Quorum Quenching Agents: Resources for Antivirulence Therapy

The continuing emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens is a concern to human health and highlights the urgent need for the development of alternative therapeutic strategies. Quorum sensing (QS) regulates virulence in many bacterial pathogens, and thus, is a promising target for antivirulence therapy which may inhibit virulence instead of cell growth and division. This means that there is little selective pressure for the evolution of resistance. Many natural quorum quenching (QQ) agents have been identified. Moreover, it has been shown that many microorganisms are capable of producing small molecular QS inhibitors and/or macromolecular QQ enzymes, which could be regarded as a strategy for bacteria to gain benefits in competitive environments. More than 30 species of marine QQ bacteria have been identified thus far, but only a few of them have been intensively studied. Recent studies indicate that an enormous number of QQ microorganisms are undiscovered in the highly diverse marine environments, and these marine microorganism-derived QQ agents may be valuable resources for antivirulence therapy.     

Synthesis of Glycyrrhetinic Acid-Modified Chitosan 5-Fluorouracil Nanoparticles and Its Inhibition of Liver Cancer Characteristics in Vitro and in Vivo

Nanoparticle drug delivery (NDDS) is a novel system in which the drugs are delivered to the site of action by small particles in the nanometer range. Natural or synthetic polymers are used as vectors in NDDS, as they provide targeted, sustained release and biodegradability. Here, we used the chitosan and hepatoma cell-specific binding molecule, glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), to synthesize glycyrrhetinic acid-modified chitosan (GA-CTS). The synthetic product was confirmed by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR). By combining GA-CTS and 5-FU (5-fluorouracil), we obtained a GA-CTS/5-FU nanoparticle, with a particle size of 217.2 nm, a drug loading of 1.56% and a polydispersity index of 0.003. The GA-CTS/5-FU nanoparticle provided a sustained release system comprising three distinct phases of quick, steady and slow release. We demonstrated that the nanoparticle accumulated in the liver. In vitro data indicated that it had a dose- and time-dependent anti-cancer effect. The effective drug exposure time against hepatic cancer cells was increased in comparison with that observed with 5-FU. Additionally, GA-CTS/5-FU significantly inhibited the growth of drug-resistant hepatoma, which may compensate for the drug-resistance of 5-FU. In vivo studies on an orthotropic liver cancer mouse model demonstrated that GA-CTS/5-FU significantly inhibited tumor growth, resulting in increased survival time.     

空气负(氧)离子研究的知识图谱

归纳空气负(氧)离子研究进展和前沿热点,旨在为未来研究提供参考.基于Web of Science核心数据库以air negative oxygen ion为检索对象,获取2002-2019年收录的空气负(氧)离子文献,并通过知识图谱展现18年间其发展历程.结果 表明,2002-2019年Web of Science...     

序贯疗法治疗圈养黑猩猩支原体肺炎一例

肺炎支原体对于灵长类幼年黑猩猩的感染,与人类幼儿的临床表现和发病规律相似。该病例幼年黑猩猩早期症状偶见咳嗽,听诊肺部有湿性罗音,体温38.3℃。初步诊断为肺炎,用抗病毒药和抗生素头孢克洛治疗无效。随着病程发展,体温进一步升高到39℃以上,几乎无食欲。拍X光片和采血做支原体抗体检测,结果显示支原体感染强阳性。最终使用阿奇霉素采取＂停4喂3＂的序贯疗法治疗,即阿奇霉素输液3d——口服5d——停药4d——口服3d——停药4d——口服3d,其他则对症治疗。动物在治疗第7天时除偶见咳嗽,症状基本消除;治疗20d后,动物恢复健康。需要注意的是,治疗过程中一定要按照序贯疗法坚持用药治疗,防止疾病复发和减小用药的副作用。     

Conservative Management of a Cervical Vertebral Fracture in a Gelding

The presentation, diagnostic evaluation, treatment, and 5 years follow-up of a 12-year-old Arabian-Saddlebred cross gelding with neck pain and stiffness, attributable to a fracture of the third cervical vertebrae (C3), is described. Initial cervical spinal radiographs revealed a concave defect in the ventral aspect of the cranial end plate of C3. However, both this finding and ultrasonographic imaging of the area were inconclusive for a fracture. Nuclear scintigraphy revealed that the lesion was metabolically active, prompting computed tomographic imaging that revealed a fracture of C3. Sequential radiographs documented progressive fusion of C2-C3 and no neurological deficits developed over the 5 years after the injury. Cervical vertebral injuries in horses can lead to various clinical signs including ataxia, weakness, and neck stiffness or pain. Diagnosis with cervical radiographs alone can be challenging and, in some cases as the horse in this report, multiple imaging modalities may be required to establish a definitive diagnosis. Horses without neurological signs may recover successfully with conservative medical management, which was performed in this case.     

Phage Therapy and Photodynamic Therapy: Low Environmental Impact Approaches to Inactivate Microorganisms in Fish Farming Plants

Owing to the increasing importance of aquaculture to compensate for the progressive worldwide reduction of natural fish and to the fact that several fish farming plants often suffer from heavy financial losses due to the development of infections caused by microbial pathogens, including multidrug resistant bacteria, more environmentally-friendly strategies to control fish infections are urgently needed to make the aquaculture industry more sustainable. The aim of this review is to briefly present the typical fish farming diseases and their threats and discuss the present state of chemotherapy to inactivate microorganisms in fish farming plants as well as to examine the new environmentally friendly approaches to control fish infection namely phage therapy and photodynamic antimicrobial therapy.