Kinetics of peroxidases in guinea pig bone marrow under immunostimulation

AbstractEosinophil peroxidase and myeloperoxidase play an important role in the host defense. Both enzymes are present in bone marrow, synthesized by blood progenitor cells. This research investigated the kinetic properties of peroxidases under immunostimulation in guinea pig bone marrow. Results suggest that there are at least two myeloperoxidase isozymes and at least three eosinophil peroxidase isozymes in guinea pig bone marrow and that some of these isozymes are expressed upon immunostimulation

A search algorithm for identifying likely users and non-users of marijuana from the free text of the electronic medical record

Background The harmful effects of marijuana on health and in particular cardiovascular health are understudied. To develop such knowledge, an efficient method of developing an informative cohort of marijuana users and non-users is needed. Methods We identified patients with a diagnosis of coronary artery disease using ICD-9 codes who were seen in the San Francisco VA in 2015. We imported these patients’ medical record notes into an informatics platform that facilitated text searches. We categorized patients into those with evidence of marijuana use in the past 12 months and patients with no such evidence, using the following text strings: “marijuana”, “mjx”, and “cannabis”. We randomly selected 51 users and 51 non-users based on this preliminary classification, and sent a recruitment letter to 97 of these patients who had contact information available. Patients were interviewed on marijuana use and domains related to cardiovascular health. Data on marijuana use collected from the medical record was compared to data collected as part of the interview. Results The interview completion rate was 71%. Among the 35 patients identified by text strings as having used marijuana in the previous year, 15 had used marijuana in the past 30 days (positive predictive value = 42.9%). The probability of use in the past month increased from 8.8% to 42.9% in people who have these keywords in their medical record compared to those who did not have these terms in their medical record. Conclusion Methods that combine text search strategies for participant recruitment with health interviews provide an efficient approach to developing prospective cohorts that can be used to study the health effects of marijuana

Pharmacists in Pharmacovigilance: Can Increased Diagnostic Opportunity in Community Settings Translate to Better Vigilance?

The pharmacy profession has undergone substantial change over the last two to three decades. Whilst medicine supply still remains a central function, pharmacist’s roles and responsibilities have become more clinic and patient focused. In the community (primary care), pharmacists have become important providers of healthcare as Western healthcare policy advocates patient self-care. This has resulted in pharmacists taking on greater responsibility in managing minor illness and the delivery of public health interventions. These roles require pharmacists to more fully use their clinical skills, and often involve diagnosis and therapeutic management. Community pharmacists are now, more than ever before, in a position to identify, record and report medication safety incidents. However, current research suggests that diagnostic ability of community pharmacists is questionable and they infrequently report to local or national schemes. The aim of this paper is to highlight current practice and suggest ways in which community pharmacy can more fully contribute to patient safety

The bacterial infection of German cockroach (Blatella germanica) in hospitals of western Iran

Cockroaches are considered a serious health problem in some medical centers. They can move freely in hospital wards and transmit pathogenic organisms. This study was carried out in order to detect and identify bacterial infection on outer surface and in digestive organs of Blatella germanica as a dominant species of cockroach in hospitals. In this cross-sectional study 222 B. germanica were collected from 14 different wards and units of 5 hospitals in the city of Hamedan in western Iran. Most of them were collected from dining room (34.2%) followed by urology ward (13.5%). After applying anesthesia and washing in 2cc physiology serum, the culture was prepared from this suspension for identification of bacterial infection on outer surface. Next, the outer surface of each cockroach was sterilized and their guts were isolated from mouth to anus. Bacteria extraction and culture were done accordingly. A total of 12 bacteria species were identified from outer surface and digestive system of cockroaches. On outer surface, Escherichia coli was the most dominant species (40%) followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis (20%). In digestive system E. coli had also the highest percentage (45%) followed by Entrobacter aeroginosa (20%). This study can show the importance of cockroaches as potential vectors of medically important microorganisms such as pathogenic bacteria in hospitals. Control programs for removing cockroaches, especially in the hospitals are recommended

Novel functions and regulation of cryptic cellobiose operons in Escherichia coli

Presence of cellobiose as a sole carbon source induces mutations in the chb and asc operons of Escherichia coli and allows it to grow on cellobiose. We previously engineered these two operons with synthetic constitutive promoters and achieved efficient cellobiose metabolism through adaptive evolution. In this study, we characterized two mutations observed in the efficient cellobiose metabolizing strain: duplication of RBS of ascB gene, (beta-glucosidase of asc operon) and nonsense mutation in yebK, (an uncharacterized transcription factor). Mutations in yebK play a dominant role by modulating the length of lag phase, relative to the growth rate of the strain when transferred from a rich medium to minimal cellobiose medium. Mutations in ascB, on the other hand, are specific for cellobiose and help in enhancing the specific growth rate. Taken together, our results show that ascB of the asc operon is controlled by an internal putative promoter in addition to the native cryptic promoter, and the transcription factor yebK helps to remodel the host physiology for cellobiose metabolism. While previous studies characterized the stress-induced mutations that allowed growth on cellobiose, here, we characterize the adaptation-induced mutations that help in enhancing cellobiose metabolic ability. This study will shed new light on the regulatory changes and factors that are needed for the functional coupling of the host physiology to the activated cryptic cellobiose metabolismopen1

Curing of Plasmid pXO1 from Bacillus anthracis Using Plasmid Incompatibility

The large plasmid pXO1 encoding the anthrax toxin is important for the virulence of Bacillus anthracis. It is essential to cure pXO1 from B. anthracis to evaluate its role in the pathogenesis of anthrax infection. Because conventional methods for curing plasmids (e.g., curing agents or growth at elevated temperatures) can induce mutations in the host chromosomal DNA, we developed a specific and reliable method to eliminate pXO1 from B. anthracis using plasmid incompatibility. Three putative replication origins of pXO1 were inserted into a temperature-sensitive plasmid to generate three incompatible plasmids. One of the three plasmids successfully eliminated the large plasmid pXO1 from B. anthracis vaccine strain A16R and wild type strain A16. These findings provided additional information about the replication/partitioning of pXO1 and demonstrated that introducing a small incompatible plasmid can generate plasmid-cured strains of B. anthracis without inducing spontaneous mutations in the host chromosome

A Telehealth-Based Randomized Controlled Trial: A Model for Outpatients Trials of Off-Label Medications During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT0436320