Newly isolated Paecilomyces lilacinus and Paecilomyces javanicus as novel biocontrol agents for Plutella xylostella and Spodoptera litura

Biocontrol offers an attractive alternative to the use of chemical pesticides in agricultural pest management. The development of high levels of resistance to chemical pesticides have forced researchers to find more alternative biological control agents. The aims of this study were to isolate Paecilomyces spp. with high virulence against diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and Oriental leafworm moth (Spodoptera litura), and to investigate suitable agro-industrial residues as a substrate used for solid state fermentation for sporulation of isolates. In this study, Paecilomyces spp. were isolated from soil and insects and identified by morphological and sequencing analyses. The pathogenicity of these isolates was evaluated on Pl. xylostella and S. litura to identify strains with the highest virulence. In addition, agro-industrial residues were used as a cheap substrate for investigating a suitable medium for sporulation on an industrial scale. Six strains of Paecilomyces spp. were isolated including one strain of P. lilacinus and five strain of P. javanicus. P. lilacinus PL01 showed the highest virulence against both Pl. xylostella and S. litura with respective LT50 values of 2.51 and 7.09 days. The five isolated P. javanicus strains also strongly infected Pl. xylostella with LT50 values of 2.52~6.59 days. For sporulation, brown rice alone or brown rice mixed with rice husks and wheat bran or rice bran was suitable for cultivating these isolates. Two newly isolated species of Paecilomyces, P. lilacinus and P. javanicus, can be used as biological control agents for controlling Pl. xylostella and S. litura.</jats:p

Pharmacogenomic Analysis of CYP3A5&ast;3 and Tacrolimus Trough Concentrations in Vietnamese Renal Transplant Outcomes

Thi Van Anh Nguyen,1,&ast; Ba Hai Le,2,&ast; Minh Thanh Nguyen,2,&ast; Viet Thang Le,3,&ast; Viet Tien Tran,4,&ast; Dinh Tuan Le,5,&ast; Duong Anh Minh Vu,2,&ast; Quy Kien Truong,3,&ast; Trong Hieu Le,2,&ast; Huong Thi Lien Nguyen2,&ast; 1Department of Pharmacy, 103 Military Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Department of Nephrology and Dialysis, 103 Military Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 4Department of Infectious Diseases, 103 Military Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 5Department of Rheumatology and Endocrinology, 103 Military Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Huong Thi Lien Nguyen, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, 13-15 Le Thanh Tong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam, Tel +84904308406, Email [email protected]: CYP3A5 polymorphisms have been associated with variations in the pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus (Tac) in kidney transplant patients. Our study aims to quantify how the CYP3A5 genotype influences tacrolimus trough concentrations (C0) in a Vietnamese outpatient population by selecting an appropriate population pharmacokinetic model of Tac for our patients.Patients and Methods: The external dataset was obtained prospectively from 54 data of adult kidney transplant recipients treated at the 103 Military Hospital. All published Tac population pharmacokinetic models were systematically screened from PubMed and Scopus databases and were selected based on our patient’s available characteristics. Mean absolute prediction error (MAPE), mean prediction error, and goodness-of-fit plots were used to identify the appropriate model for finding the formula that identifies the influence of CYP3A5 genotype on the pharmacokinetic data of Vietnamese patients.Results: The model of Zhu et al had a good predictive ability with MAPE of 19.29%. The influence of CYP3A5 genotype on tacrolimus clearance was expressed by the following formulas: . The simulation result showed that Tac C0 was significantly higher in patients not expressing CYP3A5 (p< 0.001).Conclusion: The incorporation of the CYP3A5 phenotype into Zhu’s structural model has significantly enhanced our ability to predict Tacrolimus trough levels in the Vietnamese population. This study’s results underscore the valuable role of CYP3A5 phenotype in optimizing the forecast of Tac concentrations, offering a promising avenue to assist health-care practitioners in their clinical decision-making and ultimately advance patient care outcomes.Keywords: tacrolimus, population pharmacokinetic, CYP3A5, Vietna

Herbal medicine for sports: a review

The use of herbal medicinal products and supplements has increased during last decades. At present, some herbs are used to enhance muscle strength and body mass. Emergent evidence suggests that the health benefits from plants are attributed to their bioactive compounds such as Polyphenols, Terpenoids, and Alkaloids which have several physiological effects on the human body. At times, manufacturers launch numerous products with banned ingredient inside with inappropriate amounts or fake supplement inducing harmful side effect. Unfortunately up to date, there is no guarantee that herbal supplements are safe for anyone to use and it has not helped to clear the confusion surrounding the herbal use in sport field especially. Hence, the purpose of this review is to provide guidance on the efficacy and side effect of most used plants in sport. We have identified plants according to the following categories: Ginseng, alkaloids, and other purported herbal ergogenics such asTribulus Terrestris, Cordyceps Sinensis. We found that most herbal supplement effects are likely due to activation of the central nervous system via stimulation of catecholamines. Ginseng was used as an endurance performance enhancer, while alkaloids supplementation resulted in improvements in sprint and cycling intense exercises. Despite it is prohibited, small amount of ephedrine was usually used in combination with caffeine to enhance muscle strength in trained individuals. Some other alkaloids such as green tea extracts have been used to improve body mass and composition in athletes. Other herb (i.e. Rhodiola, Astragalus) help relieve muscle and joint pain, but results about their effects on exercise performance are missing