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Background Recent advances in nanomedicine have derived novel prospects for development of various bioactive nanoparticles and nanocomposites with significant antibacterial and antifungal properties. This study aims to investigate some characteristics of the novel Se-NPs/Cu 2 O nanocomposite such as morphological, physicochemical, and optical properties, as well as to assess the antibacterial activity of this fabricated composite in different concentrations against some MDR Gram-positive and Gram-negative clinical bacterial isolates. Methods The Se-NPs/Cu 2 O nanocomposite was fabricated using the chemical deposition method. The fabricated nanocomposite was fully characterized by X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The antimicrobial activity of Se-NPs/Cu 2 O was investigated using the standard broth microdilution method. The fabricated Se-NPs/Cu 2 O nanocomposites were detected as stable and highly crystallized nanospheres with an average size of 98.6 nm. Results The Se-NPs/Cu 2 O nanocomposite showed a potent antimicrobial activity with MIC values ranged from 6.25 to 12.5 µg/ml for Gram-positive isolates, and 25 to 50 µg/ml for gram-negative isolates. The bactericidal activity was higher for gram-negative isolates with MBC/MIC ratios of 1–2 µg/ml for gram-negative, versus 8 µg/ml for gram positive pathogens. Conclusion These findings would support further research in development of a novel Se-NPs/Cu 2 O nanocomposite as a promising alternative therapeutic option for improving the quality of patients’ management.

In March 2020, a wedding in Jordan led to a large outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We collected data on 350 wedding attendees, 76 who of whom developed COVID-19. Our study shows high communicability of COVID-19 and the enormous risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 virus transmission during mass gatherings.

This cross-sectional study aims to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of biofilm-producing nosocomial isolates from a tertiary care hospital, as well as to investigate any possible association of biofilm formation with the distribution of biofilm-related genotypes and antibiotic resistance phenotypes. A total of 94 non-duplicate nosocomial isolates were identified, their biofilm formation was quantitatively detected using the modified microtiter plate assay, and their susceptibilities to different antibiotics were determined using the breakpoint method. Isolates were then subjected to PCR assays targeting A and genes. The majority (70.1%) of isolates were biofilm producers. The most prevalent biofilm gene was A (63.8%), followed by (13.8%) and (10.6%). The presence of multi- and extensive-drug resistance (MDR and XDR) was significantly associated with biofilm producers (p = 0.017 and 0.002, respectively). The length of hospital stay (aOR= 0.023), the presence of A gene (aOR = 0.286) or gene (aOR = 0.346), ampicillin/sulbactam resistance (aOR = 1), and the presence of MDR (aOR = -0.329) or XDR (aOR = -0.252) were considered significant risk factors associated with biofilm-producing isolates. The high prevalence of biofilm-producing MDR and XDR nosocomial isolates in this study is worrisome and alarming. Characterization of risk factors could help control the continuous selection and transfer of this serious phenotype inside hospitals and improve the quality of patients' care.

Objective monitoring of improvement during treatment of pulmonary exacerbation can be difficulty in children when pulmonary function testing cannot be obtained. Thus, the identification of predictive biomarkers to determine the efficacy of drug treatments is of high priority. The major aim of the current study was to investigate the serum levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and alpha calcitonin gene related peptide (aCGRP) of cystic fibrosis pediatric patients during pulmonary exacerbation and post-antibiotic therapy, and possible associations of their levels with different clinicopathological parameters. 21 patients with cystic fibrosis were recruited at onset of pulmonary exacerbation. Serum was collected at time of admission, three days post-antibiotic therapy, and two weeks post-antibiotic therapy (end of antibiotic therapy). Serum VIP and aCGRP levels were measured using ELISA. Overall least square means of serum aCGRP level but not VIP changed from time of exacerbation to completion of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.005). Serum VIP was significantly associated with the presence of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.026) and other comorbidities (p = 0.013), and with type of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.019). Serum aCGRP level was significantly associated with type of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.012) and positive Staphylococcus aureus microbiology test (p = 0.046). This study could only show significant changes in serum aCGRP levels following treatment of pulmonary exacerbations. Future studies with larger sample size are required to investigate the clinical importance of VIP and aCGRP in cystic fibrosis patients.

To prevent the rapidly increasing prevalence of bacterial resistance, it is crucial to discover new antibacterial agents. The emergence of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae has been associated with a higher mortality rate in gulf union countries and worldwide. Compared to physical and chemical approaches, green zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO-NP) synthesis is thought to be significantly safer and more ecofriendly. The present study used molecular dynamics (MD) to examine how ZnO-NPs interact with porin protein (GLO21), a target of β-lactam antibiotics, and then tested this interaction in vitro by determining the zone of inhibition (IZ), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), as well as the alteration of KPC’s cell surface. The nanoparticles produced were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, zetasizer, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In silico investigation was conducted using a variety of computational techniques, including Autodock Vina for protein and ligand docking and Desmond for MD simulation. The candidate ligands that interact with the GLO21 protein were biosynthesized ZnO-NPs, meropenem, imipenem, and cefepime. Analysis of MD revealed that the ZnO-NPs had the highest log P value (−9.1 kcal/mol), which indicates higher permeability through the bacterial surface, followed by cefepime (−7.9 kcal/mol), meropenem (−7.5 kcal/mol), and imipenem (−6.4 kcal/mol). All tested compounds and ZnO-NPs possess similar binding sites of porin proteins. An MD simulation study showed a stable system for ZnO-NPs and cefepime, as confirmed by RMSD and RMSF values during 100 ns trajectories. The test compounds were further inspected for their intersection with porin in terms of hydrophobic, hydrogen, and ionic levels. In addition, the stability of these bonds were measured by observing the protein–ligand contact within 100 ns trajectories. ZnO-NPs showed promising results for fighting KPC, represented in MIC (0.2 mg/mL), MBC (0.5 mg/mL), and ZI (24 mm diameter). To draw the conclusion that ZnO-NP is a potent antibacterial agent and in order to identify potent antibacterial drugs that do not harm human cells, further in vivo studies are required.

Background The final decision to fast or not fast for routine lipid profile examination in a standard, healthy population is unclear. Whereas the United States and European protocols state that fasting for regular lipid analysis is unnecessary, the North American and Chinese guidelines still recommend fasting before routine lipid testing. Aim This study aimed to unravel the contradiction between the different protocols of lipid profile testing worldwide and clarify the effect of diet on lipid profile testing only in a regular, healthy population. Methods A literature search was conducted through May 2024. The analyses included studies performed from the date 2000 until now because the contradiction of guidelines for lipid profile testing appeared for the first time in this period. A planned internal validity evaluation was performed using the National Institute of Health (NIH) quality measurement tools for observational cohort, case‒control, controlled interventional, and cross-sectional studies. The data were synthesized according to RevMan 5.3. Results Eight studies with a total of 244,665 participants were included. The standardized mean difference in cholesterol in six studies showed significant differences in overall effect among fasting and nonfasting states ( P  < 0.00001), as did high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( P  < 0.00001). At the same time, with respect to triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, there were notable variations in the overall effect between the fasted and nonfasted states ( P  < 0.00001 and P  ≤ 0.001, respectively). Conclusions This meta-analysis concluded that fasting for lipid profile testing is preferred as a conservative model to reduce variability and increase consistency in patients’ metabolic status when sampling for lipid testing.

Background and Aim A wide range of clinical manifestations and outcomes, including liver injury, have been reported in COVID-19 patients. We investigated the association of three substantial gene polymorphisms ( FURIN , IFNL4 , and TLR2 ) with COVID-19 disease susceptibility and severity to help predict prognosis. Methods 150 adult COVID-19-assured cases were categorized as follows: 78 patients with a non-severe presentation, 39 patients with severe disease, and 33 critically ill patients. In addition, 74 healthy controls were included. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were carried out, including complete and differential blood counts, D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, ferritin, interleukin-6 (Il-6), and liver and kidney functions. FURIN (rs6226), IFNL4 (rs12979860), and TLR2 (rs3804099) genotyping allelic discrimination assays were conducted using real-time PCR. Results The FURIN , IFNL4 , and TLR2 genotypes and their alleles differed significantly between COVID-19 patients and controls, as well as between patients with severe or critical illness and those with a non-severe presentation. According to a multivariable regression analysis, FURIN (C/T + T/T) and TLR2 (T/C + C/C) mutants were associated with COVID-19 susceptibility, with odds ratios of 3.293 and 2.839, respectively. FURIN C/C and IFNL4 T/T mutants were significantly linked to severe and critical illnesses. Multivariate regression analysis showed that FURIN (G/C + C/C) genotypes and IFNL4 T/T homozygosity were independent risk factors associated with increased mortality. Conclusion FURIN , IFNL4 , and TLR2 gene variants are associated with the risk of COVID-19 occurrence as well as increased severity and poor outcomes in Egyptian patients.

In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, several serum biomarkers have been identified. Upon intensive care unit (ICU) admission, these laboratory markers become more crucial to distinguish between patients with severe cases of COVID-19. It might assist doctors in predicting the course of illnesses and treating patients appropriately. This work was to investigate the role of biomarkers in patients with COVID-19 classification admitted to the hospital and identified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Peripheral blood sample was taken from COVID-19 cases isolated on admission to determine C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, Fibrinogen, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), leukocytes CRP ratio (LeCR), lymphocyte-CRP ratio (LCR), interleukin-6 (IL6), leukocytes interleukin 6 ratio (LeIL6), systemic inflammatory index (SII), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor one (tPAI-1). Follow-up for IL6, Ferritin, D-dimer, and tPAI-1 were determined on the 3 and 7 days. Comparisons of severity revealed that hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and Ischemia were major risk factors in COVID-19 patients. There was a statistically significant difference between the test groups for fibrinogen (p < 0.000), IL6 (p < 0.009), LeCR (p < 0.006), and LCR (p < 0.011). Based on laboratory test findings at the time of ICU admission, we can distinguish severe cases of COVID-19.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of serum level of Interleukin 6( IL-6 ) and Interleukin 17 ( IL-17 ) in liver transplantation outcome for living recipients, Analyze the relation between the gene polymorphism and the occurrence of rejection after liver transplantation and Study the relation between the gene polymorphism and the occurrence of different infectious complications. The study was conducted in March 2023 and included 60 healthy volunteers from the National Liver Institute (NLI) blood bank at Menoufia University and 120 live donation liver recipient patients at NLI. During one month of liver transplantation, the cytokine levels (IL-17, IL-6 proteins, IL-6 G-174C, and IL-17 A rs2275913 gene polymorphism) and CD4 levels for 60 patients of 120 live donation liver recipient patients whom early reject transplanted tissue and the same parameters were measured after 6 months follow up for non-reject group. The main finding of this study was that the post-transplant rejection group and the post-transplant non-rejection and control groups differed significantly in the genotype frequency (CC, CG, and GG) or alleles of IL-6 G-174C ( p  = 0.011). On the other hand IL-17A rs2275913 gene polymorphism and its alleles ( p  = 0.71) showed no statistically significant difference. We also observed that serum IL-17 levels, with 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity threshold, will be more sensitive and specific than serum IL-6 and CD4 count in differentiating post-transplant rejection from non-rejection patients. The results showed that there was no significant relationship between the genotypes and serum levels of interleukins and the type and degree of rejection. Proinflammatory cytokines might be useful indicators for distinguishing and early identifying unfavorable outcomes after transplantation, allowing for prompt and effective treatment intervention. To evaluate these findings, prospective clinical trials are required.