Effect of fibrin packing on managing hepatic hemorrhage and liver wound healing in a model of liver stab wound in rat

To evaluate the effect of fibrin perihepatic packing on controlling liver hemorrhage and liver wound healing

Methods: In this animal experimental study, 20 adult male Sprague Dawley rats, weighing 200-220 g, were included. Stab wound injury was created by number 15 scalpel, so that bilateral liver capsules and liver tissue were cut, and acute bleeding was accrued. The animals were divided into 2 study groups: control [with a primary gauze packing treatment] and test group [with fibrin packing treatment]. Serum alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST], and total serum bilirubin [TSB] levels were measured as a liver function test during the treatment period. Blood loss was calculated for estimation of hepatic hemorrhage during surgery. After four weeks, the liver wound repair was evaluated by sampling and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining [Hand E]

Results: In the test group, all of animals were alive [mortality rate=0%]. Significantly, ALT and AST levels were raised after surgery, followed by a decrease ALT [p=0.783] and AST [p=0.947] to the normal level during 4 days. Estimated blood loss was 2.89 +/- 0.73 mL [about 19.65% of estimated blood volume]. Hematocrit levels returned to the normal level [p=0.109] after 48 hours. In the control group, the mortality rate was 50% during 12h after surgery. ALT [p=0.773] and AST [p=0.853] were decreased to normal level during 6 days, and estimated blood loss was 4.98+/-0.77 mL [about 32.98% of estimated blood volume] in the remaining animals. Moreover, hematocrit levels returned to the normal level [p=0.432] after 72 hours. Estimated blood loss in the test group was significantly less than control group [p<0.001]. Total serum bilirubin levels were not significantly different from the normal level, before and after surgery in both groups. Histopathology sections from the post-hepatectomy specimens showed that the site of the previous incision was completely repaired, and a dense fibrous septum was observed in both groups

Conclusion: The fibrin dressing was effective in preventing blood loss and saving lives after a liver stab injury and major internal bleeding in the animal model of rat

Iron-reducing bacteria and iron nanostructures

Iron Reducing Bacteria [IRB] are one of the most applicable microorganisms in various industrial and environmental activities. These bacteria play a main role in the natural iron transformation. They act in a reverse metabolic pathway in contrast to iron oxidizing bacteria. In the anaerobic conditions IRB are capable to use ferric ion as the final electron acceptor and reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+. What makes these bacteria interesting in bionanotechnology is that IRB are able to synthesize iron nanostructures. In this mini review we have a quick look on the diversity, metabolism, and cultivation of IRB. Finally, we discuss iron nano structures which biosynthesized by IRB

Evaluation of recombinant human growth hormone secretion in E. coli using the L-asparaginase II signal peptide

Background: In the recent years, there has been an increasing interest in secretory production of recombinant proteins, due to its various advantages compared with intracellular expression. Signal peptides play a critical role in prosperous secretion of recombinant proteins. Accordingly, different signal peptides have been assessed for their ability to produce secretory proteins by trial-and-error experiments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of L-asparaginase II signal peptide on the recombinant human Growth Hormone [hGH] protein secretion in the Escherichia coli [E. coli] host

Methods: Cloning and expression of a synthetic hGH gene, containing L-asparaginase II signal sequence was performed in E. coli BL21 [DE3] using 0.1mM IPTG as an inducer at 23[degree]C overnight. Periplasmic protein extraction was performed using three methods, including osmotic shock, osmotic shock in the presence of glycine and combined Lysozyme/ EDTA osmotic shock. Afterwards, the hGH expression was determined by SDSPAGE

Results: Based on experimentally obtained results, hGH protein is expressed as inclusion body even in the presence of L-asparaginase II signal peptide

Conclusion: Therefore, this signal peptide is not effective for secretory production of the recombinant hGH

Ancient and novel forms of silver in medicine and biomedicine

Silver has been known and used as a potent antimicrobial and wound healing agent since ancient time. Silver compounds have had other ancient applications through which Greeks, Romans and Egyptians had used silver compounds as food and water preservative. Silver and silver-based antimicrobials were put away after the discovery of antibiotics. Meanwhile, with almost a century application of antibiotics, resistant microbial strains appeared and antibiotics are going to become less and less effective. Fortunately, our traditional weapon against microorganisms reemerged in a novel form to reclaim again. Silver nanoparticles [AgNPs] are well-known as potent and novel antimicrobial agents. AgNPs would disturb microbial growth through inhibiting the absorption of phosphate, collapsing the proton motive force, forming complexes with DNA, enzyme inactivation, as well as inhibition of glucose oxidation. Its follows attacking the respiratory chain, changing the permeability and potential of the cell membrane, and inducing bacteria into a viable but non-culturable [VBNC] state and eventually killing them

Essential oil composition and bioinformatic analysis of Spanish broom [Spartium junceum L.]

The essential oil, isolated by hydrodistillation from fresh flowers of Spartium junceum L. collected from medicinal plant garden in Shiraz faculty of pharmacy, near Shiraz, Fars, Iran, was investigated by Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry [GC/MS] method. The GC/MS analysis of the oil revealed the presence of 30 constituents, of which Linalool [26.18%], Tetradecanoic acid [22.83%], Camphor [13.50%], and Dodecanoic acid [13.09%] were the major, constituting altogether almost 75.60% of total composition. This is the first report of linalool as a major compound in S. junceum oil composition. For studying of 18S rRNA gene, genomic DNA content was extracted and PCR procedure was done. Sequence similarity searches were done using NCBI database and CLC sequence viewer software. The result of PCR blasted with other sequenced genes in NCBI showed 98 % similarity to the 18S small subunit rRNA of Pisum sativum [Fabaceae] and Phaseoleae environmental samples of Elev and Amb clones. The phylogenetic relationships among 71 previously reported sequences of ribosomal encoding genes from plants and this novel sequence was investigated too

Production of a novel multi-epitope vaccine based on outer membrane proteins of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a hospital-acquired pathogen that leads to various infections. Hence, efforts to develop an effective vaccine against that pathogen are well documented. Our interest is the production of the previously designed multi-epitope vaccine construct against the K. pneumoniae in a prokaryotic host. Therefore, a new construct containing the nucleotide sequence of the novel vaccine was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and then purified by Ni-NTA spin column. The purified recombinant protein can be considered as potential vaccine candidate for wet-laboratory analysis aiming to fight K pneumoniae

Computational analysis of collagenase from different Vibrio, Clostridium and Bacillus strains to find new enzyme sources

Collagenase is one the important enzyme, which is applied in varied fields ranging from tannery, food and cosmetic industries to clinical therapies. Currently, the commercially available collagenase enzyme has been produced by Clostridium histolyticum bacteria. In our study, in order to find new sources of collagenase producer, 30 collagenases from different species of Clostridium, Vibrio and Bacillus were evaluated from the view of phylogenetic relation, domain architecture and physiochemical features. Totally our results indicate that the non-pathogenic C. novyi [NT] with the aliphatic index [80.68], instability index [27], pI [6.54], Mw [112.838 kDa] and two PPC domain could be suggested as a potent bacteria for industrial production of collagenase

Prevention and inhibition of TC-1 cell growth in tumor bearing mice by hpv16 e7 protein in fusion with shiga toxin B-subunit from Shigella dysenteriae

For immunotherapy of human papillomavirus [HPV] -16-associated cervical cancers the E7 protein is considered a prime candidate. However it is a poor inducer of cytotoxic T-cell response, when being used as a singular antigen in protein vaccination. Hence, in this study we focused on the utilization of a vaccine delivery system for prevention or treatment of cervical cancer. In this experimental study, we designed and evaluated a novel fusion protein comprising HPV16 E7 antigen fused to Shiga toxin B-subunit [STxB] as both an antigen vector and an adjuvant. Then we designed two preventive and therapeutic tumor models to investigate the prevention and inhibition of TC-1 cell growth in female C57BL/6 mice, respectively. In each model, mice were immunized with the recombinant protein of E7-STxB or E7 without any adjuvant. We demonstrated that prophylactic immunization of E7-STxB protected mice against TC-1 cells. Also in the therapeutic model, E7-STxB inhibited TC-1 tumor growth inlungs. The results were significant when compared with the immunization of E7 singularly. We concluded that immunization with the E7-STxB protein without any adjuvant could generate anti-tumor effect in mice challenged with TC-1 cells. This research verifies the clinical applications and the future prospects of developing HPV16 E7 therapeutic vaccines fused to immunoadjuvants

A simple multiplex PCR for assessing prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in Intensive Care Units of a referral hospital in Shiraz, Iran

OBJECTIVE@#To identify three common genes (blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M) responsible for ESBL production in Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae)isolated from Intensive Care Units of Namazi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran.@*METHODS@#A total of 60 non-repetitive nosocomial isolates from 60 patients were selected during 2009-2010. The phenotypic identification of ESBL production was confirmed by Double Disk Synergy Test (DDST) according to CLSI guidelines. The ESBL's genotype was then analyzed by multiplex PCR of blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M genes and DNA sequencing.@*RESULTS@#The primary susceptibility tests of K. pneumoniae showed that among 10 examined antibiotics, the most resistant and susceptible antibiotics identified in this study were ampicillin and imipenem, respectively. The phenotypic determination of ESBL by DDST showed that 60% (n=36) of isolates produced ESBL. Multiplex PCR of genes among K. pneumoniae isolates showed that 39% (n=18) of them have TEM, 39% (n=18) of them have both CTX-M and TEM and 13% (n=8) of them have TEM, SHV, CTX-M.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Our findings reveal the high prevalence (60%) of ESBL producing K. pneumoniae from ICU patients along with a new pattern of blaTEMdistribution differ from other countries.