Antimicrobial Activity of Mushrooms against Skin Infection Causing Pathogens

Mushrooms are nutritionally functional food and a source of physiologically beneficial and nontoxic medicines for various diseased conditions. In the present study antimicrobial properties of crude extracts of three commercial edible mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus (J.E.Lange) Imbach , Pleurotus florida (Mont.) and Calocybe indica (P&A) were tested against bacteria and fungi that cause local dermatitis by disc diffusion method. Highest anti-microbial activity was obtained from petroleum ether extract of Agaricus bisporus, with the zone of inhibition 17mm (Streptococus pyogenes), 15mm (Staphylococus aureus), 14mm (Pseudomonas aeuroginosa) and 13mm (Candida albicans) from 100µg/ml concentration of mushroom extracts respectively, while minimal zone was obtained from the petroleum ether extract of Pleurotus florida and very least inhibition was observed in Calocybe indica. From the results it is inferred that crude extracts of commercially available mushrooms namely Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus florida can be used to treat pathogenic microbes that cause skin irritations, bristles and acnes. This study gives scope for the investigations on active constituents of mushrooms for better understanding of the healing mechanism

Peptidylarginine deiminases 2 and 4 modulate innate and adaptive immune responses in TLR-7-dependent lupus.

The peptidylarginine deiminases PAD2 and PAD4 are implicated in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases. PAD4 may be pathogenic in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) through its role in neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation that promotes autoantigen externalization, immune dysregulation, and organ damage. The role of this enzyme in mouse models of autoimmunity remains unclear, as pan-PAD chemical inhibitors improve clinical phenotype, whereas PAD4-KO models have given conflicting results. The role of PAD2 in SLE has not been investigated. The differential roles of PAD2 and PAD4 in TLR-7-dependent lupus autoimmunity were examined. Padi4-/- displayed decreased autoantibodies, type I IFN responses, immune cell activation, vascular dysfunction, and NET immunogenicity. Padi2-/- mice showed abrogation of Th subset polarization, with some disease manifestations reduced compared with WT but to a lesser extent than Padi4-/- mice. RNA sequencing analysis revealed distinct modulation of immune-related pathways in PAD-KO lymphoid organs. Human T cells express both PADs and, when exposed to either PAD2 or PAD4 inhibitors, displayed abrogation of Th1 polarization. These results suggest that targeting PAD2 and/or PAD4 activity modulates dysregulated TLR-7-dependent immune responses in lupus through differential effects of innate and adaptive immunity. Compounds that target PADs may have potential therapeutic roles in T cell-mediated diseases

Prevalence and Impact of Thyroid Disorders on Maternal Outcome in Asian-Indian Pregnant Women

Aims. To establish the prevalence and the effect of thyroid dysfunction on pregnancy outcomes in Asian-Indian population. Subjects and Methods. The study cohort comprised of 483 consecutive pregnant women in the first trimester attending the antenatal clinic of a tertiary center in Mumbai, India. Thyroid hormone levels and thyroid peroxidase antibody were estimated. Patients with thyroid dysfunction were assessed periodically or treated depending on the severity. Subjects were followed until delivery. Results. The prevalence of hypothyroidism, Graves' disease, gestational transient thyrotoxicosis, and thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) was 4.8% (n = 24), 0.6% (n = 3), 6.4 % (n = 31), and 12.4% (n = 60), respectively. Forty percent of the hypothyroid patients did not have any high-risk characteristics. Hypothyroidism and TAI were associated with miscarriage (P = 0.02 and P = 0.001, resp.). Conclusions. The prevalence of hypothyroidism (4.8%) and TAI (12.4%) is high. TAI and hypothyroidism were significantly associated with miscarriage

Automated Teller Machine (ATM)- a Pathogen City a Surveillance Report From Locations in and Around Madurai City, Tamil Nadu, India

ATM is used by millions of people in a day. It is meant to be a public utility device. Hence the microorganisms plays a major role in accommodating the safer place, ATM. Hence to this account an elaborate survey was taken for complete assessment of microbiology in and around Madurai city. Swabs were collected from each ATM screen, buttons, floor, users hand, exposure of plates and also extended the work in relation with microorganisms prevalent in ladies toilet the samples collected from ATM were plated in nutrient agar plates. The results showed the presence of increased bacterial count subsequently, most pathogens on characterization extended revealed the genus of the particular organism E-coli, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aures, Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Salmonella, Serratia and fungal species included Aspergillus sp, Mucor sp and Fusarium. Antibiogram study of bacteria also provides us information about the antibiotic resistance pattern of the bacterial isolates

Reproductive traits of the obtuse barracuda Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829 in the Gulf of Mannar, south-east coast of India

The reproductive biology (sex ratio, maturity and fecundity) of the obtuse barracuda Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829 was investigated based on 698 specimens (323 females and 375 males) sampled along the Pamban Coast in the Gulf of Mannar during the years 2018 and 2019. The total length of the samples ranged from 11.8 to 41.6 cm and the overall sex ratio (male:female) was 1:0.86. The length at first maturity (Lm50) was estimated to be 31.26 cm for females and 31.12 cm for males. Monthly changes in the gonadosomatic index (GSI) values and reproductive phases revealed a protracted spawning, extending from September to February with a peak in January. However, the presence of mature females throughout the year indicated year-round spawning behaviour of the species in the region. Detailed histological studies of the ovary further confirmed that the species is a continuous batch spawner. The estimated absolute batch fecundity ranged between 20,520 and 2,22,422 oocytes and the relative batch fecundity ranged from 261 to 754, with an average of 505 ova per gram body weight of fish. The ova size ranged from 0.03 to 0.84 mm (Mean±SE: 0.43±0.04). Fecundity positively correlated with the total length and total weight of the fish, indicating larger females produced a greater number of ova compared to the smaller ones

Comparative Osteology Study of Ariid Catfishes along the Coast of Gulf of Mannar and Wadge Bank, Tamil Nadu

Taxonomic ambiguity still exists in ariid catfish species identification. Morphological similarities occur in ariid catfishes which lead to misidentification of the species. To overcome this taxonomic ambiguity osteology is one of the effective integrated taxonomic tools for species discrimination. From this study, we provide an osteotaxonomic key for the field identification of ariid catfish species.The present paper deals with a comparative study of the five Ariidae family species discussed, they are Arius arius (Hamilton, 1822), Plicofollis layardi (Gunther, 1866), Netuma thalassina (Ruppell, 1837), Nemapteryx caelata (Valenciennes, 1840) and Osteogeneiosus militaris (Linnaeus, 1758). The osteological portions used for this study like premaxillary, dentary, neurocranium, otolith, vertebral and caudal bone. The aforementioned osteological portions made the important primitive characters that will be used to differentiate the species

3D Hepatic Cultures Simultaneously Maintain Primary Hepatocyte and Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cell Phenotypes

Developing in vitro engineered hepatic tissues that exhibit stable phenotype is a major challenge in the field of hepatic tissue engineering. However, the rapid dedifferentiation of hepatic parenchymal (hepatocytes) and non-parenchymal (liver sinusoidal endothelial, LSEC) cell types when removed from their natural environment in vivo remains a major obstacle. The primary goal of this study was to demonstrate that hepatic cells cultured in layered architectures could preserve or potentially enhance liver-specific behavior of both cell types. Primary rat hepatocytes and rat LSECs (rLSECs) were cultured in a layered three-dimensional (3D) configuration. The cell layers were separated by a chitosan-hyaluronic acid polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM), which served to mimic the Space of Disse. Hepatocytes and rLSECs exhibited several key phenotypic characteristics over a twelve day culture period. Immunostaining for the sinusoidal endothelial 1 antibody (SE-1) demonstrated that rLSECs cultured in the 3D hepatic model maintained this unique feature over twelve days. In contrast, rLSECs cultured in monolayers lost their phenotype within three days. The unique stratified structure of the 3D culture resulted in enhanced heterotypic cell-cell interactions, which led to improvements in hepatocyte functions. Albumin production increased three to six fold in the rLSEC-PEM-Hepatocyte cultures. Only rLSEC-PEM-Hepatocyte cultures exhibited increasing CYP1A1/2 and CYP3A activity. Well-defined bile canaliculi were observed only in the rLSEC-PEM-Hepatocyte cultures. Together, these data suggest that rLSEC-PEM-Hepatocyte cultures are highly suitable models to monitor the transformation of toxins in the liver and their transport out of this organ. In summary, these results indicate that the layered rLSEC-PEM-hepatocyte model, which recapitulates key features of hepatic sinusoids, is a potentially powerful medium for obtaining comprehensive knowledge on liver metabolism, detoxification and signaling pathways in vitro

Decompressive surgery in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis due to vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia

Background and purpose: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis due to vaccine-induced im-mune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (CVST-VITT) is an adverse drug reaction occurring after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2) vaccination. CVST-VITT patients often present with large intracerebral haemorrhages and a high proportion undergoes decompressive surgery. Clinical characteristics, therapeutic management and outcomes of CVST-VITT patients who underwent decompressive surgery are described and predictors of in- hospital mortality in these patients are explored.Methods: Data from an ongoing international registry of patients who developed CVST within 28 days of SARS-CoV- 2 vaccination, reported between 29 March 2021 and 10 May 2022, were used. Definite, probable and possible VITT cases, as defined by Pavord et al. (N Engl J Med 2021; 385: 1680–1689), were included. Results: Decompressive surgery was performed in 34/128 (27%) patients with CVST- VITT. In- hospital mortality was 22/34 (65%) in the surgical and 27/94 (29%) in the non- surgical group (p< 0.001). In all surgical cases, the cause of death was brain herniation. The highest mortality rates were found amongst patients with preoperative coma (17/18, 94% vs. 4/14, 29% in the non-comatose; p< 0.001) and bilaterally absent pupillary re-flexes (7/7, 100% vs. 6/9, 67% with unilaterally reactive pupil, and 4/11, 36% with bi-laterally reactive pupils; p= 0.023). Postoperative imaging revealed worsening of index haemorrhagic lesion in 19 (70%) patients and new haemorrhagic lesions in 16 (59%) pa-tients. At a median follow-up of 6 months, 8/10 of surgical CVST-VITT who survived ad-mission were functionally independent.Conclusions: Almost two-thirds of surgical CVST-VITT patients died during hospital ad-mission. Preoperative coma and bilateral absence of pupillary responses were associated with higher mortality rates. Survivors often achieved functional independence.Peer reviewe

Discovering Networks of Perturbed Biological Processes in Hepatocyte Cultures

The liver plays a vital role in glucose homeostasis, the synthesis of bile acids and the detoxification of foreign substances. Liver culture systems are widely used to test adverse effects of drugs and environmental toxicants. The two most prevalent liver culture systems are hepatocyte monolayers (HMs) and collagen sandwiches (CS). Despite their wide use, comprehensive transcriptional programs and interaction networks in these culture systems have not been systematically investigated. We integrated an existing temporal transcriptional dataset for HM and CS cultures of rat hepatocytes with a functional interaction network of rat genes. We aimed to exploit the functional interactions to identify statistically significant linkages between perturbed biological processes. To this end, we developed a novel approach to compute Contextual Biological Process Linkage Networks (CBPLNs). CBPLNs revealed numerous meaningful connections between different biological processes and gene sets, which we were successful in interpreting within the context of liver metabolism. Multiple phenomena captured by CBPLNs at the process level such as regulation, downstream effects, and feedback loops have well described counterparts at the gene and protein level. CBPLNs reveal high-level linkages between pathways and processes, making the identification of important biological trends more tractable than through interactions between individual genes and molecules alone. Our approach may provide a new route to explore, analyze, and understand cellular responses to internal and external cues within the context of the intricate networks of molecular interactions that control cellular behavior

Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles by flame spray pyrolysis and characterisation protocol

There is uncertainty concerning the potential toxicity of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, which may be attributed in part to a lack of understanding with regard to the physiochemical properties of the nanoparticles used in toxicological investigations. This paper reports the synthesis of a ZnO nanopowder by flame spray pyrolysis and demonstrates that the typically employed characterisation techniques such as specific surface area measurement and X-ray diffraction provide insufficient information on the sample, especially if it is intended for use in toxicity studies. Instead, a more elaborate characterisation protocol is proposed that includes particle morphology as well as detailed compositional analysis of the nanoparticle surface. Detailed transmission electron microscopy analysis illustrated the polydispersity within the sample: particles were elongated in the c-crystallographic direction, with average Ferret length ∼23 nm and Ferret width ∼14 nm. Dynamic light scattering (0.1 w/v% in deionised water, pH 7.4) revealed the particles were agglomerated with a modal secondary particle size of ∼1.5 μm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated the presence of carbonate and hydroxide impurities on the surface of the ZnO nanoparticles and an increase of such impurities was observed as the sample was aged, which might influence the nanoparticle dissolution and/or cellular uptake behaviour. These data will be utilised, in order to facilitate the interpretation and understanding of results from toxicological investigations using in vitro cell lines