6 research outputs found
Electron Beam As A Next Generation Vaccine Platform: Microbiological And Immunological Characterization Of An Electron Beam Based Vaccine Against Salmonella Typhimurium
Get PDFVaccines against infectious diseases are a corner stone of public health globally.
Vaccine technology based on attenuation, conventionally ���killed��� or cellular sub-units
suffer from significant drawbacks. Live attenuated vaccines impart strong cellular and
humoral immune response compared to inactivated or subunit vaccines, but there is an
increased risk of infection from the potential virulence reversion in such formulations.
The current study explores the use of eBeam irradiation as a novel tool for vaccine
generation. The value of eBeam based vaccines is that, they combine the safety of
���killed��� vaccines, yet retain the immunogenicity of ���attenuated��� vaccines. The principle
of eBeam vaccine is eBeam irradiation will only irreversibly damage the target
microorganism���s nucleic acid without modifying the antigenic properties of surface
macromolecules. In this study microbiological characterization of eBeam based S.
Typhimurium (EBST) vaccine was carried out. The immunological correlates of
protection induced by the EBST in dendritic cell (DC) (in vitro) and mice (in vivo)
model were also assessed.
Results showed that eBeam inactivation preserved the potent proinflammatory
and immunogenic properties of S. Typhimurium. The EBST remained metabolically
active yet unable to multiply under favorable in vitro and in vivo conditions. The EBST
potently stimulated innate pro inflammatory response (TNF��) and maturation (MHC-II,
CD40, CD80 and CD86) of DC. Immunostimulatory potential of EBST was on par with
live Salmonella, and most importantly on par with a commercial Salmonella vaccine. Results from the mice challenge studies demonstrated the involvement of CD4+T cells as
key player in cell mediated immune response of EBST immunized mice, triggering the
production of Th1 cytokine IFN��. This indicates the stimulation and development of
robust Salmonella specific T cell response similar to that caused by the live attenuated
vaccine (AroA- ST) formulation. The colonization of virulent Salmonella was also
reduced in EBST immunized mice similar to AroA immuninized mice. The EBST
retained stable immunogenic properties for several months at room temperature, 4��C, -
20��C and also after lyophilization. These findings highlight the potential of eBeam
technology as an effective and affordable next generation vaccine platform to address
global public health issues
Pre and post test clinical study to assess the combined effect of Brahmi Gritha-Nasya, Ksheerabala Taila-Abhyanga and Saraswatha-Churna in reducing the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder on Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale
No full text63-67Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the most frequently occurring anxiety disorder. It is characterized by tension, persistent worry about a variety of everyday problems and other anxiety symptoms for at least 6 months. Although there have been significant improvements over the years in its treatment, GAD remains the least successfully treated among anxiety disorders. This paper aims to explore the efficacy of Ayurvedic treatment protocol in providing a remedy for GAD. A clinical trial was conducted with 20 patients in the proposed age group of 20 years to 60 years, diagnosed with GAD according to ICD 10 F 41.1 Criteria, and having a score between 17-24 (mild to moderate) on Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. The patients were administered 7 days of Sarvanga-Abhyanga (full body massage) with Ksheerabalataila and Brahmigritha-Nasya, followed by internal intake of Saraswatha-Churna for 21 days. The assessment was done using Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale at baseline and after treatment. Patients’ age ranged from 27 to 60 years. Maximum incidence of the disease was seen in the age-wise classification group 20-29 years. There were 8 male subjects and 12 female subjects. After 28 days of treatment, the mean scores of Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, which was 21 before treatment, reduced to 9.8 with a mean difference of 11.2 and a statistically significant p-value of 0.01. Thus the present protocol was effective in reducing the symptoms of GAD within a short time-span and without producing any side effects
Summary for urban policymakers: What the IPCC Special Report on global warming of 1.5°C means for cities
No full textLinda Steg (Netherlands/EU) SR1.5 Lead Author – Chapter 4 The Summary for Urban Policymakers synthesises the key scientific findings and policy observations from the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR1.5) for officials and policymakers of the world’s cities and urban areas. It details the significance of exceeding a 1.5°C global warming limit, including in urban settings, whilst outlining the four systems transitions – energy, land use and ecosystems, urban and infrastructure, and industry – needed to develop 1.5°C-consistent pathways. It focuses in particular on the urban systems transition, including the necessary enabling conditions, as well as the political, economic and social feasibility of the necessary adaptation and mitigation actions. The document clarifies knowledge gaps and research priorities for urban climate change mitigation and adaptation. Cities and urban areas need to be at the forefront of developing 1.5°C-consistent pathways as shown in this report
Author Correction:Life-cycle-coupled evolution of mitosis in close relatives of animals
Get PDFCorrection to: Naturehttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07430-z Published online 22 May 2024 In the version of this article initially published, the Data availability section did not list the data deposit at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/bioimages/studies/S-BIAD1306, which is now included in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.</p
Pre and post test clinical study to assess the combined effect of Brahmigritha-Nasya, Ksheerabalataila-Abhyanga and Saraswatha-Churna in reducing the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder on Hamilton anxiety rating scale
Get PDFGeneralized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the most frequently occurring anxiety disorder. It is characterized by tension, persistent worry about a variety of everyday problems and other anxiety symptoms for at least 6 months. Although there have been significant improvements over the years in its treatment, GAD remains the least successfully treated among anxiety disorders. This paper aims to explore the efficacy of Ayurvedic treatment protocol in providing a remedy for GAD. A clinical trial was conducted with 20 patients in the proposed age group of 20 years to 60 years, diagnosed with GAD according to ICD 10 F 41.1 Criteria, and having a score between 17-24 (mild to moderate) on Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. The patients were administered 7 days of Sarvanga-Abhyanga (full body massage) with Ksheerabalataila and Brahmigritha-Nasya, followed by internal intake of Saraswatha-Churna for 21 days. The assessment was done using Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale at baseline and after treatment. Patients ranged in the age from 27 to 60 years. Maximum incidence of the disease was seen in the age-wise classification group 20-29 years. There were 8 male subjects and 12 female subjects. After 28 days of treatment, the mean scores of Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, which was 21 before treatment, reduced to 9.8 with a mean difference of 11.2 and a statistically significant p-value of 0.01. Thus the present protocol was effective in reducing the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder within a short time-span and without producing any side effects.
Cannabidiol reverses attentional bias to cigarette cues in a human experimental model of tobacco withdrawal
Get PDFThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating cannabinoid, may be a promising novel smoking cessation treatment due to its anxiolytic properties, minimal side-effects and research showing it may modify drug cue salience. We used an experimental medicine approach with dependent cigarette smokers to investigate if (1) overnight nicotine abstinence, compared with satiety, will produce greater attentional bias (AB), higher pleasantness ratings of cigarette-related stimuli and increased craving and withdrawal; (2) CBD in comparison to placebo, would attenuate AB, pleasantness of cigarette-related stimuli, craving and withdrawal and not produce any side-effects. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind crossover study with a fixed satiated session followed by two overnight abstinent sessions. SETTING: UK laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty non-treatment seeking, dependent cigarette smokers recruited from the community. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: 800mg oral CBD or matched placebo (PBO) in a counterbalanced order MEASUREMENTS: AB to pictorial tobacco cues was recorded using a visual probe task and an explicit rating task. Withdrawal, craving, side-effects, heart rate and blood pressure were assessed repeatedly. FINDINGS: When participants received placebo, tobacco abstinence increased AB (p=.001, d =.789) compared with satiety. However, CBD reversed this effect, such that automatic AB was directed away from cigarette cues (p=.007, d= .704) and no longer differed from satiety (p=.82). Compared with placebo, CBD also reduced explicit pleasantness of cigarette images (p=.011; d=.514). Craving (Bayes Factor: 7.07) and withdrawal (Bayes Factor: 6.48) were unaffected by CBD, but greater in abstinence compared with satiety. Systolic blood pressure decreased under CBD during abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: A single 800mg oral dose of cannabidiol (CBD) reduced the salience and pleasantness of cigarette cues, compared with placebo, after overnight cigarette abstinence in dependent smokers. CBD did not influence tobacco craving or withdrawal or any subjectively rated side-effects.This research was funded by a PhD Studentship from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to CH and an MRC DPFS award (MR/K015524/1) to HVCand CJAM. TPF is funded by a Senior Academic Fellowship from the Society for the Study of Addiction
