THE EFFECT OF USING KOMBUCHA ON BLOOD ANTIBODY LEVEL AND PROVENTRICULUS AND GIZZARD TISSUE CELLS IN BROILER CHICKS

ABSTRACT To evaluate the effect of Kombucha and Kombucha with vitamin E-selenium 0.1% on blood metabolites, performance and morphology of some of the organs, of 140 baby broiler chicks' strain Ross 308 of male and female ones were applied for 42 days in 7 treatments and 4 replications, each replication including 5 chicks. Dietaries were equal in all treatments and the difference was about water and Kombucha and Kombucha with vitamin E-selenium s 0.1%. Finally, the performance showed that the increase of body weight in 1-7 and 8-14 day-age was significantly under the influence of experimental treatments. According to the results during 1-7 day-age and 22-28 day-age, there was significant effect on the feed and the best conversion ratio was in 29-35 day-age and there was significant difference (P<0.05). From morphological aspects there was significant difference between Bursa offabrisious weight and gizzard in various periods. Morphology of Proventriculus, crypt depth (micron), and goblet cells was significantly different and there was no significant difference aboutvillus height (micron) and Epithelium thickness (micron) (P>0.05). there was no significant difference in blood metabolites of liver enzymes concentration and antibody titers against SRBC antigens but antibody titer against Newcastle antigens tested during 21, 25 day-age showed no significant difference (P<0.05)

Effect of Orem's Self-Care Model on Perceived Stress in Adolescents with Asthma Referring the Asthma and Allergy Clinic, Isfahan, 2014.

BACKGROUND Incidence of asthma in adolescents leads to variations in family status, roles and interaction with peers for them, which could be a source of stress and psychological tensions in them. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of Orem's self-care model on perceived stress in adolescents with asthma. METHODS In this semi-experimental study conducted from April 2013 to February 2014, 64 asthmatic adolescents referring Shariati Hospital, Isfahan were enrolled by simple random sampling and the patients were assigned to two groups of control and intervention. Then, Orem's self-care model-based training was implemented throughout eight sessions of two hours each and the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale was administered to both groups prior to and two months after the completion of the training. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics consisting of paired t-test, independent t-test, Chi-square and Mann-Whitney using SPSS Version 20. RESULTS Mean age of the participants was 14.15±3.12 years in the intervention group and 15.21±3.09 years in the control groups. 68.8% and 59.4% of the participants were male in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Independent t-test indicated a significant difference in the mean scores of perceived stress in the intervention (25.46±5.31) and control groups (28.90±5.27) after the training. Also, the result of paired t-test indicated a significant difference in the mean score of perceived stress between before (29.18±5.27) and after (25.46±5.31) training. CONCLUSION As the training based on Orem's model had a positive effect on declining perceived stress in asthmatic adolescents, continuation of using these training interventions could contribute to ultimately achieving positive outcomes in health functions of these patients

Differential Co-Expression Network Analysis Reveals Key Hub-High Traffic Genes as Potential Therapeutic Targets for COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundThe recent emergence of COVID-19, rapid worldwide spread, and incomplete knowledge of molecular mechanisms underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection have limited development of therapeutic strategies. Our objective was to systematically investigate molecular regulatory mechanisms of COVID-19, using a combination of high throughput RNA-sequencing-based transcriptomics and systems biology approaches. MethodsRNA-Seq data from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PSPRINGER NATUREs) of healthy persons, mild and severe 17 COVID-19 patients were analyzed to generate a gene expression matrix. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify co-expression modules in healthy samples as a reference set. For differential co-expression network analysis, module preservation and module-trait relationships approaches were used to identify key modules. Then, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, based on co-expressed hub genes, were constructed to identify hub genes/TFs with the highest information transfer (hub-high traffic genes) within candidate modules. ResultsBased on differential co-expression network analysis, connectivity patterns and network density, 72% (15 of 21) of modules identified in healthy samples were altered by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, SARS-CoV-2 caused systemic perturbations in host biological gene networks. In functional enrichment analysis, among 15 non-preserved modules and two significant highly-correlated modules (identified by MTRs), 9 modules were directly related to the host immune response and COVID-19 immunopathogenesis. Intriguingly, systemic investigation of SARS-CoV-2 infection identified signaling pathways and key genes/proteins associated with COVID-19's main hallmarks, e.g., cytokine storm, respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute lung injury (ALI), lymphopenia, coagulation disorders, thrombosis, and pregnancy complications, as well as comorbidities associated with COVID-19, e.g., asthma, diabetic complications, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), liver disorders and acute kidney injury (AKI). Topological analysis with betweenness centrality (BC) identified 290 hub-high traffic genes, central in both co-expression and PPI networks. We also identified several transcriptional regulatory factors, including NFKB1, HIF1A, AHR, and TP53, with important immunoregulatory roles in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, several hub-high traffic genes, including IL6, IL1B, IL10, TNF, SOCS1, SOCS3, ICAM1, PTEN, RHOA, GDI2, SUMO1, CASP1, IRAK3, HSPA5, ADRB2, PRF1, GZMB, OASL, CCL5, HSP90AA1, HSPD1, IFNG, MAPK1, RAB5A, and TNFRSF1A had the highest rates of information transfer in 9 candidate modules and central roles in COVID-19 immunopathogenesis. ConclusionThis study provides comprehensive information on molecular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-host interactions and identifies several hub-high traffic genes as promising therapeutic targets for the COVID-19 pandemic

Development of IgY-Based Sandwich ELISA as a Robust Tool for Rapid Detection and Discrimination of Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae

Background. The conventional methods for diagnosis of Vibrio cholerae are time consuming, complicated, and expensive. Development of rapid detection tests is critical for prevention and management of cholera. This study aimed to introduce two sensitive sandwich ELISAs based on avian antibodies (IgY) targeting outer membrane protein W (OmpW) and cytotoxin B (CtxB) antigens of V. cholerae. Methods. The sequences of ompW and ctxB genes were cloned into pET28a vector. Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) was transformed with the recombinant vectors, and gene expression was induced by IPTG. The expressed proteins were purified by affinity chromatography using Ni-NTA resins. Two groups of white Leghorn chickens were immunized by recombinant proteins, and the generated antibodies were purified from egg yolks of chickens by PEG precipitation. The antibodies were used for the development of α-OmpW and α-CtxB ELISAs. Results. The expression and purification yielded 59 and 38 mg of recombinant OmpW and CtxB, respectively, per one liter of bacterial culture. PEG precipitation and purification of egg yolk antibodies yielded on average (±SD) 66.5 ± 1.80 and 50.9 ± 2.23 mg of purified α-OmpW and α-CtxB per egg, respectively. The analytical sensitivity of α-OmpW ELISA was 103 cfu/mL of V. cholerae and that of α-CtxB ELISA was 33 pg/mL of recombinant cytotoxin B. The two developed ELISAs did not show any cross-reactivity to any tested bacteria grown in common conditions. Discussion. The current study is the first report on using IgY for detection of V. cholerae. The developed ELISAs were shown to have considerable analytical sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, the assays can be one of the convenient methods for sensitive and specific detection of toxigenic V. cholerae strains in clinical and environmental samples

The Correlation between Clumping Factor A Gene Expression in Biofilm Formation and Antibiotic Resistance Among Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Urine Samples of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran

Background & Objective: Staphylococcus aureus causes problems in hospitals and it has emerged as a serious agent acquired from the environment in recent years. One of the capabilities of S. aureus is the formation of biofilms, in which bacteria can exchange antibiotic-resistance genes among themselves and increase the virulence of other strains of this species (S. aureus). A surface protein attached to the cell wall in S. aureus clumping factor A is a virulence factor in various staphylococcal infections. Materials & Methods: In this study, after the Urea Analysis (UA) test, the urea culture test was applied to the blood agar and Baird-Parker Agar culture media from the infectious urine samples in Imam Hospital, Tehran, to identify S. aureus isolates. Finally, a molecular method was used for the confirmation of identified isolates. The microliter plate method was performed to determine the biofilm formation ability. The disk diffusion method was also used for profiling the antibiotic resistance of the isolates. Results: In the results of this study, 45 out of 160 urinary clinical samples were positive for S. aureus, among which 42 isolates expressed the clfA gene. Moreover, 39 isolates had the ability to form biofilms in vitro. Among these 42 isolates, the highest (88%) and the lowest (16%) rates of antibiotic resistance were observed against penicillin and cefoxitin, respectively. Data analysis with SPSS software and chi-square indicated a significant relationship between gene expression and biofilm production with antibiotic resistance (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The resistance of S. aureus bacteria is increasing strongly due to the repeated use of antibiotics such as beta-lactams, especially in respiratory infections and pharyngitis. Moreover, biofilm formation and virulence factors, such as clfA and clfB, cause concerns to the World Health Organization for treatment, especially for people with sepsis or toxemia

Bluetongue virus: virology, pathogenesis and immunity

International audienceBluetongue (BT) virus, an orbivirus of the Reoviridae family encompassing 24 known serotypes, is transmitted to ruminants via certain species of biting midges (Culicoides spp.) and causes thrombo-hemorrhagic fevers mainly in sheep. During the 20th century, BTV was endemic in sub-tropical regions but in the last ten years, new strains of BTV (serotypes 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 16) have appeared in Europe leading to a devastating disease in naive sheep and bovine herds (serotype 8). BTV enters into insect cells via the viral inner core VP7 protein and in mammalian cells via the external capsid VP2 haemagglutinin, which is the major determinant of BTV serotype and neutralization. BTV replicates in mononuclear phagocytes and endothelial cells where it induces expression of inflammatory cytokines as well as apoptosis. BTV can remain as nonreplicating entities concealed in erythrocytes for up to five months. Homologous protection against one BTV serotype involves neutralizing antibodies and T cell responses directed to the external VP2 and VP5 proteins, whereas heterologous protection is supported by T cells directed to the NS1 non structural protein and inner core proteins. Classical inactivated vaccines directed to a specific serotype generate protective immunity and may help control current epidemic situations. New recombinant vaccine strategies that allow differentiating infected from vaccinated animals and that generate cross protective immunity are urgently needed to efficiently combat this worldwide threatening disease

Innate immune response to bluetongue virus in sheep dendritic cells for the control of viral pathogenesis and immunity.

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