Multi-antibiotics-resistance plasmid profile of enteric pathogens in pediatric patients from Nigeria

A total of 938 faecal samples of diarrheal stool of pediatric patients attending Madonna University Teaching Hospital (MUTH) from June 2003 to June 2004 were examined. 218 of eight differentbacterial strains namely Escherichia coli 90(41.3%), Shigella dysenteriae 38(17.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 20(9.2%), Salmonella typhi 18(8.3%), Staphylococcus aureus 7(3.2%), Proteus mirabilis 5(2.3%), Enterococcus faecalis 25(11.5%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae 15(6.9%) were isolated. The susceptibility pattern of the isolates to the various antibiotics varied with Proteus mirabilis andKlebsiella pneumoniae 100% sensitive to peflacine and Enterococcus faecalis 100% sensitive to ciprofloxacin and augmentin. Most of the isolates were least sensitive to cotrimoxazole, ampicillin, erythromycin gentamicin, streptomycin and chloramphenicol. The resistance plasmids to the various isolates were very diverse and distributive among the isolates. They were also highly transferable with a high frequency range of 2x10-2 to 6x10-4. Some of the isolates had plasmids bands that ranged from 0.55kbp to 1.14kbp. This indicates that plasmids allow the movement of genetic materials,including antimicrobial resistance genes between bacterial species and strains

The LRRK2 Arg1628Pro variant is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease in the Chinese population

The c.G4883C variant in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene (protein effect: Arg1628Pro) has been recently proposed as a second risk factor for sporadic Parkinson's disease in the Han Chinese population (after the Gly2385Arg variant). In this paper, we analyze the Arg1628Pro variant and the associated haplotype in a large sample of 1,337 Han subjects (834 patients and 543 controls) ascertained from a single referral center in Taiwan. In our sample, the Arg1628Pro allele was more frequent among patients (3.8%) than among controls (1.8%; p = 0.004, OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.29-3.52). Sixty heterozygous and two homozygous carriers of the Arg1628Pro variant were identified among the patients, of which only one was also a carrier of the LRRK2 Gly2385Arg variant. We also show that carriers of the Arg1628Pro variant share a common, extended haplotype, suggesting a founder effect. Parkinson's disease onset age was similar in patients who carried the Arg1628Pro variant and in those who did not carry it. Our data support the contention that the Arg1628Pro variant is a second risk factor for Parkinson's disease in the Han Chinese population. Adding the estimated effects of Arg1628Pro (population attributable risk [PAR] ∼4%) and Gly2385Arg variants (PAR ∼6%) yields a total PAR of ∼10%

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics in Nigeria

Over the past few decades, major advances in the field of molecular biology, coupled with advances in genomic technologies, have led to an explosive growth in the biological data generated by the scientific community. The critical need to process and analyze such a deluge of data and turn it into useful knowledge has caused bioinformatics to gain prominence and importance. Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary research area that applies techniques, methodologies, and tools in computer and information science to solve biological problems. In Nigeria, bioinformatics has recently played a vital role in the advancement of biological sciences. As a developing country, the importance of bioinformatics is rapidly gaining acceptance, and bioinformatics groups comprised of biologists, computer scientists, and computer engineers are being constituted at Nigerian universities and research institutes. In this article, we present an overview of bioinformatics education and research in Nigeria. We also discuss professional societies and academic and research institutions that play central roles in advancing the discipline in Nigeria. Finally, we propose strategies that can bolster bioinformatics education and support from policy makers in Nigeria, with potential positive implications for other developing countries. © 2014 Fatumo et al.SAF was supported by H3ABioNet NABDA Node, Abuja, Nigeria with NIH Common Fund Award/NHGRI Grant Number U41HG006941 and Genetic Epidemiology Group at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.Published versio

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles with tunable pore size for tailored gold nanoparticles

The aim of this paper was to verify a possible correlation between the pore-size of meso- porous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) and the sizes of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) obtained by an impreg- nation of gold(III) chloride hydrate solution in the MSNs, followed by a specific thermal treatment. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles with tunable pore diameter were synthesized via a surfactant-assisted method. Tetraethoxysilane as silica precursor, cetyl- trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant and toluene as swelling agent were used. By varying the CTAB–toluene molar ratio, the average dimension of the pores could be tuned from 2.8 to 5.5 nm. Successively, thiol groups were grafted on the surface of the MSNs. Finally, the thermal evolution of the gold salt, followed by ‘‘in situ’’ X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), revealed an evident correlation among the degradation of the thiol groups, the pore dimension of the MSNs and the size of the AuNPs. The samples were characterized by means of nitrogen adsorption– desorption, transmission electron microscopy, small- angle X-ray scattering, XRPD ‘‘in situ’’ by synchro- tron radiation, and ‘‘ex situ’’ by conventional tech- niques, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and TGA

In-Silico detection of chokepoints enzymes in four plasmodium species

Of the over 156 species of Plasmodium that infect vertebrates, only four infect man: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae. Other species infect other animals including birds, reptiles and rodents. The rodent malariaparasites are Plasmodium berghei, Plasmodium yoelii, Plasmodium chabaudi and Plasmodium vinckei. Since research has shown a high similarity in sequence and properties between human and rodent, we sought to study the likely similar enzymatic pathways between the parasites that infect these two organisms that may be used as drugtargets. The paper therefore, employed a computational biochemical approach to identify some choke points in the four selected species of Plasmodium: two (2) that infect humans and two (2) that infect rodents. These include- P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. berghei and P. chanbaudi respectively. In general, we identified an average of 178 chokepoint enzymes in these Plasmodium species which were common to all of them. Since there were several chokepoints enzymes common to all the species; we hypothesize that the chokepoints which are only common to a particular species could be possible drug targets to the individual parasites

Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum field Isolates from South western Nigeria

Abstract Background: Plasmodium falciparum the main causative agent of malaria is an important public health vector. With the use of PCR, its genetic diversity has been extensively studied with dearth information from Nigeria

Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from south western Nigeria

Background: Plasmodium falciparum the main causative agent of malaria is an important public health vector. With the use of PCR, its genetic diversity has been extensively studied with dearth information from Nigeria.Methods: In this study, 100 P. falciparum strains merozoite surface protein 1( msp-1), merozoite surface protein 2 (msp-2) and Glutamate rich protein (Glurp) from Ogun State General Hospitals were characterized. The genetic diversity of P. falciparum isolates was analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism following gel electrophoresis of DNA products from nested polymerase chain reactions (PCR) of their respective allelic families KI, MAD 20, RO33 (MSP-1);FC27, 3D7 (MSP-2) and Glutamate rich protein respectively.Results: Majority of the patients showed monoclonal infections while multiplicity of the infection for msp-1 and msp-2 were 1.1 and 1.2 respectively. The estimated number of genotypes was 8 msp-1 (4 KI; 3 MAD; 1 RO33) and 6 msp-2 (3 FC27; 3 3D7). 80% of the isolates coded for Glurp with allelic size ranged between 700 and 900 bp.Conclusion: The allelic distributions however were similar to those previously reported in other endemic malaria countries. Future studies will be designed to include other malaria endemic regions of Nigeria such as the oil exploration regions.Keywords: Genetic diversity; Plasmodium; Merozoite surface protein, monoclonal infectio