Endophytic fungal association via gibberellins and indole acetic acid can improve plant growth under abiotic stress: an example of Paecilomyces formosus LHL10

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endophytic fungi are little known for exogenous secretion of phytohormones and mitigation of salinity stress, which is a major limiting factor for agriculture production worldwide. Current study was designed to isolate phytohormone producing endophytic fungus from the roots of cucumber plant and identify its role in plant growth and stress tolerance under saline conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We isolated nine endophytic fungi from the roots of cucumber plant and screened their culture filtrates (CF) on gibberellins (GAs) deficient mutant rice cultivar <it>Waito-C </it>and normal GAs biosynthesis rice cultivar Dongjin-byeo. The CF of a fungal isolate CSH-6H significantly increased the growth of <it>Waito-C </it>and Dongjin-byeo seedlings as compared to control. Analysis of the CF showed presence of GAs (GA₁, GA₃, GA₄, GA₈, GA₉, GA₁₂, GA₂₀and GA₂₄) and indole acetic acid. The endophyte CSH-6H was identified as a strain of <it>Paecilomyces formosus </it>LHL10 on the basis of phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequence similarity. Under salinity stress, <it>P. formosus </it>inoculation significantly enhanced cucumber shoot length and allied growth characteristics as compared to non-inoculated control plants. The hypha of <it>P. formosus </it>was also observed in the cortical and pericycle regions of the host-plant roots and was successfully re-isolated using PCR techniques. <it>P. formosus </it>association counteracted the adverse effects of salinity by accumulating proline and antioxidants and maintaining plant water potential. Thus the electrolytic leakage and membrane damage to the cucumber plants was reduced in the association of endophyte. Reduced content of stress responsive abscisic acid suggest lesser stress convened to endophyte-associated plants. On contrary, elevated endogenous GAs (GA₃, GA₄, GA₁₂and GA₂₀) contents in endophyte-associated cucumber plants evidenced salinity stress modulation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results reveal that mutualistic interactions of phytohormones secreting endophytic fungi can ameliorate host plant growth and alleviate adverse effects of salt stress. Such fungal strain could be used for further field trials to improve agricultural productivity under saline conditions.</p

Efficacy and Safety of Intra-articular Injections of Hyaluronic Acid Combined With Polydeoxyribonucleotide in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) combined with polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) in patients with knee osteoarthritis in comparison with that of HA alone. Methods The current single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study was conducted in 36 patients with knee osteoarthritis at our medical institution. All the eligible patients (n=30) were equally assigned to two treatment arms (trial group ‘HA+PDRN’ and control group ‘HA’). For efficacy assessment, the patients were evaluated for the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and the Knee Society Scores (KSS), all of which served as efficacy outcome measures. We monitored time-dependent changes in efficacy outcome measures at baseline and 1, 3 and 6 months. Subsequently, we compared differences in changes in efficacy outcome measures at 6 months from baseline between the two groups. Moreover, we assessed the safety based on the treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and any other complications serving as safety outcome measures. Results There were significant differences in changes in the VAS scores, the WOMAC scores in all domains, except ‘Stiffness’, the total WOMAC scores, and the KSS scores in all the domains at 6 months from baseline between the two groups (p<0.05). In our series, there were no TEAEs, ADRs, and any other complications. Conclusion Intra-articular injections of HA combined with PDRN can also be considered in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. However, further large-scale and multi-center studies are required to demonstrate the potential of the proposed combination

Immunogenicity and Safety of Diphtheria-tetanus Vaccine in Adults

This study was conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of diphtheria-tetanus (Td) vaccine in adults over 40 yr old who had never received a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination. A total of 242 subject completed three-doses of Td vaccination and subsequent assays for immunogenicity. Before vaccination, 33.9% and 96.7% participants showed antibody levels of diphtheria and tetanus, respectively, which were below protective level (<0.1 U/mL). After the first dose of Td vaccine, 92.6% and 77.6% of subjects gained protective antibody concentrations (≥0.1 U/mL) for diphtheria and tetanus, with an increase to 99.6% and 100% after the third dose. Local and systemic adverse events occurred in 37.9% and 15.5% of the subjects. No serious adverse event requiring an unscheduled hospital visit occurred. In conclusion, three-doses of Td vaccination to unimmunized adults are safe and effective in inducing protective immunity against diphtheria and tetanus

Numb Chin Syndrome with Concomitant Painful Ophthalmoplegia Leading to a Diagnosis of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

Painful ophthalmoplegia (PO) and concomitant numb chin syndrome (NCS) is a very rare event. There are a few reports in the literature about PO and concomitant NCS that have preceded the diagnosis of a malignancy. In this report, we describe a patient with diffuse large B cell lymphoma who presented with PO and concomitant NCS as the initial symptom of the disease