Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of venous thromboembolism: The story so far.

Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is known to increase the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and less frequently cerebral vein thrombosis, but the absolute risk for a given patient is very low. After starting MHT, the risk of VTE seems to be at its highest, declining to the non-HRT user baseline level of risk after stopping. Whether estrogen-only or estrogen-progestin HRT combination is linked to a similar risk of VTE is unclear from the available evidence. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risks of developing VTE in relation to different types as well as different modes of administration of MHT through a database search including PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, and others in order to provide the women carers with the up-to-date and evidence-based guidelines and recommendations while counseling the post-menopausal women enquiring on use of hormonal therapies either to alleviate the menopausal symptoms or to prevent the long-term sequelae of estrogen deficiency.

On sait que l'hormonothérapie ménopausique (MHT) augmente le risque de thromboembolie veineuse (TEV), qui comprend la thrombose veineuse profonde, l'embolie pulmonaire et, moins fréquemment, la thrombose veineuse cérébrale, mais le risque absolu pour un patient donné est très faible. Après le début du MHT, le risque de TEV semble être à son plus haut niveau, diminuant jusqu'au niveau de risque de base des non-utilisatrices de THS après l'arrêt. Les preuves disponibles ne permettent pas de savoir si un THS à base d'œstrogène seul ou d'association œstroprogestative est lié à un risque similaire de TEV. Le but de cette étude est d'évaluer les risques de développer une TEV par rapport à différents types ainsi qu'à différents modes d'administration du MHT grâce à une recherche dans des bases de données comprenant PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library et autres afin de fournir aux femmes les soignants avec les lignes directrices et recommandations à jour et fondées sur des preuves tout en conseillant les femmes ménopausées qui se renseignent sur l'utilisation de thérapies hormonales, soit pour soulager les symptômes de la ménopause, soit pour prévenir les séquelles à long terme d'une carence en œstrogènes.

Green fabrication of ZnO nanoparticles via spirulina platensis and its efficiency against biofilm forming pathogens.

Excessive consumption of antibiotics is considered one of the top public health threats, this necessitates the development of new compounds that can hamper the spread of infections. A facile green technology for the biosynthesis of Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using the methanol extract of Spirulina platensis as a reducing and stabilizing agent has been developed. A bunch of spectroscopic and microscopic investigations confirmed the biogenic generation of nano-scaled ZnO with a mean size of 19.103 ± 5.66 nm. The prepared ZnO NPs were scrutinized for their antibacterial and antibiofilm potentiality, the inhibition zone diameters ranged from 12.57 ± 0.006 mm to 17.33 ± 0.006 mm (at 20 µg/mL) for a variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens, also significant eradication of the biofilms formed by Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae by 96.7% and 94.8% respectively was detected. The free radical scavenging test showed a promising antioxidant capacity of the biogenic ZnO NPs (IC50=78.35 µg/mL). Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory role detected using the HRBCs-MSM technique revealed an efficient stabilization of red blood cells in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, the biogenic ZnO NPs have significant anticoagulant and antitumor activities as well as minimal cytotoxicity against Vero cells. Thus, this study offered green ZnO NPs that can act as a secure substitute for synthetic antimicrobials and could be applied in numerous biomedical applications.

Generation of green electricity from sludge using photo-stimulated bacterial consortium as a sustainable technology.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bio-electrical energy generator that uses respiring microbes to transform organic matter present in sludge into electrical energy. The primary goal of this work was to introduce a new approach to the green electricity generation technology. In this context a total of 6 bacterial isolates were recovered from sludge samples collected from El-Sheikh Zayed water purification plant, Egypt, and screened for their electrogenic potential. The most promising isolates were identified according to 16S rRNA sequencing as Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae, promising results were achieved on using them in consortium at optimized values of pH (7.5), temperature (30°C) and substrate (glucose/pyruvate 1%). Low level red laser (λ = 632.8nm, 8mW) was utilized to promote the electrogenic efficiency of the bacterial consortium, maximum growth was attained at 210 sec exposure interval. In an application of adding standard inoculum (107 cfu/mL) of the photo-stimulated bacterial consortium to sludge based MFC a significant increase in the output potential difference values were recorded, the electricity generation was maintained by regular supply of external substrate. These results demonstrate the future development of the dual role of MFCs in renewable energy production and sludge recycling.

Molecular modeling study of micro and nanocurcumin with in vitro and in vivo antibacterial validation.

Repurposing natural compounds as inhibitory targets to combat bacterial virulence is an important potential strategy to overcome resistance to traditional antibiotics, in the present study, the antibacterial activity of micro-curcumin and nano-sized curcumin was investigated against four predominant bacterial pathogens, namely, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis. Curcumin bactericidal susceptibility could be summarized as the order, P. aeruginosa > B. subtilis > S. aureus > E. coli. Molecular docking analysis was conducted to confirm the impact of curcumin on the most vital and positively identified quorum-sensing pathway signaling proteins SecA-SecY, LsrR, PqsR (MvfR), AgrA which act as key players in the bacterial communication systems. The in silico physicochemical properties revealed that curcumin as a nutraceutical can be classified as a drug-like compound. An in vivo infected wound model was employed in four groups of albino rats. Topical application of nano-curcumin lotion showed a marked reduction in wound area (98.8%) as well as nearly 100% reduction in total bacterial viable count compared to the control group, on the fifteenth day post-treatment post-injury. The obtained data suggested that curcumin nanoparticles exhibited superior antibacterial activity and may possess clinical utility as a novel topical antimicrobial and wound healing agent.

Short-Term Biodegradation of Crude Petroleum Oil in Water by Photostimulated Janibacter terrae Strain S1N1.

Biodegradation is a sustainable green strategy that gives the opportunity for remediation of water contaminated with petroleum products. In this study, 12 bacterial isolates were recovered from River Nile, Egypt and screened for their potential to degrade a mixture of paraffinic petroleum crude oil. The most promising isolate was identified according to 16S rRNA sequencing as Janibacter terrae strain S1N1 (GenBank accession No. KX570955.1). In order to boost the biodegradation efficiency, the bacterial suspension was photostimulated by exposure to different irradiation doses using a low-power helium-neon (He-Ne) laser (λ = 632.8 nm). Maximum biodegradation was achieved after 4 min of exposure (134.07 J cm-2) at optimized pH value (6) and temperature (35 °C). The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed the biodegradation of 96.5% of the substrate after only 48 h of incubation. The n-C17/Pr and n-C18/Ph ratios indicated a preferential biodegradation of iso-paraffines over normal ones. Meanwhile, pristane/phytane (Pr/Ph) ratios were indicative of selective biodegradation for pristane. The carbon preference index (CPI) was nearly around unity indicating the ability of Janibacter terrae to attack the odd and even n-alkanes simultaneously. These results support the superiority of irradiated bacteria in optimizing the biodegradation efficiency and shortening the time of treatment, thus proposing an eco-friendly technique in water bioremediation programs.

Synthesis of a new class of antimicrobial agents incorporating the indolin-2-one moiety.

New furanone derivatives incorporating the indolin-2-one moiety 3 were prepared via the Perkin reaction of isatins 1 with aroylpropionic acids 2 under conventional conditions or microwave irradiation. A series of functionally heterocyclic derivatives (e.g., pyridazines, pyrroles, and sulfonamides) incorporating the indolin-2-one moiety was achieved via reaction of 3 with different reagents under microwave irradiation conditions. The newly synthesized compounds were characterized on the basis of FTIR, (1)H, (13)C NMR and mass spectral studies. Some of the new synthesized compounds were screened for antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus), Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Shigilla flexneri) and antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans. Compound 8 j was equipotent to chloramphenicol in inhibiting the growth of E. coli minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC 2.5 µg/mL). Compound 8j may possibly be used as a lead compound for developing a new antibacterial agents. The antibacterial activity is expressed as the corresponding MIC (µg/mL) values.

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro antimicrobial evaluation of new compounds incorporating oxindole nucleus.

New compounds incorporating with the oxindole nucleus were synthesized via the reaction of substituted isatins [5-methyl-, 5-chloro- and 1-hydroxymethyl isatins] with different nucleophiles. The structures of the newly compounds were elucidated on the basis of FTIR, (1)H NMR, (13)CMR spectral data, GC/MS and chemical analysis. Investigation of antimicrobial activity of the new compounds was evaluated using broth dilution technique in terms of minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) count against four pathogenic bacteria and two pathogenic fungi. Most of the new compounds are significantly active against bacteria and fungi. MIC showed that compound (4a) possesses higher effect on Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus than the selected antibacterial agent sulphamethoxazole, whereas compound (11c) possesses more activity against Gram-negative bacteria Shigella dysenterie.