Persistence of chloramphenicol in the fish flesh patin (Pangasius hypothalamus) and tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Introduction: Increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a serious global problem. This study was aimed to extract the antibiotic Chloramphenicol (CAP) from different parts of the fish flesh. Methods: Fish fleshes were excised from two commercially important fishes: Oreochromatis niloticus.(Red Tilapia) and Pangasius hypothalamus (Patin). The fleshes were chosen form head and tail region where generally antibiotics are spiked to avoid bacterial contamination while kept in cold storages of supermarkets. Each fish fleshes were weighed and spiked with 20,40,80 and 160ppm of CAP and stored at 4°C. The CAP residue from the flesh was extracted immediately after the first spiking was considered as Day-1. The whole extraction processes were done for 1,7,14 and 28 days. HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) was used to determine the presence of CAP residue in the tested fish flesh. Results: The results showed variations on the percentage of antibiotic residue recoveries at different concentration. In this study, CAP did not degrade and showed variations on the presence of antibiotic residue in the fish flesh. The recoveries of the entire CAP spiking samples ranged from 4.0% -100%. It also revealed the presence of antibiotic residue in Malaysian freshwater cultured fishes. Thus, the relevant authorities should take immediate action regarding this issue in order to prevent the harmful effects especially to human. Conclusions: Nevertheless, the study portrays that antibiotic residues can be sustained long time in the food products under storage conditions, which might have harmful effects on human when they consumed these frozen fishes

Association of serum ferritin with insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Emerging scientific evidence has disclosed unsuspected influences between iron metabolism, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Even mildly elevated body iron stores are associated with statistically significant increases in glucose homeostasis indices. But till now high serum ferritin associated with type 2 diabetes is not recognized as an entity in the current clinical guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes.Methods: This was a Cross sectional study carried out from September 2016 to March, 2017 at PCO clinic of infertility outpatient department (OPD), department of obstetrics and gynecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study population consisted of all the diagnosed PCOS patients. Purposive sampling Main outcome variable: serum ferritin level and insulin resistance index (Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance: HOMA-IR).Results: Most of the (90.9%) patients were aged 20-30 years having BMI >25 kg/m2, mostly overweight (52.53%) or obese (25.25%). Significant increase of serum ferritin level (72.89±34.97; p=0.001) was noted in PCOS patients with insulin resistance. Marked increase in serum ferritin (82.81±31.57, p<0.001), fasting serum insulin (16.39±7.1; p<0.001), HOMA-IR (3.51±1.55; p<0.001) and more cases with insulin resistance (78.3%; p<0.001) were found in women with high ferritin level (when ≥45.5 ng/ml). Statistically significant strong positive correlation between serum ferritin level and fasting insulin level (r=0.528; p<0.001) as well as HOMA-IR (r=0.492; p<0.001) were observed.Conclusions: These results demonstrated that elevated level of serum ferritin was associated with insulin resistance in PCOS women

Application of Stabilized Cefixime-AgNPs-GO Thin Films as Corrosion Inhibitors for Mild Steel Alloy

In this work, the corrosion inhibition of mild steel at ambient conditions by an antibiotic in a solution that contains silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and graphene oxide (GO) was studied. GO and AGNPs were prepared by one-step simple and ecofriendly method and characterized by different techniques. Different concentrations of the inhibitor were prepared and their inhibition efficiency in acidic media was investigated. The adsorption characteristics of the inhibitor were studied and it was found that the antibiotic (Cefixime) alone and with GO combined with AgNPs inhibit the corrosion of mild steel by being adsorbed on the surface of mild steel by a physical adsorption mechanism. The adsorption of Cefixime and GO with AgNPs on the mild steel surface was found to be spontaneous. Incorporating AgNPs and GO with Cefixime showed an additional inhibition efficiency when compared with using only Cefixime. This indicates the strong inhibition efficiency offered by incorporating the antibiotic with AgNPs and GO

Antigen-Specific Memory B-cell Responses to Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Infection in Bangladeshi Adults

Background: Multiple infections with diverse enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) strains lead to broad spectrum protection against ETEC diarrhea. However, the precise mechanism of protection against ETEC infection is still unknown. Therefore, memory B cell responses and affinity maturation of antibodies to the specific ETEC antigens might be important to understand the mechanism of protection. Methodology In this study, we investigated the heat labile toxin B subunit (LTB) and colonization factor antigens (CFA/I and CS6) specific IgA and IgG memory B cell responses in Bangladeshi adults (n = 52) who were infected with ETEC. We also investigated the avidity of IgA and IgG antibodies that developed after infection to these antigens. Principal Findings Patients infected with ETEC expressing LT or LT+heat stable toxin (ST) and CFA/I group or CS6 colonization factors developed LTB, CFA/I or CS6 specific memory B cell responses at day 30 after infection. Similarly, these patients developed high avidity IgA and IgG antibodies to LTB, CFA/I or CS6 at day 7 that remained significantly elevated at day 30 when compared to the avidity of these specific antibodies at the acute stage of infection (day 2). The memory B cell responses, antibody avidity and other immune responses to CFA/I not only developed in patients infected with ETEC expressing CFA/I but also in those infected with ETEC expressing CFA/I cross-reacting epitopes. We also detected a significant positive correlation of LTB, CFA/I and CS6 specific memory B cell responses with the corresponding increase in antibody avidity. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that natural infection with ETEC induces memory B cells and high avidity antibodies to LTB and colonization factor CFA/I and CS6 antigens that could mediate anamnestic responses on re-exposure to ETEC and may help in understanding the requirements to design an effective vaccination strategies

Distinct antibody repertoires against endemic human coronaviruses in children and adults.

Four endemic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are commonly associated with acute respiratory infection in humans. B cell responses to these "common cold" viruses remain incompletely understood. Here we report a comprehensive analysis of CoV-specific antibody repertoires in 231 children and 1168 adults using phage-immunoprecipitation sequencing. Seroprevalence of antibodies to endemic HCoVs ranged between ~4 and 27% depending on the species and cohort. We identified at least 136 novel linear B cell epitopes. Antibody repertoires against endemic HCoVs were qualitatively different between children and adults in that anti-HCoV IgG specificities more frequently found among children targeted functionally important and structurally conserved regions of the spike, nucleocapsid and matrix proteins. Moreover, antibody specificities targeting the highly conserved fusion peptide region and S2' cleavage site of the spike protein were broadly cross-reactive with peptides of epidemic human and non-human coronaviruses. In contrast, an acidic tandem repeat in the N-terminal region of the Nsp3 subdomain of the HCoV-HKU1 polyprotein was the predominant target of antibody responses in adult donors. Our findings shed light on the dominant species-specific and pan-CoV target sites of human antibody responses to coronavirus infection, thereby providing important insights for the development of prophylactic or therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and vaccine design.This work was supported in part by a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund (PPM1-1220-150017) and funds from Sidra Medicine. I Meyts is a Senior Clinical Investigator at the Research Foundation — Flanders and is supported by the CSL Behring Chair of Primary Immunodeficiencies; by the KU Leuven C1 grant C16/18/007; by a VIB GC PID grant; by FWO grants G0C8517N, G0B5120N, and G0E8420N; and by the Jeffrey Modell Foundation. The ULB Center of Human Genetics is supported by the Fonds Erasme

Social and structural determinants associated with the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among female commercial sex workers in Dhaka City, Bangladesh.

Female commercial sex workers (FCSWs) bear higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among key populations. The association of structural determinants and STIs among FCSWs was not at the forefront of research earlier in Bangladesh. This study examined how structural factors correlate with the prevalence of STIs at physical/social/economic/policy levels among FCSWs in Dhaka city. 495 FCSWs were screened for HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis. Structural variables (Individual risks, high-risk sexual behaviors, work environments) were extracted from the previous multi-level study on FCSWs and analyzed in 2020 to determine whether macro/micro-structural factors were associated with STIs. The prevalence of STIs was 43.6% (95% CI: 39.1%-48). Most (n = 207/495) FCSWs were infected with Syphilis or Hepatitis B, only 1.8% had co-infection, and none was positive for HIV. Multiple logistic regression revealed that 'Individual risk' factors like age (≤18 years, adjusted odds ratio = AOR = .28; 18.1-29.9 years, AOR = .57), years in the sex industry (<1 year AOR = .15; 1-5 years, AOR = .39), and condoms as contraceptives (AOR = 2.7) were significantly associated with STIs. Considering 'High-risk behaviors' like monthly coitus with regular clients (AOR = .33), performing no anal sex ever (AOR = .03), and consistent condom use (AOR = .13) were less likely to be associated with STIs (P<0.05), while the association of ever group sex with STIs reported to double (AOR = 2.1). 'Work environment' like sex on roads/parks/shrines/markets (AOR = 2.6) and ever HIV-testing (AOR = 2.5) were significantly linked with STIs. However, micro-level factors like experiencing forced sex in the past year (AOR = 1.79) and condoms collected from hotel boys (AOR = .34) were significantly associated with STIs in the 'Hierarchical- model' with increasing model-power. 'Micro-structural' determinants predominated over 'Macro/policy-level factors' and profoundly influenced STIs. FCSWs need comprehensive and integrated interventions to promote accurate condom use perception, eliminate risky sexual behaviors, and provide quality reproductive health care. Necessary steps at the policy level are urgently needed to decriminalize commercial sex work