Phytic acid: How far have we come?

Phytic acid is a major storage form of phosphorous. Obvious reasons are there to favor its reduced concentration in organisms. However, certain justifications can also be settled, in order to support its increased natural concentration. In both cases, there are questions to be answered to favor one side while alleviating the harm of neglecting the other. This article reviews our current state of understanding of phytic acid - focusing on the topics of current and future interests in the field

Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis of core gene of hepatitis C virus from Pakistani population

In Pakistan, more than 10 million people are living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) with high morbidity and mortality. The aims of the present study are to report HCV core gene sequences from Pakistani population and perform their sequence comparison/phylogenetic analysis. The core gene of HCV has been cloned from six different patients and sequences submitted at the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Nucleotides and deduced amino acid sequence comparison of six isolates was performed with each other and with two HCV genotype 3a type examples reported from Japan. Phylogenetic tree of HCV core sequences was constructed using CLC software. Nucleotides sequence comparison showed that our sequences have 94 to 96% homology with NZL1 strain and 90 to 93%homology with HCV-K3A/650 strain. Deduced amino acid sequence comparison showed that our sequences have 92 to 98% homology with NZL1 strain and 88 to 94% homology with HCV-K3A/650 strain.Phylogenetic analysis suggests that our sequences are clustered with sequences reported from Japan. This is the first phylogenetic analysis of HCV core gene from Pakistani population. Our sequences and sequences from Japan are grouped into same cluster in the phylogenetic tree. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis showed that our isolates have high homology with Japanese isolates

Susceptibility to Vibrio cholerae Infection in a Cohort of Household Contacts of Patients with Cholera in Bangladesh

Vibrio cholerae is the bacterium that causes cholera, a severe form of diarrhea that leads to rapid and potentially fatal dehydration when the infection is not treated promptly. Cholera remains an important cause of diarrhea globally, and V. cholerae continues to cause major epidemics in the most vulnerable populations. Although there have been recent discoveries about how the bacterium adapts to the human intestine and causes diarrhea, there is little understanding of why some people are protected from infection with V. cholerae. This article describes several factors that are associated with the risk of developing V. cholerae infection among people living in the same household with a patient with severe cholera who are at high risk of contracting the infection. One of the findings is that IgA antibodies, a type of antibody associated with immunity at mucosal surfaces such as the intestine, that target several components of the bacteria are associated with immunity to V. cholerae infection. This article also describes genetic and nutritional factors that additionally influence susceptibility to V. cholerae infection

Experimental investigation of the flow in a micro-channelled combustor and its relation to flame behaviour

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. The dynamic behaviour of periodic laminar premixed acetylene-air flames in a micro-channelled combustor consisting of an array of five planar rectangular channels was found to be influenced by the equivalence ratio and flow-rate of the continuously and steadily injected premixed fuel charge. Three distinct flame stages were observed — planar, chaotic and trident, which were strongly correlated to the flow dynamics. The effect of the flow on the flame behaviour was investigated by characterizing the cold flow in a scaled-up model channel with the same aspect ratio as the combustion micro-channel. Direct flow visualization using flow tracers and quantitative velocity-field data from PIV measurements showed both an increase in the bottom recirculation zone reattachment length (along the floor of the channel) and a decrease in the lateral recirculation zone reattachment length (along the sides of the channel) with increasing flow Reynolds number. Comparison of the flow and flame transition locations downstream of the injection point suggested that the location of trident flame onset coincides with the flow bottom recirculation zone reattachment length. The planar-chaotic flame transition location was observed to be influenced by the homogeneity of the mixture downstream of the injection plane

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae Diarrhea, Bangladesh, 2004

Flooding in Dhaka in July 2004 caused epidemics of diarrhea. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) was almost as prevalent as Vibrio cholerae O1 in diarrheal stools. ETEC that produced heat-stable enterotoxin alone was most prevalent, and 78% of strains had colonization factors. Like V. cholerae O1, ETEC can cause epidemic diarrhea

Concurrent Infection with Dengue and Malaria: An Unusual Presentation

Dengue and malaria are both endemic in South Asia and represent a major public health burden in this region. Though there have been some case reports of concurrent infection with dengue and malaria, yet there are only few cases of such infections reported from South Asia. Here, we present a case of a young male returning from a dengue endemic area who tested positive for the virus along with Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum. In view of the severity of coinfection (Epelboin et al., 2012), overlapping symptoms, and a challenging obscurity of diagnosis, a multidimensional diagnostic approach is suggested

Expression of Colonization Factor CS5 of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Is Enhanced In Vivo and by the Bile Component Na Glycocholate Hydrate

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is an important cause of acute watery diarrhoea in developing countries. Colonization factors (CFs) on the bacterial surface mediate adhesion to the small intestinal epithelium. Two of the most common CFs worldwide are coli surface antigens 5 and 6 (CS5, CS6). In this study we investigated the expression of CS5 and CS6 in vivo, and the effects of bile and sodium bicarbonate, present in the human gut, on the expression of CS5. Five CS5+CS6 ETEC isolates from adult Bangladeshi patients with acute diarrhoea were studied. The level of transcription from the CS5 operon was approximately 100-fold higher than from the CS6 operon in ETEC bacteria recovered directly from diarrhoeal stool without sub-culturing (in vivo). The glyco-conjugated primary bile salt sodium glycocholate hydrate (NaGCH) induced phenotypic expression of CS5 in a dose-dependent manner and caused a 100-fold up-regulation of CS5 mRNA levels; this is the first description of NaGCH as an enteropathogenic virulence inducer. The relative transcription levels from the CS5 and CS6 operons in the presence of bile or NaGCH in vitro were similar to those in vivo. Another bile salt, sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), previously reported to induce enteropathogenic virulence, also induced expression of CS5, whereas sodium bicarbonate did not

Impact of Rapid Urbanization on the Rates of Infection by Vibrio cholerae O1 and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a country where acute dehydrating diarrhea or cholera is common and is seen at least two times every year and additionally in natural disasters. In addition cholera cases have increased in the country, especially in urban settings such as in the capital city, Dhaka, where the number of hospitalized patients with more severe disease has tremendously increased. In the present observation, we have concentrated on determining the occurrence of diarrhoea caused by the two most common bacterial agents V. cholerae O1 and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) in a densely populated, disease prone area Mirpur in Dhaka for two years from March 2008 to February 2010. Stool or rectal specimens from diarrheal patients coming to the ICDDR,B hospital from Mirpur were tested for the two bacterial pathogens. We found that V. cholerae O1 was the major bacterial pathogen and a cause of severe cholera disease in 23% of patients (2,647 of a total of 11,395 patients) from Mirpur. We surmise that cholera vaccines, as well as other public health tools that can target such high risk groups in the country, will be able to reduce the disease morbidity and the transmission of pathogens to improve the quality of life in urban settings

Individuals with Le(a+b−) Blood Group Have Increased Susceptibility to Symptomatic Vibrio cholerae O1 Infection

Cholera remains a severe diarrheal disease, capable of causing extensive outbreaks and high mortality. Blood group is one of the genetic factors determining predisposition to disease, including infectious diseases. Expression of different Lewis or ABO blood group types has been shown to be associated with risk of different enteric infections. For example, individuals of blood group O have a higher risk of severe illness due to V. cholerae compared to those with non-blood group O antigens. In this study, we have determined the relationship of the Lewis blood group antigen phenotypes with the risk of symptomatic cholera as well as the severity of disease and immune responses following infection. We show that individuals expressing the Le(a+b−) phenotype were more susceptible to symptomatic cholera, while Le(a–b+) expressing individuals were less susceptible. Individuals with the Le(a–b−) blood group had a longer duration of diarrhea when infected, required more intravenous fluid replacement, and had lower plasma IgA antibody responses to V. cholerae LPS on day 7 following infection. We conclude that there is an association between the Lewis blood group and the risk of cholera, and that this risk may affect the outcome of infection as well as possibly the efficacy of vaccination