Antibacterial activity of methanol extract of Lawsonia inermis against uropathogenic bacteria

Urinary tract infections one of the most common bacterial diseases caused by microbes such as bacteria overcoming the body's defenses in the urinary tract. Extensive studies are needed to identify the bacteria of the infectious agent and to determine the pattern of drug resistance and the identification of effective drugs for proper treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the antibiotic resistance pattern of urinary pathogens and compare it with methanol extract of Lawsonia inermis. Urine samples were collected using the mid-stream "clean catch" technique and examined bacteriologically using standard procedures. The antibiotic resistance pattern of each uropathogen isolated was carried by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Methanol extract of the plant was prepared by maceration method and its inhibitory effect on uropathogen isolates studied using well diffusion assay. Based on obtained results, the most common uropathogen isolated was Escherichia coli and the most frequent uropathogens were Gram negative rod bacteria. Most resistant antibiotics were Cefazolin, Ampicillin, Vancomycin and Nitrofurantoin. Methanol extract of Lawsonia inermis showed good antibacterial potential against all uropathogen bacterial isolates. The results suggest that the Lawsonia inermis possess antibacterial properties that support the folk medicinal use of this plant. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.347338

Microbial contamination of traditional ice creams in Rafsanjan, Iran

Ice cream is a frozen dairy product that is made of suitable milk, sugar and flavoring agents. It easily contaminated and causes food poisoning. Since it harbors many bacterial pathogens, its microbial quality has always been crucially important to public health. The aim of this study, conducted to screen some selected national and international brands of ice cream include Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in Rafsanjan city, Iran. All producing and distributing of traditional ice creams were screened. The samples were collected in hygienic conditions. 40 samples of traditional ice creams were obtained randomly from the retail stores. All the samples were analyzed for microbial contaminations such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus according to the Iran national standard No. 2406. The results showed that 30 Samples (75%) with Enterobacteriaceae, 6 cases (15%) with Escherichia coli and 2 cases (5%) with Staphylococcus aureus were contaminated and thus contamination of traditional ice creams was notable. However, pasteurization of ice-cream raw materials with sufficient heat, regarding health principles in several stages of producing and preparing health materials and controlling ice cream producing and distributing centers are necessary to decrease contamination. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.257417

Royal jelly significantly alters inflammasome pathways in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Royal jelly (RJ) plays immunomodulatory role in humans. Further, role played by inflammasomes against hepatitis B virus (HBV) and involvement in its complications are well known. Here, we evaluated the effects of RJ on the relative expression of apoptosis associated with speck-like protein (ASC), node like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain containing 1 (NLRP1), NLRP3, S100 calcium binding protein A4 (S100A4), and S100A9, as the immune system-related molecules in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. RJ was administrated for 1 month (@1 g/day), to the patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. The relative expressions of ASC, NLRP1, NLRP3, S100A4 and S100A9 were evaluated using Real-Time PCR. The results showed that RJ increased the expression of ASC, but decreased the expression of NLRP1 in the patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. Relative expressions of NLRP3, S100A4, and S100A9 were not altered following treatment with RJ. There were no significant differences between men and women regarding the relative expression of the molecules. The results suggest that RJ can modulate immune responses via downregulation of NLRP1. The roles played by ASC in other pathways suggest that the upregulation of ASC could be associated with its immunomodulatory potential

Royal jelly significantly alters inflammasome pathways in patients with chronic hepatitis B

875-579Royal jelly (RJ) plays immunomodulatory role in humans. Further, role played by inflammasomes against hepatitis B virus (HBV) and involvement in its complications are well known. Here, we evaluated the effects of RJ on the relative expression of apoptosis associated with speck-like protein (ASC), node like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain containing 1 (NLRP1), NLRP3, S100 calcium binding protein A4 (S100A4), and S100A9, as the immune system-related molecules in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. RJ was administrated for 1 month (@1 g/day), to the patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. The relative expressions of ASC, NLRP1, NLRP3, S100A4 and S100A9 were evaluated using Real-Time PCR. The results showed that RJ increased the expression of ASC, but decreased the expression of NLRP1 in the patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. Relative expressions of NLRP3, S100A4, and S100A9 were not altered following treatment with RJ. There were no significant differences between men and women regarding the relative expression of the molecules. The results suggest that RJ can modulate immune responses via downregulation of NLRP1. The roles played by ASC in other pathways suggest that the upregulation of ASC could be associated with its immunomodulatory potential

Systematic levels of IL-29 and microRNA185-5p were not associated with severe COVID-19 in the Iranian population

Abstract Background Increased systematic pro-inflammatory cytokines is the main cause of the inflammatory conditions of the hospitalized severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected patients. In this project, serum levels of IL-29 and whole blood levels of microRNA-185-5p (miR-185-5p) were evaluated in the hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. Methods This project was performed on the 60 hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients and 60 healthy controls to evaluate IL-29 and miR185-5p expression levels. IL-29 expression was explored using enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA), while miR185-5p was evaluated using Real-Time PCR techniques. Results The results demonstrated that neither IL-29 serum levels nor relative expressions of miR-185-5p were significantly different between patients and healthy controls. Conclusion Due to the results that are presented here, systematic levels of IL-29 and miR-185-5p cannot be considered as the main risk factors for induction of inflammation in the hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients

Role of microRNA-16-5p, microRNA-194, IP-10 and APRIL in inducing inflammation in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients with severe symptoms

888-892The immune system induces pro-inflammatory conditions in the hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. The roles played by humoral immunity-related factors in the pro-inflammatory conditions of the patients are yet to be clarified. It has been revealed that a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), interferon (IFN)-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) and microRNA-16-5p (miR-16-5p) play key roles in the induction of inflammation. Thus, in this study, we explored the expression levels of APRIL, IP-10, miR16-5p and miR-194 in the SARS-CoV-2 infected patients with severe symptoms. In addition, miR-194 can inhibit immune responses against viral infection. Further, we evaluated the expression of the molecule in the patients to explore the effect of the molecule during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). About 60 severe SARS-CoV-2 infected patients who were in the peak of the disease and 60 healthy controls were enrolled to evaluate APRIL, IP-10, miR16-5p and miR-194 expression levels. IP-10 expressions were evaluated using enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA), while APRIL, miR-16-5p and miR-194 were evaluated using Real-Time PCR technique. The results showed that APRIL, miR-16-5p and miR-194 expression and serum levels of IP-10 significantly increased in the hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients compared to the healthy controls. There was a positive correlation between miR-16-5p and miR-194 expression levels in the patients. The significant participation of miR-16-5p in the induction of inflammation indicates its key role along with APRIL and IP-10 for excess inflammation in the hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients with severe symptoms. Upregulation of miR-194 may be natural negative feedback to the pro-inflammatory conditions and may be associated with establishment of SARS-CoV-2 infection