International journal of basic science in medicine
Volume:5 Issue: 3, Sep 2020

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria living in the microbiota ecosystem of the human body playing particular important roles in human health. The increasing rate of various diseases and the studies about the balance of gut microbiome made scientists trying to find novel therapies in this regard and hypothesize the relationships between the imbalance of gut microbiome and spread of various diseases especially in the immune system. Previous studies have indicated that when administrated in specific amounts, probiotics exert beneficial properties for human health such as antibacterial effects, cytotoxic effects, Hypocholesterolemic effects, immunomodulatory effects, wound healing effects etc. Probiotics also are known to produce nourishing healthy supplements for the human body such as vitamin K and B as well as healthy fatty acids. In this regard summarization of scientific evidence may help to familiarize the scientists with this novel area of research helping to find effective therapies for various disease. In this study, we used published literature in scientific databases such as Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, as well as Google Scholar for data collection. So, the present review describes scientific-based evidence about probiotics and some of their beneficial effects to highlight the path for further researches about these beneficial bacteria.

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global public health calamity since its outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and there is a lack of diagnostic biochemical data related to the disease. This study aimed to investigate routine biochemical parameters in COVID-19 positive Indian patients and check their predictive value for the detection of this novel disease.

This observational study was conducted retrospectively with the participation of 166 patients referred to King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, Mumbai, India during May 2020. The baseline characteristics (age and gender) and biochemical data of individuals with COVID-19-related symptoms but negative for COVID-19 were collected and classified into two groups of real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and COVID-19 positive. The value of organ function tests (blood urea nitrogen [BUN], creatinine, and levels of serum electrolytes, alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase (AST), bilirubin total, bilirubin direct, total protein, and albumin) were noted and analyzed. The groups were compared using unpaired t test, and predictive value of these parameters for COVID-19 was evaluated by calculating the area under the ROC curve (AUC).

There was a significant rise in the serum AST ALT, bilirubin direct, BUN, and creatinine levels of COVID-19 subjects compared to non-COVID-19 ones (P<0.001). AST (AUC=0.826, CI: 0.76 to 0.89, P<0.001), ALT (AUC=0.8525, 95% CI: 0.79 to 0.90, P<0.001), and BUN (AUC=0.8097, 95% CI: 0.74 to 0.87, P<0.001) showed very good accuracy and serum creatinine (AUC=0.7971, 95% CI: 0.73 to 0.86, P<0.001) showed good accuracy in predicting COVID- 19 positivity.

Serum levels of ALT, AST, BUN, and creatinine can be the reliable predictors of COVID-19 test and identify infected patients.

Genetic mutations have a significant role in causing cancers, and plants are effective on cancer recovery by producing metabolites. In this regard, the present study aimed to evaluate the Lantana camera anti-mutation effects applying Salmonella typhimurium in the Ames test.

To this end, the plant was prepared from the Iran National Botanical Garden in 2018 (Tehran, Iran), and the methanolic extracts of its leaves and flowers were obtained by the percolation method. Then, anti-mutagenic activities were studied by the Ames method and the assessment of the rate of reverse mutations in mutant Salmonella typhimurium. Mutant strains cannot grow on minimal mineral media thus only those bacteria that have acquired a wild genotype after reverse mutation in the presence of the mutagen are able to grow on this medium. The plant extract, along with a mutagen substance was used to evaluate its anti-mutagenic effects by counting grown colonies and calculating the mean mutation inhibitory index according to the “Ong” formula. Finally, anti-mutagenic activities were retested by adding the sterile extract of the mouse liver (S9 ), and the data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software, version 22.

In general, the results showed that the mean number of grown colonies decreased significantly despite the plant material in comparison with the standard. According to the “Ong” formula, the percentage of inhibition was [1-T/M]×100. Based on the results, T grew a number of colonies on each petri dish despite the mutagen and extract, and M grew a number of colonies in positive control plates. Eventually, mutation inhibition percentages in leaf extracts were significantly higher than those of flower extracts, which were 75.59 ± 0.73 (+S9 ) and 84.79 ± 0.17 (-S9 ), as well as 49.57 ± 0.55 (+S9 ) and 62.32 ± 0.23 (-S9 ), respectively (P<0.05).

In general, the leaves and flowers of L. camara demonstrated anti-mutagenic activities with higher activities in the leaves compared to flowers.

Coronary artery diseases (CAD) are still among the top causes of death in most populations. The polymorphisms of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene can influence the risk of CAD through modulating cholesterol metabolism. In this regard, the current study aimed to determine the role of the 2 important CETP gene polymorphisms in CAD patients.

To this end, DNA was extracted from the whole blood of 100 CAD patients and 100 healthy controls and then subjected to polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism for the genotyping of rs5882 and rs708272 polymorphisms.

Based on the results, no meaningful association was found between rs5882 and rs708272 polymorphisms, neither separately nor in combination, and the risk of CAD. However, the risk of CAD significantly increased in male rs5882 polymorphism carriers (P=0.01). Finally, no significant association was demonstrated between serum high-density lipoprotein levels and the genotypes or alleles of neither rs5882 nor rs708272 polymorphism.

Despite the finding regarding the lack of an association between CAD and the studied polymorphisms of the CETP gene, the importance of those variants in CETP protein function and CAD pathogenesis warrants further investigation on larger populations

Recently, the biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) using medicinal plants has attracted the attention of researchers due to their low cost and environmental compatibility. The aim of this study was to determine the anti-biofilm effects of zinc oxide (ZnO)-NPs synthesized using the Artemisia plant extract on the clinical samples of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

In this experimental study, the alcoholic extract of Artemisia was prepared using the Soxhlet extraction method to synthesize ZnO-NPs. Then, the physical and chemical structures of the NPs were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and ultraviolet/visible (UV-Vis) techniques. In addition, the gene expression of ndvB was analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction method. Finally, anti-biofilm and antimicrobial effects were evaluated using the minimum inhibitory concentration test and microtiter plate assay.

The antimicrobial results showed that ZnO-NPs had a spherical structure approved by the UV-Vis test. Further, ZnO-NPs had inhibitory effects on biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa strains. The results demonstrated that ZnO-NPs were effective on the isolations at the lowest and highest viscosities of 3.125 and 100 mg/mL, respectively.

The biosynthesis of ZnO-NPs using the Artemisia plant extract is low cost and easy. Moreover, these NPs can be used as a drug with antimicrobial and anti-biofilm effects.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) comprises nearly 5% of all cases of thyroid cancer (TC). Aberrant activation of RET (rearranged during transfection) signaling via somatic mutations is the basic molecular mechanism of MTC tumorigenicity. In this study, we determined the incidence of RET gene mutations in exons 10, 11, and 16 in Iranian patients.

A total of 33 patients undergoing thyroidectomy at Imam Khomeini hospital of Tehran, Iran and diagnosed with MTC were enrolled. For investigating mutations in exons 10, 11, and 16, DNA was extracted from tumor tissues, and the genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then sequenced.

Out of 33 patients, 20 (60.6%) subjects had mutations in one of the examined exons (10, 11, and 16). According to our results, the “ATG918ACG” mutation in codon 918 had the highest rate.

Testing RET mutations can be beneficial in clinical evaluation and treatment management of MTC patients.

It is still unclear whether platelet count can predict the outcomes of acute myocardial infarction. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the initial platelet count on the degree of ST-segment depression and coronary flow rate among patients with MI who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

In this study, a total of 218 patients suffering from MI, who underwent primary PCI during 2016-2017 (Seyed-Shohada hospital, Urmia, Iran) were selected by consensus method. Demographic information and past medical history such as diabetes mellitus (DM), cigarette smoking, using Integrilin, and door-to-balloon (DTB) time were recorded. All patients were investigated in terms of cell blood count. Serial electrocardiogram (ECG) was also performed and the degree of ST-segment elevation was measured.

The mean (SD) age of participants was 58.67 (11.44) years. The initial platelet count was similar between patients with and without improvement in the ST-segment (P=0.275). There was no significant difference regarding thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) between patients with and without improved ST-segment (P=0.380).

According to our results, the initial platelet count in patients who underwent angioplasty was not associated with coronary flow and echocardiographic responses to treatment