“Off-Label” use of antibiotics in critical patients

In intensive care units, the most prescribed drugs are antibiotics, as result of the high incidence of infections among patients admitted to these units. In medical practice, antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon with dramatic consequences, which has led to the development of new strategies to solve this public health problem, including the use of ”off-label” drugs. Classification as an off-label prescription of a drug mainly refers to: unapproved therapeutic indication, formulation, dose (including dose interval), age or unapproved route of administration. The aim of this paper is to present the categories of appropriate ”off-label” use of drugs with a detailed description of the principles of use in this regime of antibiotics as mono- or combo-therapy

Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Probiotics and Prebiotics on Growth, Physiological Condition, and Resistance to Pathogens Challenge in Nile Tilapia (<i>Oreochromis niloticus</i>)

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the probiotic Betaplus® and prebiotic Technomos® as feed additives for Nile tilapia in terms of growth performance, health profiles, and resistance to infection with Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas fluorescens. A total of 960 healthy juvenile Nile tilapia (1.5 ± 0.01 g) were randomly divided into four experimental variants with three replicates for each variant. Fish were fed a commercial diet (control group, V0), supplemented with BetaPlus® probiotics–1% × BW (V1), TechnoMos® prebiotics–1% × BW (V2), and with BetaPlus® probiotics and TechnoMos® prebiotics in a ratio of 1:1% × BW (V3). Results on growth performance showed the best values in the probiotic variant, correlated with the health profile and the relative survival percentage after the challenge test with A. hydrophila and P. fluorescens. Similarly, the effects of dietary supplementation with probiotics and prebiotics on physiological conditions also recorded beneficial results in the synbiotic variant, where a high survival percentage was obtained after infection with the two pathogenic bacteria. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that dietary supplementation with feed additives consisting of mentioned probiotics, prebiotic, and their combination as synbiotics has the potential to promote growth performance, improving tilapia immunity and increasing survival after the challenge test

Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Probiotics and Prebiotics on Growth, Physiological Condition, and Resistance to Pathogens Challenge in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the probiotic Betaplus&reg; and prebiotic Technomos&reg; as feed additives for Nile tilapia in terms of growth performance, health profiles, and resistance to infection with Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas fluorescens. A total of 960 healthy juvenile Nile tilapia (1.5 &plusmn; 0.01 g) were randomly divided into four experimental variants with three replicates for each variant. Fish were fed a commercial diet (control group, V0), supplemented with BetaPlus&reg; probiotics&ndash;1% &times; BW (V1), TechnoMos&reg; prebiotics&ndash;1% &times; BW (V2), and with BetaPlus&reg; probiotics and TechnoMos&reg; prebiotics in a ratio of 1:1% &times; BW (V3). Results on growth performance showed the best values in the probiotic variant, correlated with the health profile and the relative survival percentage after the challenge test with A. hydrophila and P. fluorescens. Similarly, the effects of dietary supplementation with probiotics and prebiotics on physiological conditions also recorded beneficial results in the synbiotic variant, where a high survival percentage was obtained after infection with the two pathogenic bacteria. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that dietary supplementation with feed additives consisting of mentioned probiotics, prebiotic, and their combination as synbiotics has the potential to promote growth performance, improving tilapia immunity and increasing survival after the challenge test

Targeting Common Inflammatory Mediators in Experimental Severe Asthma and Acute Lung Injury

Neutrophils, known to be mobilized and activated in high amounts through Il-17 stimulation, are a key factor for clinical manifestation and imbalance of redox systems favoring a dominant oxidative state in both severe asthma and acute lung injury (f). The aim of this study was to evaluate in mice, the effect of Secukinumab (SECU) in a model of ovalbumin-induced asthma exacerbated with LPS administration to induce ALI, compared to dexamethasone (DEXA), already known for its benefit in both asthma and ALI. Results on cytokine levels for specific Th1, Th2 and Th17 revealed an interplay of immune responses. For Th1 effector cytokines in BALF, DEXA treatment increased TNF-α levels, but TNF-α was not modified by SECU; DEXA and SECU significantly decreased IFN-γ and IL-6 levels. For typical Th2 cytokines, DEXA significantly increased Il-4, Il-5 and Il-13 levels, while SECU significantly inhibited Il-5 levels. Both SECU and DEXA significantly decreased Il-17 levels. Cytokine level changes in lung tissue homogenate were partly similar to BALF cytokines. Conclusion: in addition to DEXA, SECU possesses the ability to modulate inflammatory cytokine release and to decrease Th17 responses in ALI overlapped on exacerbated asthma in mice