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n natural polymers as a promising stomach-specific carrier for improving the treatment of gastric disorders.

Acne is a serious skin problem that affects mostly adolescents. The topical and systematic therapies are effective but could lead to several side effects and the emergence of antibacterial resistance of the acne-causing bacteria. Plant resources have been used as traditional medicine for centuries and can be the alternative therapies for acne treatment. Antioxidants are compounds that can prevent or delay the oxidation of substrates when present in low concentrations. Antioxidants are usually involved in several mechanisms of action, including the inhibition of free radical generation, enhancement of the scavenging capacity against free radicals, and reducing power.

In this study, three antioxidant assays, DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP were used to evaluate the antioxidant properties of the ethanolic extracts of five plant extracts (A. bilimbi, M. nigra, O. Dibenzazepine stamineus, P. granatum, and E. longifolia). Furthermore, the study aimed to identify the most potent plant extracts and their combination which could provide bts may be enhanced by combining the plant extracts.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that causes serious economic losses due to factors such as miscarriages and decreased milk yield in animals. Existing live vaccines have some disadvantages, so effective vaccines need to be developed with new technological approaches.

The primary objectives of this study were the expression and purification of recombinant Omp25 fusion protein from B. abortus and the evaluation of the effect of the Omp25 protein on cell viability and inflammatory response.

The omp25 gene region was amplified by a polymerase chain reaction and cloned into a Pet102/D-TOPO expression vector. The protein expression was carried out using the procaryotic expression system. The recombinant Omp25 protein was purified with affinity chromatography followed by GPC (Gel Permeation Chromatography). The MTS assay and cytokine-release measurements were carried out to evaluate cell viability and inflammatory response, respectively.

It was determined that doses of the recombinant Omp25 protein doses greater than 0.1 μg/mL are toxic to RAW cells. Doses of 1 µg/mL and lower significantly increased inflammation due to nitric oxide (NO) levels. ELISA results show that IFN-γ was produced in stimulated RAW 264.7 cells at a dose that did not affect the viability (0.05 µg/mL). However, IL-12, which is known to have a dual role in the activation of macrophages, did not show a statistically significant difference at the same dose.

Studies of cell viability and Th1-related cytokine release suggest that Omp25 protein is a promising candidate molecule for vaccine development.

Studies of cell viability and Th1-related cytokine release suggest that Omp25 protein is a promising candidate molecule for vaccine development.Cytology specimens and biopsy tissues are frequently small and pale, making them difficult to visualize grossly in paraffin. Ten dyes were assayed on small tissues to determine if specimen discernibility could be increased during the embedding and microtomy steps in the histological process. The ideal dye should not remain visible in a tissue section microscopically after subsequent staining and must not interfere with immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays. This study found that Harris hematoxylin and 1% aq. toluidine blue solution were the best labelers for gross tissue visualization and did not adversely affect post-processing staining and IHC assays.Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (sCJD) rarely affects women of childbearing age. There is currently no evidence of vertical transmission. Given the biosafety implications of performing Caesarean sections (C-section) in these patients, we used sensitive real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assays to test for the infectious prion protein (PrPSc) in products of gestation. A 35-year-old woman with sCJD presented in her 10th gestational week with an eight month history of progressive cognitive impairment. During C-section, amniotic fluid, cord blood and placental tissue were collected and analysed using RT-QuIC protocols adapted for use with these tissues. The patient’s diagnosis of sCJD, MM2 subtype, was confirmed at autopsy. There were borderline positive results in one sampled area of the placenta, but otherwise the cord blood and amniotic fluid were negative on our RT-QuIC assays. A healthy baby was delivered via C-section at 36 weeks and 3 days gestational age, with no evidence of neurological disease to date. We conclude that precautions should be taken with products of gestation, but the level of PrPSc is extremely low.

People with schizophrenia (SCZ) present serious and generalised deficits in social cognition (SC), which affect negatively patients’ functioning and treatment outcomes. The genetic background of SC has been investigated in disorders other than SCZ providing weak and sparse results. Thus, our aim was to explore possible genetic correlates of SC dysfunctions in SCZ patients with a genome-wide study (GWAS) approach.

We performed a GWAS meta-analysis of data coming from two cohorts made of 242 and 160 SCZ patients, respectively. SC was assessed with different tools in order to cover its different domains.

We found GWAS significant association between the

gene and the patients’ ability in social inference as assessed by The Awareness of Social Inference Test; this association was confirmed by both SNP-based analysis (lead SNP rs3019332

-value = 5.24 × 10

) and gene-based analysis (

-value = 1.09 × 10

). Moreover, suggestive associations of other genes with different dimensions of SC were also found.

Our study shows for the first time GWAS significant or suggestive associations of some gene variants with SC domains in people with SCZ. These findings should stimulate further studies to characterise the genetic underpinning of SC dysfunctions in SCZ.

Our study shows for the first time GWAS significant or suggestive associations of some gene variants with SC domains in people with SCZ. These findings should stimulate further studies to characterise the genetic underpinning of SC dysfunctions in SCZ.