Microbiome Analysis of Stool Samples from African Americans with Colon Polyps

Background: Colonic polyps are common tumors occurring in similar to 50% of Western populations with similar to 10% risk of malignant progression. Dietary agents have been considered the primary environmental exposure to promote colorectal cancer (CRC) development. However, the colonic mucosa is permanently in contact with the microbiota and its metabolic products including toxins that also have the potential to trigger oncogenic transformation. Aim: To analyze fecal DNA for microbiota composition and functional potential in African Americans with pre-neoplastic lesions. Materials & Methods: We analyzed the bacterial composition of stool samples from 6 healthy individuals and 6 patients with colon polyps using 16S ribosomal RNA-based phylogenetic microarray; the Human intestinal Tract Chip (HITChip) and 16S rRNA gene barcoded 454 pyrosequencing. The functional potential was determined by sequence-based metagenomics using 454 pyrosequencing. Results: Fecal microbiota profiling of samples from the healthy and polyp patients using both a phylogenetic microarraying (HITChip) and barcoded 454 pyrosequencing generated similar results. A distinction between both sets of samples was only obtained when the analysis was performed at the sub-genus level. Most of the species leading to the dissociation were from the Bacteroides group. The metagenomic analysis did not reveal major differences in bacterial gene prevalence/abundances between the two groups even when the analysis and comparisons were restricted to available Bacteroides genomes. Conclusion: This study reveals that at the pre-neoplastic stages, there is a trend showing microbiota changes between healthy and colon polyp patients at the sub-genus level. These differences were not reflected at the genome/functions levels. Bacteria and associated functions within the Bacteroides group need to be further analyzed and dissected to pinpoint potential actors in the early colon oncogenic transformation in a large sample size

Correlation between the serum level of IL-17 and rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) has an important role in the pathogenesis of RA. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the serum level of IL-17 and the disease activity. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 60 patients fulfilled the American college of rheumatology criteria for RA were recruited. Demographic data of patients including age, gender, and disease duration were recorded and then the serum was taken and analyzed for IL-17 level. The disease activity score (DAS28-ESR) was calculated for all patients and the scores lower than 2.6 were considered as inactive 2.6 to 3.1 as mild, 3.2 to 5 as moderate and higher than 5 were considered as the severely active. Results: Of 60 patients studied, 23 cases had controlled RA with mean disease duration of 75.37 months and mean IL-17serum level of 144.81±47.83 ng/l and 37 cases had active RA with mean disease duration of 101.78 months and the mean serum level of 237±93.8 ng/l. There was a significant correlation between the serum IL-17 level and disease activity (

Antioxidant effects of betaine against Indomethacin-induced gastric damage in rats

Introduction: Betaine (trimethyl glycine) is known as methyl group donor and antioxidant in previous reports. The aim of this study was to assess the antioxidant effects of betaine in Indomethacin-induced gastric damages. Methods: Thirty-two adult male Sprague–Dawley rats in an experimental study were divided into four equal groups as follow: Control, Indomethacin, Betaine-indomethacin and Ascorbic acid-indomethacin. Control and indomethacin groups received normal saline and betaine and ascorbic acid-pretreated rats were administrated betaine (1.5% of the total diet) and ascorbic acid (50 mg/kg body weight) for 15 consecutive days, respectively. After 24 h fasting, all of the groups received indomethacin (48 mg/kg body weight) and control group received distilled water. Results: Indomethacin administration increased gastric ulcer occurrence (%) in comparison with control group and betaine pretreatment significantly decreased ulcer occurrence (%) when compared to the other groups (P=0.0017). Gastric wall glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity was significantly lower in indomethacin group in comparison with the other groups (P=0.0012) while, betaine and ascorbic acid pretreatment increased GPx activity in comparison with indomethacin group (P=0.0012). Catalase activity was significantly higher in betaine-pretreated rats in comparison with indomethacin and ascorbic acid-indomethacin groups (P=0.0015). Lipid peroxidation significantly decreased in betaine and ascorbic acid pretreated groups (P=0.0013). Conclusion: These results showed beneficial antioxidant effects of betaine against gastric damages induced by indomethacin in rats

In vitro Evaluation of Aqueous Solution of Ephedra major on Protoscloces of Hydatid Cysts

Background: Treatment of hydatidosis in humans, mainly surgery with the use of drugs is combined. During surgery, the risk of fluid leakage hydatid cyst that was content to adjacent tissues, resulting in recurrence of the disease. Ephedra is a plant that grows in various regions of Iran and used to treat as antibacterial and antifungal in certain diseases. The aim of this study was to in vitro evaluate the effects of different concentrations of aqueous extract of Ephedra major at different times. Materials and Methods: Infected liver to hydatid cysts were collected from slaughterhouses. Protoscoleces viability was assessed by staining Eosin 1.0 percent. Protoscoleces activities of aqueous extract 1/0, 01/0, 001/0 mg/ml at 10, 20, 30 and 60 minutes were analyzed. Saline and saturated brine were used as positive and negative controls. Results: The highest percentage of household protoscoleces dilution of 0.1 (13.58%) was observed (P= 0.001). Protoscoleces lowest scolicidal effect rate was found in the dilution 0.001 (2.47%) Conclusions: The effect of aqueous extract of Ephedra major plumbing protoscoleces not significant. Therefore, it cannot be used as a cache protoscoleces strong and appropriate

On the Origin of Seebeck Coefficient Inversion in Highly Doped Conducting Polymers

A common way of determining the majority charge carriers of pristine and doped semiconducting polymers is to measure the sign of the Seebeck coef- ficient. However, a polarity change of the Seebeck coefficient has recently been observed to occur in highly doped polymers. Here, it is shown that the Seebeck coefficient inversion is the result of the density of states filling and opening of a hard Coulomb gap around the Fermi energy at high doping levels. Electro- chemical n-doping is used to induce high carrier density (>1 charge/monomer) in the model system poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline) (BBL). By com- bining conductivity and Seebeck coefficient measurements with in situ electron paramagnetic resonance, UV–vis–NIR, Raman spectroelectrochemistry, density functional theory calculations, and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, the forma- tion of multiply charged species and the opening of a hard Coulomb gap in the density of states, which is responsible for the Seebeck coefficient inversion and drop in electrical conductivity, are uncovered. The findings provide a simple picture that clarifies the roles of energetic disorder and Coulomb interactions in highly doped polymers and have implications for the molecular design of next- generation conjugated polymers