ABSTRACT
Abstract Exopolysaccharide (EPS) biopolymers produced by microorganisms play a crucial role in the environment such as health and bio-nanotechnology sectors, gelling agents in food and cosmetic industries in addition to bio-flocculants in the environmental sector as they are degradable, nontoxic. This study focuses on the improvement of EPS production through manipulation of different culture and environmental conditions using response surface methodology (RSM). Plackett-Burman design indicated that; molasses, yeast extract and incubation temperature are the most effective parameters. Box-Behnken RSM indicated that; the optimum concentration for each parameter was 12% (w/v) for molasses, 6 g/L yeast extract and 30 °C for incubation temperature. The most potent bacterial isolate was identified as Bacillus velezensis KY498625. After production, EPS was extracted, purified using DEAE-cellulose, identified using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The result indicated that; it has molecular weight 1.14 × 105 D consisting of glucose, mannose and galactose.
Subject(s)
Polysaccharides, Bacterial/metabolism , Bacillus/metabolism , Polysaccharides, Bacterial/isolation & purification , Polysaccharides, Bacterial/chemistry , Bacillus/chemistry , Industrial Microbiology , Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared , Culture Media/metabolism , Culture Media/chemistry , Molecular WeightABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To check for the association of genetic polymorphisms of IL-6-(-174)G/C and IL-1RaVNTR with the susceptibility and severity of asthma in Egyptian children. METHODS: Subjects included 69 asthmatic children and 98 healthy unrelated controls from the Nile Delta of Egypt. Cases consisted of 20 males and 49 females with an age mean +/- SD is 7.5 +/- 2.1 ranging between 2-13 years. DNA amplification using PCR with sequence-specific primers was done for detection of promotor single nucleotide polymorphism of IL-6 gene as well as intron 2 VNTR of IL-1Ra gene. Frequency of case-genotypes or alleles were compared to controls using Fisher exact test and Odds ratio. RESULTS: Cases showed significant higher frequency of the genotypes: IL-6-174 GG (P<0.05, OR=3.2, 95% CI=1.09-10) that was evident mainly in the uncontrolled asthma subgroup indicative of the possibility of being a severity genotype. All cases as well as case-subgroups showed high significant frequency of IL-1Ra A1A1 (p<0.0001, OR=1.5, 95% CI=1.3-1.8). This may be considered a susceptibility genotype. Cases have also shown significant lower frequency of IL-6(-174) GC and IL-1Ra A1A2 genotypes (P<0.001 and P<0.0001 respectively). CONCLUSION: IL-6 and IL-1Ra polymorphisms can be considered genetic markers for bronchial asthma susceptibility and/or severity among Egyptian children. This may have a potential impact on family counseling and management.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Alleles , Asthma/epidemiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Egypt/epidemiology , Female , Gene Frequency , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Genotype , Humans , Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein/genetics , Interleukin-6/genetics , Male , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Polymorphism, GeneticABSTRACT
To describe the pattern and determinants of health services utilization in case of childhood diarrhea. A cohort of 257 infants, aged 0-9 months was selected from a semi-urban area in Assiut, Egypt, followed up for 12 months from October 1999 to October 2000. Diarrhoeal morbidity data was collected biweekly. Initially a baseline household survey was conducted to collect baseline data on the sociodemographic background of the family and the household environment. When diarrhoea was reported in a child, the mother was asked a standard series of questions on her child's stool frequency, consistency associated symptoms, perception of severity of the attack, her behavior toward her child ot home, the use of health care services, type of provider used and perception of quality of care. Utilization of health services was categorized into outpatient visits; emergency care visits, and hospital admissions. In 53.1% of diarrhoeal episodes mothers sought a health care provider outside the house; mainly from outpatient clinics [87.5%]. Emergency services were used in 7.1% of the episodes and hospital admission occurred in 5.4%. Multivariate analysis revealed that mothers' perception of severity of their children's diarrhoeal episodes held the major determinant for utilization of health services [OR=13.09, P=0.000]. Other determinants of using health services during diarrhoea included factors related to episode characteristics as presence of vomiting [OR=3.1. P=0.000] or fever [OR=2.63, P=0.000] and using of self-prescribing drugs [OR=0.224, P=0.000] for treatment of the episode at home. Mothers also sought medical care for younger infants than older ones [OR=2.42, P=0.001]. No association between utilization of health services and socioeconomic factors was found. Health services utilization in case of childhood diarrhoea interact with multiple factors, but mothers' perception of their children's health status during diarrhoea held the major influence on the utilization of health services. Furthermore, public health services were the most frequent type of services utilized for treatment of diarrhoea