review provided an overview of synthesis of AgNPs along with their anti- microbial and anti- cancer activities. In addition to an overview on how AgNPs affect hemato-biochemical parameters

Effectiveness of TaDreb-B1 and 1-FEH w3 KASP markers in spring and winter wheat populations for marker-assisted selection to improve drought tolerance

Due to the advances in DNA markers, kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers could accelerate breeding programs and genetically improve drought tolerance. Two previously reported KASP markers, TaDreb-B1 and 1-FEH w3, were investigated in this study for the marker-assisted selection (MAS) of drought tolerance. Two highly diverse spring and winter wheat populations were genotyped using these two KASP markers. The same populations were evaluated for drought tolerance at seedling (drought stress) and reproductive (normal and drought stress) growth stages. The single-marker analysis revealed a high significant association between the target allele of 1-FEH w3 and drought susceptibility in the spring population, while the marker–trait association was not significant in the winter population. The TaDreb-B1 marker did not have any highly significant association with seedling traits, except the sum of leaf wilting in the spring population. For field experiments, SMA revealed very few negative and significant associations between the target allele of the two markers and yield traits under both conditions. The results of this study revealed that the use of TaDreb-B1 provided better consistency in improving drought tolerance than 1-FEH w3

Effectiveness of \u3ci\u3eTaDreb-B1\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3e1-FEH w3\u3c/i\u3e KASP Markers in Spring and Winter Wheat Populations for Marker-Assisted Selection to Improve Drought Tolerance

Due to the advances in DNA markers, kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers could accelerate breeding programs and genetically improve drought tolerance. Two previously reported KASP markers, TaDreb-B1 and 1-FEH w3, were investigated in this study for the markerassisted selection (MAS) of drought tolerance. Two highly diverse spring and winter wheat populations were genotyped using these two KASP markers. The same populations were evaluated for drought tolerance at seedling (drought stress) and reproductive (normal and drought stress) growth stages. The single-marker analysis revealed a high significant association between the target allele of 1-FEH w3 and drought susceptibility in the spring population, while the marker–trait association was not significant in the winter population. The TaDreb-B1 marker did not have any highly significant association with seedling traits, except the sum of leaf wilting in the spring population. For field experiments, SMA revealed very few negative and significant associations between the target allele of the two markers and yield traits under both conditions. The results of this study revealed that the use of TaDreb-B1 provided better consistency in improving drought tolerance than 1-FEH w3

Double risk of interleukin-37 rs3811047 A allele polymorphism with lupus nephritis in an Egyptian population

Aim of the work: To investigate the association of interleukin-37 (IL-37)(rs3811047) polymorphism with lupus nephritis (LN) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Patients and methods: The case-control study included 206 SLE patients, 97 with LN and 109 without LN, and 240 healthy controls. SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) was assessed. Genotyping of the IL-37 (rs3811047) polymorphism was done using real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A bioinformatic analysis of IL-37 was also performed. Results: The mean ages of SLE patients were 32.82 ± 10.43 years and female: male was 195:11 (F:M 17.7:1). The SLEDAI was significantly higher in the patients with LN (7.9 ± 6.6) compared to those without (1.9 ± 1.8) (p < 0.001). The AA genotype was more frequently represented in patients with LN (21.6%) compared to those without (7.3%) (p = 0.007), and carriers of AA genotype had four times increased susceptibility to acquire LN compared to GG and GA (OR: 4.1). Likewise, the A allele was more represented in patients with LN (43%) than in those without (30%)(p = 0.004), and the carriers of the A allele had nearly two times more risk of developing LN compared to carriers of G allele (OR: 1.79).The AA genotype was associated with LN susceptibility under the recessive genetic model (p = 0.002). Regression analyses revealed that A allele is an independent risk factor of proteinuria (p < 0.001), disease activity (p < 0.001), consumed C3 (p < 0.001) and C4 (0.003). Conclusion: The AA genotype of the IL-37 (rs3811047) SNP contributes to the development of SLE in Egyptian patients with a doubled risk of acquiring LN in carriers of the allele A

Prophylactic and Therapeutic Efficacy of Prebiotic Supplementation against Intestinal Coccidiosis in Rabbits

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of prebiotic supplementation against intestinal coccidiosis in rabbits. Fifty male rabbits aged 35&ndash;60 days (1&ndash;1.5 kg) were divided into prophylactic and therapeutic experiments (five groups, 10 rabbits per group). Prophylactic experiment had prebiotic supplemented (PS-P), non-supplemented infected control (NI-P), and non-supplemented non-infected control (NN-P) groups. Ten days post-prebiotic supplementation (PPS), rabbits in groups PS-P and NI-P were infected orally with 5.0 &times; 104 sporulated oocysts of mixed Eimeria species. However, therapeutic experiment had prebiotic supplemented (PS-T) and untreated infected (UI-T) groups of naturally infected rabbits with Eimeria species. A significant reduction in oocyst count per gram feces (OPG) (p &le; 0.05) was reported in the PS-P (57.33 &times; 103 &plusmn; 2.84) and NI-P (130.83 &times; 103 &plusmn; 43.38) groups during the experiment. Additionally, rabbits in groups (PS-P, 970.33 &plusmn; 31.79 g and NI-P, 870.66 &plusmn; 6.66 g) showed weight loss after infection. However, a significant (p &le; 0.05) decrease in OPG was observed at day seven PPS in the PS-T group (4 &times; 103 &plusmn; 0.00) when compared with the UI-T group (32 &times; 103 &plusmn; 7.54). Furthermore, the PS-T group had a higher body weight than rabbits in the UI-T group. Histopathological findings of the intestinal tissues (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) showed that the counts of the endogenous stages were significantly higher in the NI-P and UI-T groups than in the prebiotic-supplemented groups (PS-P and PS-T). Supplementation of the prebiotic did not have any adverse effects on biochemical parameters, such as AST, ALT, creatinine, total protein, and total cholesterol. In conclusion, prebiotic supplementation can be used to minimize the adverse effects of intestinal coccidiosis in rabbits, which in turn limits body weight loss, especially for the prophylaxis of coccidial infection

Lipopolysaccharide induces acute lung injury and alveolar haemorrhage in association with the cytokine storm, coagulopathy and AT1R/JAK/STAT augmentation in a rat model that mimics moderate and severe Covid-19 pathology.

Progress in the study of Covid-19 disease in rodents has been hampered by the lack of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2; virus entry route to the target cell) affinities for the virus spike proteins across species. Therefore, we sought to determine whether a modified protocol of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome in rats can mimic both cell signalling pathways as well as severe disease phenotypes of Covid-19 disease. Rats were injected via intratracheal (IT) instillation with either 15 mg/kg of LPS (model group) or saline (control group) before being killed after 3 days. A severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like effect was observed in the model group as demonstrated by the development of a "cytokine storm" (>2.7 fold increase in blood levels of IL-6, IL-17A, GM-CSF, and TNF-α), high blood ferritin, demonstrable coagulopathy, including elevated D-dimer (approximately 10-fold increase), PAI-1, PT, and APTT (p 4 fold increase). Chest imaging revealed bilateral small patchy opacities of the lungs. Severe lung injury was noted by the presence of both, alveolar collapse and haemorrhage, desquamation of epithelial cells in the airway lumen, infiltration of inflammatory cells (CD45+ leukocytes), widespread thickening of the interalveolar septa, and ultrastructural alterations similar to Covid-19. Thus, these findings demonstrate that IT injection of 15 mg/kg LPS into rats, induced an AT1R/JAK/STAT-mediated cytokine storm with resultant pneumonia and coagulopathy that was commensurate with moderate and severe Covid-19 disease noted in humans