Antimicrobial activity of Bursera morelensis ramírez essential oil

Background: Bursera morelensis, known as “Aceitillo”, is an endemic tree of Mexico. Infusions made from the bark of this species have been used for the treatment of skin infections and for their wound healing properties. In this work, we present the results of a phytochemical and antimicrobial investigation of the essential oil of B. morelensis.Materials and Methods: The essential oil was obtained by a steam distillation method and analyzed using GC-MS. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated.Results: GC-MS of the essential oil demonstrated the presence of 28 compounds. The principal compound of the essential oil was α-Phellandrene (32.69%). The essential oil had antibacterial activity against Gram positive and negative strains. The most sensitive strains were S. pneumoniae, V. cholerae (cc) and E. coli (MIC 0.125 mg/mL, MBC 0.25 mg/mL). The essential oil was bactericidal for V. cholera (cc). The essential oil inhibited all the filamentous fungi. F. monilifome (IC50 = 2.27 mg/mL) was the most sensitive fungal strain.Conclusions: This work provides evidence that confirms the antimicrobial activity of the B. morelensis essential oil and this is a scientific support about of traditional uses of this species.Keywords: Essential oil; Medicinal plants; Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley; Burseraceae; Burser

Predicting sepsis severity at first clinical presentation:The role of endotypes and mechanistic signatures

BACKGROUND: Inter-individual variability during sepsis limits appropriate triage of patients. Identifying, at first clinical presentation, gene expression signatures that predict subsequent severity will allow clinicians to identify the most at-risk groups of patients and enable appropriate antibiotic use. METHODS: Blood RNA-Seq and clinical data were collected from 348 patients in four emergency rooms (ER) and one intensive-care-unit (ICU), and 44 healthy controls. Gene expression profiles were analyzed using machine learning and data mining to identify clinically relevant gene signatures reflecting disease severity, organ dysfunction, mortality, and specific endotypes/mechanisms. FINDINGS: Gene expression signatures were obtained that predicted severity/organ dysfunction and mortality in both ER and ICU patients with accuracy/AUC of 77–80%. Network analysis revealed these signatures formed a coherent biological program, with specific but overlapping mechanisms/pathways. Given the heterogeneity of sepsis, we asked if patients could be assorted into discrete groups with distinct mechanisms (endotypes) and varying severity. Patients with early sepsis could be stratified into five distinct and novel mechanistic endotypes, named Neutrophilic-Suppressive/NPS, Inflammatory/INF, Innate-Host-Defense/IHD, Interferon/IFN, and Adaptive/ADA, each based on ∼200 unique gene expression differences, and distinct pathways/mechanisms (e.g., IL6/STAT3 in NPS). Endotypes had varying overall severity with two severe (NPS/INF) and one relatively benign (ADA) groupings, consistent with reanalysis of previous endotype studies. A 40 gene-classification tool (accuracy=96%) and several gene-pairs (accuracy=89–97%) accurately predicted endotype status in both ER and ICU validation cohorts. INTERPRETATION: The severity and endotype signatures indicate that distinct immune signatures precede the onset of severe sepsis and lethality, providing a method to triage early sepsis patients

Vanadium Inhalation in a Mouse Model for the Understanding of Air-Suspended Particle Systemic Repercussion

There is an increased concern about the health effects that air-suspended particles have on human health which have been dissected in animal models. Using CD-1 mouse, we explore the effects that vanadium inhalation produce in different tissues and organs. Our findings support the systemic effects of air pollution. In this paper, we describe our findings in different organs in our conditions and contrast our results with the literature

Neuropathic Pain in Dogs and Cats: Current Evaluation and Treatment Perspectives: Review

Abstract: During the past decade, the number of scientific papers on the recognition and multimodal management of pain in small animals increased exponentially. However, the variable of neuropathic pain, or adaptive disorder, has not yet been characterized completely. Its genesis is related to several diseases and injuries of the nervous system that change the neuroanatomical structures that participate in pain processing. Finding novel neurobiological mechanisms and the development of techniques for diagnosis and treatment in Human Medicine, are opening great opportunities for research and the understanding of neuropathic pain in pets

Dectin-1 isoforms contribute to distinct Th1/Th17 cell activation in mucosal candidiasis

We thank Dr. Cristina Massi Benedetti for digital art and editingRecognition of β-glucans by dectin-1 has been shown to mediate cell activation, cytokine production and a variety of antifungal responses. Here, we report that the functional activity of dectin-1 in mucosal immunity to Candida albicans is influenced by the genetic background of the host. Dectin-1 was required for the proper control of gastrointestinal and vaginal candidiasis in C57BL/6 but not BALB/c mice, the latter actually showing increased resistance in the absence of dectin-1. Susceptibility of dectin-1-deficient C57BL/6 mice to infection was associated with defective IL-17A, aryl hydrocarbon receptor-dependent IL-22 production as well as adaptive Th1 responses. In contrast, resistance of dectin-1-deficient BALB/c mice was associated with increased IL-17A and IL-22 production, and the skewing towards Th1/Treg immune responses that provide immunological memory. Disparate canonical/noncanonical NF-κB signaling pathways downstream dectin-1were activated in the two different mouse strains. Thus, the net activity of dectin-1 in antifungal mucosal immunity is dependent on the host’s genetic background that affects both the innate cytokine production as well as the adaptive Th1/Th17 cell activation upon dectin-1 signaling.The studies were supported by the Specific Targeted Research Project “ALLFUN” (FP7−HEALTH−2009 contract number 260338 to LR) and the Italian Project AIDS 2010 by ISS (Istituto Superiore di Sanità - contract number 40H40 to LR) and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia Project n. 2011.0124.021. AC and CC were financially supported by fellowships from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (contracts SFRH/BPD/46292/2008 and SFRH/BD/65962/2009, respectively)

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

A subchronic history of binge-drinking elicits mild, age- and sex-selective, affective, and cognitive anomalies in C57BL/6J mice

IntroductionAlcohol abuse is a risk factor for affective and cognitive disorders, with evidence indicating that adolescent-onset excessive drinking can result in long-term deficiencies in emotional regulation and cognition, with females more susceptible to the negative emotional and cognitive consequences of excessive alcohol consumption. However, our prior examination of the interactions between sex and the age of drinking-onset indicated minimal signs of anxiety-like behavior during alcohol withdrawal, which may have related to the concurrent anxiety testing of male and female subjects.MethodsThe present study addressed this potential confound by assaying for alcohol withdrawal-induced negative affect separately in males and females and expanded our investigation to include measures of spatial and working memory.ResultsFollowing 14 days of drinking under modified Drinking-in-the-Dark procedures (10, 20, and 40% alcohol v/v; 2 h/day), adolescent and adult binge-drinking mice of both sexes exhibited, respectively, fewer and more signs of negative affect in the light-dark shuttle-box and forced swim tests than their water-drinking counterparts. Adolescent-onset binge-drinking mice also exhibited signs of impaired working memory early during radial arm maze training during early alcohol withdrawal. When tested in late (30 days) withdrawal, only adult female binge-drinking mice buried more marbles than their water-drinking counterparts. However, adolescent-onset binge-drinking mice exhibited poorer spatial memory recall in a Morris water maze.DiscussionThese findings indicate that a subchronic (14-day) binge-drinking history induces mild, age- and sex-selective, changes in negative affect and cognition of potential relevance to understanding individual variability in the etiology and treatment of alcohol abuse and alcohol use disorder

Polymorphisms on PAI-1 and ACE genes in association with fibrinolytic bleeding after on-pump cardiac surgery

Publisher Copyright: © 2015 Ozolina et al.Background: Carriers of plasminogen activator inhibitor -1 (PAI-1) -675 genotype 5G/5G may be associated with lower preoperative PAI-1 plasma levels and higher blood loss after heart surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We speculate if polymorphisms of PAI-1 -844 A/G and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) intron 16 I/D also might promote fibrinolysis and increase postoperative bleeding. Methods: We assessed PAI-1 -844 A/G, and ACE intron 16 I/D polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction technique and direct sequencing of genomic DNA from 83 open heart surgery patients that we have presented earlier. As primary outcome, accumulated chest tube drainage (CTD) at 4 and 24 h were analyzed for association with genetic polymorphisms. As secondary outcome, differences in plasma levels of PAI-1, t-PA/PAI-1 complex and D-dimer were determined for each polymorphism. SPSS® was used for statistical evaluation. Results: The lowest preoperative PAI-1 plasma levels were associated with PAI-1 -844 genotype G/G, and higher CTD, as compared with genotype A/A at 4 and 24 h after surgery. Correspondingly, 4 h after the surgery CTD was higher in carriers of ACE intron 16 genotype I/I, as compared with genotype D/D. PAI-1 plasma levels and t-PA/PAI-1 complex reached nadir in carriers of ACE intron 16 genotype I/I, in whom we also noticed the highest D-dimer levels immediately after surgery. Notably, carriers of PAI-1 -844 genotype G/G displayed higher D-dimer levels at 24 h after surgery as compared with those of genotype A/G. Conclusions: Increased postoperative blood loss secondary to enhanced fibrinolysis was associated with carriers of PAI-1 -844 G/G and ACE Intron 16 I/I, suggesting that these genotypes might predict increased postoperative blood loss after cardiac surgery using CPB.publishersversionPeer reviewe