Versatile Use of Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) Vaccine

Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) earlier known as Mw is a soil-borne, non-pathogenic, saprophytic and rapidly growing strain of mycobacteria. MIP is approved as a vaccine/ immunomodulator for various indications including mycobacterium infections like leprosy in humans. Its administration has resulted in satisfactory clinical improvement, accelerated bacillary clearance, and increased immune responses to Mycobacterium leprae antigens, thereby shortening the full recovery time of the patients. It also shares its antigens with M.tuberculosis. In the last decade, RCTs have been done establishing immunotherapeutic properties of MIP in the treatment of leprosy, tuberculosis, warts and experimently in leishmaniasis. Through its immune inducing and cytotoxic property, it has also proved beneficial for human use especially in treating lung cancer. The beneficial role of it is also being explored in breast, cervical, oral, liver, and bladder cancers. Various studies on MIP have shown that it has immune-modulating properties in humans. The curiosity of the human mind has led to it being tried in Covid treatment trials. The results have shown that administering MIP has lowered inflammatory markers in Covid 19 patients, promising us for it to be a potential treatment option. More RCTs with a larger sample size should be done to establish this. Cytokine storm seen in bacterial sepsis is also decreased with MIP administration. Considering the encouraging results in hastening recovery in various diseases it appears that MIP is perhaps not being exploited to its fullest potential

Green synthesis and characterization of Manganese nanoparticles using natural plant extracts and its evaluation of antimicrobial activity.

Green synthesis of metal nanoparticles is an interesting and expanding research area due to the potential applications for the ecofriendly development of novel technologies. Generally, nanoparticles are prepared by a variety of chemical and physical methods which are yield environmentally benign wastages largely. Present study reported a simple, convenient and low cost method for the synthesis of manganese nanoparticles by reducing manganese acetate with the help of easily available natural products viz., lemon extract as reducing agent and turmeric curcumin as a stabilizing agent. The curcumin was isolated from turmeric by using solvent extraction method and used for manganese nanoparticle stabilization. The characterization of curcumin and manganese nanoparticles was done by using UV- Vis and FT-IR spectroscopic techniques. The morphology of manganese nanoparticles was confirmed by SEM and TEM techniques. The size of MnNPs was in the ranges about 50nm. The antimicrobial activities of synthesized Mn nanoparticles were observed higher antimicrobial activity than the standard drug against S. aureus, C. lunata and T. simii and also exhibited similar inhibition activity to standard drug against E. coli, C. albicans, and A. niger.

Development of polyvinyl chloride biofilms for succession of selected marine bacterial populations.

Present investigation was made to bring out the pattern of biofilm formation by heterotrophic bacteria on nontoxic material, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheet fitted wooden rack that was immersed in seawater and the study was conducted in Tuticorin coast. Samplings were made over a period of 7 days with the following time period intervals: 30 min, 1, 2, 4, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 and 144 hr. Bacterial enumeration was made by spread plate method on nutrient agar medium and characterization of bacterial isolates up to generic level was done. Gram-negative bacteria like Pseudomonas sp., Enterobacter sp., Aeromonas sp., Cytophaga sp. and Flavobacterium sp. were found to be the pioneer in colonizing the surface within 30 min and seven genera were represented in the biofilm. Among them two genera were found belonging to Gram-positive groups which included Micrococcus and Bacillus sp. The early stage biofilm i.e. up to 24th hr was wholly constituted by Gram-negative groups. However, the population density of Pseudomonas sp. was found to be higher (315 CFU) when compared to other Gram-negative forms. Occurrence of Gram-positive group was noted only at 48th hr old biofilm (28 to 150 CFU). The period between 48 and 96th hr was the transition where both the Gramnegative and Gram-positive groups co- existed. After 96th hr, the biofilm was found constituted only by Grampositive groups. The isolates of early stage biofilm were found to produce allelopathic substance like bacteriocin.

Comparison of polyethylene glycol versus combination of magnesium sulphate and bisacodyl for colon preparation.

Colon preparation using polyethylene glycol (PEGLEC) and combination of bisacodyl and magnesium sulphate was compared in 74 patients. Type of preparation did not influence patient discomfort. The quality of preparation was excellent with PEGLEC in 63.6% as compared to 41.6% with combination preparation. The completion rates were similar in both groups. Good preparation was linked with shorter procedure duration (p = 0.001) and greater depth of examination. No major side effects were noted with both preparations. To conclude, polyethylene glycol is recommended for screening of right colon while combination of bisacodyl and magnesium sulphate is a good and cheap preparation modality to screen the left colon.

Role of pinaverium bromide in south Indian patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

The effect of pinaverium bromide in controlling gastrointestinal symptoms in 61 patients with irritable bowel syndrome was studied, as an open trial. Individually, there was significant relief in abdominal discomfort/pain as well as in bowel symptoms in most of the patients. Abdominal pain was reduced in 49%, stool consistency improved in 74%, straining and urgency decreased in 71% and mucus decreased in 64%. Tolerance to the drug administered was good and side-effects reported were few.