1,720,969 research outputs found
Scorpion venoms and associated toxins as anticancer agents: update on their application and mechanism of action
No full textCancer remains one of the deadliest non-infectious diseases of the 21st century,
causing millions of mortalities per year worldwide. Analyses of conventional treatments,
such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, have shown not only a lower therapeutic
efficiency rate but also plethora of side-effects. Considering the desperate
need to identify promising anticancer agents, researchers are in quest to design and
develop new tumoricidal drugs from natural sources. Over the past few years, scorpion
venoms have shown exemplary roles as pivotal anticancer agents. Scorpion
venoms associated metabolites, particularly toxins demonstrated in vitro anticancer
attributes against diversified cell lines by inhibiting the growth and progression of the
cell cycle, inhibiting metastasis by blocking ion channels such as K+ and Cl−, and/or
inducing apoptosis by intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. This review sheds light not
only on in vitro anticancer properties of distinct scorpion venoms and their toxins,
but also on their mechanism of action for designing and developing new therapeutic
drugs in future
Identificación de sexo por hormonas esteroides en cocodrilo de río (Crocodylus Acutus)
No full textEn este trabajo describimos un método para identificar el sexo en Crocodylus acutus, evaluando testosterona y estradiol en heces fecales y orina. Este método tiene la ventaja de ser no invasivo, en el cual la determinación puede ser colorimétrica, cuando es cualitativa, además de ser cuantitativa, al utilizar un lector de ELISA. Donde las muestras de heces fecales mayores de 1 a 2 g., indican que es efectivo cuando los cocodrilos tienen tallas mayores de 130 cm, para la identificación de testosterona en concentraciones presentes en especímenes mas jóvenes (subadultos), las cuales fueron aproximadamente de 1:5 o de 1:7. En relación a la concentración de estradiol de las hembras y de los machos, se evaluaron también muestras de heces fecales y orina, sin embargo, nuestros resultados no fueron consistentes. Por lo cual hasta este momento sugerimos que los niveles hormonales sean evaluados solo en heces fecales para testosterona
Biomass colonization and bioconversion of the molecular characterized Oxalobacter formigenes to mitigate calcium oxlate urolithiasis.
No full textCalcium oxalate (CaOx) is one of the common causes of kidney stones and accounts for 40 to 50% of all uroliths in cats.
Oxalobacter formigenes, an oxalate-degrading intestinal microbiota, has been hypothesized to play a protective role against
CaOx urolithiasis due to its capability to degrade oxalate. This study was designed to reveal the association between biomass
colonization of O. formigenes and clinical occurrence of CaOx urolithiasis in household tomcats. Fifteen tomcats were
allocated into three groups (healthy control (n=5), static chronic kidney disease (static CKD) (n=4), and progressive CKD
(n=6)) based on diagnosis of CaOx urolithiasis and disease progression. Fecal samples were collected from all tomcats,
genomic DNA was extracted, and oxc, a gene specifc for O. formigenes, was quantifed using real-time PCR. Additionally,
the clinical association between blood serum urea, creatinine, and relative abundance of oxc gene among diferent groups
was examined. The oxc gene was detected in all cats in various frequency; however, its relative abundance was signifcantly
higher in progressive CKD group compared to static CKD and control groups. In summary, our results suggest a protective
role of O. formigenes against calcium oxalate urolithiasis only in static CKD. Further studies are required in a larger group
of cats to help illustrate the protective role of O. formigenes in the pathophysiology of calcium oxalate urolithiasis in cats
Equine Herpesvirus-I Infection in Horses: Recent Updates on its Pathogenicity, Vaccination, and Preventive Management Strategies.
No full textEquine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is one of the most common and ubiquitous viral pathogens infecting
equines, particularly horses worldwide. The EHV-1 is known to induce not only humoral but also cellular
immune responses in horses. Respiratory distress, abortion in pregnant mares, neurological disorders,
and neonatal foal deaths represent EHV-1 infection. Despite the limited success of inactivated, subunit,
live, and DNA vaccines, over the past few decades, vaccination remains the prime preventive option to
combat EHV-1 infection in horses. However, current vaccines lack the potentiality to protect the
neurological form of infections in horses. There is desperate necessity to search effectual EHV-1 vaccines
that may stimulate not only mucosal and systemic cellular immunity but also humoral immunity in the
horses. This review highlights the state of knowledge regarding EHV-1 biology, EHV-1 pathogenesis, and
disparate vaccines studied in the past to prevent EHV-1 infection. The review also underlines the best
management strategies which certainly need to be adopted by veterinarians in order to avoid and
prevent EHV-1 infection and outbreak in horses in the future
Antagonistic trait of Staphylococcus succinus strain AAS2 against uropathogens and assessment of its in vitro probiotic characteristics
Get PDFThe desideratum aim of the present context was to isolate a promising antagonist probiotic bacterium from
fermented food item as biocontrol agent against uropathogens. Among diversified isolates evaluated for antagonistic
trait, Staphylococcus succinus strain AAS2 was found to be an auspicious candidate against urinary tract
infection (UTI) causing bacterial pathogens, being the most active against Staphylococcus aureus with substantial
activity of 352.5 ± 5.4 AU/mL. Further, the in vitro probiotic attributes of strain AAS2 were assessed using
systematic methodology. The isolate exhibited tolerance to acidic condition (up to pH 3.0) and simulated gastric
juice (at pH 3.0) with fairly high survival logarithmic cell counts of 5.3 ± 0.15 and 5.23 ± 0.02 log cfu/mL,
respectively. Additionally, strain AAS2 showed capability to resist 0.5% w/v bile salt too. It also revealed significant
values of auto-aggregation (32.5 ± 1.3–56.5 ± 1.4%) and cell surface hydrophobicity
(38.35 ± 1.4%) properties. The isolate showed resistivity towards phenol (6.8 ± 0.08 log cfu/mL) and lysozyme
(58.6 ± 1.6%). Further, the susceptibility trait of strain AAS2 to conventional antibiotics made this isolate
a promising probiotic bacterium. Most importantly, the isolate depicted DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl)
and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities in a concentration dependent manner, thereby exhibiting its propitious
antioxidative properties. In a nutshell, the outcomes of this investigation divulge the plausible use of S.
succinus strain AAS2 as biocontrol agent against uropathogens, and recommended further applications in
pharmaceutics due to its pronounced probiotic traits
Venom as therapeutic weapon to combat dreadful diseases of 21st century: A systematic review on cancer, TB, and HIV/AIDS
No full textCancer and infectious diseases are the preeminent causes of human morbidities and mortalities worldwide. At
present, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and gene therapy are considered as predominant options
in order to treat cancer. But these therapies provide inadequate consequences by affecting both the normal and
tumor cells. On the other hand, tuberculosis (TB), and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infections are
significant threats, causing over a million mortalities each year. The extensive applications of antibiotics have
caused the microbes to acquire resistance to the existing antibiotics. With the emerging dilemma of drug resistant
microbes, it has become imperative to identify novel therapeutic agents from natural sources as emphatic
alternative approach. Over the past few decades, venoms derived from several reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods
including snakes, scorpions, frogs, spiders, honey bees, wasps, beetles, caterpillars, ants, centipedes,
and sponges have been identified as efficient therapeutics. Venoms constitute plethora of bioactive components,
particularly peptides, enzymes, and other chemical entities, which exhibit a large array of anticancer and antipathogenic
activities. This review highlights the panorama of bioactive components of animal venoms divulging
the anticancer, anti-tubercular, and anti-HIV activities. In a nutshell, this context discloses the decisive role of
animal venoms as alternative natural resources to combat these deadly diseases of 21st century, and propounding
the plausible development of new therapeutic drugs in the present era
Clinical and pathological examination of mycotoxicosis as an associated risk factor for colic in equine
No full textA retrospective cohort study was conducted on two Egyptian horse farms with most of horses were suffered from
abdominal pain to describe the associations between the occurrence of mycotoxicosis and equine colic. The farms
owner complain was an unexpected increase in number of colic cases and deaths among horses. The association
between colic and risk factors (sex, type of food either dry or mixed with roughages and hematobiochemical
parameters) was compared using independent sample T-test. The associations between possible prognostic in dicators for colic caused by mycotoxicosis was estimated using logistic regression analysis model. The cumulative
incidence, incidence rates for colic attacks, survival rate among diseased horses were additionally estimated. Our
results showed that a total of 24 out of the 132 horses suffered from colic due to feeding of ration contaminated
with high percent of mycotoxin including Aflatoxins, Ochratoxins and or fusarium mycotoxins. The total cu mulative incidence of colic due to mycotoxicosis was 19.7%. The horses fed on dry rations had more chance of
developing colic than horses fed on mixed rations (P < 0.05). The overall incidence rate of colic due to myco toxicosis was estimated at 18 colic attack/1000 horse/month. The mortality rate of horses suffered from colic due
to mycotoxicosis was estimated at 5.9% (5/85), while the case fatality rate was estimated at 25% (n = 5/20).
Inconclusion, our results showed that mycotoxicosis are considered an important risks factor for colic cases
development in equine practice
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Mycotoxin toxicity and residue in animal products: Prevalence, consumer exposure and reduction strategies – A review.
No full textMycotoxin residues are transferred from feed to animal products, yet, less attention has been paid to it in developing
countries like Nigeria, India, Mexico etc. There is a need to find alternative alleviation material for reducing
the impact of mycotoxin. This review is meant to elucidate different additives that can reduce mycotoxin
residue in animal products in the world, especially in developing countries. . There is evidence of relationship
between mycotoxin residue in breast milk of nursing mothers and mycotoxin exposure through crop and animal
product (egg and milk) intake, especially in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and some parts of Europe.
Younger livestock tends to have more toxin residues in their tissue compared to older animals. Grazing animal
are also exposed to mycotoxin intake which corresponds to high level of mycotoxins in their products including
meat and milk. . This review shows that phytogenic, probiotic, and prebiotic additives can decrease mycotoxin
residues in milk, eggs, meat liver and other tissues of livestock. Specifically, bentonites, difructose anhydride III,
yeast (Trichosporon mycotoxinivorans), Bacillus spp., or their biodegradable products can reduce mycotoxin residue
in animal products. In addition, Ally isothiocyanates from mustard seed were able to mititgate mycotoxins in
silo-simulated system. Evidence shows that there are now low-cost, accessible, and eco-friendly feed additives,
which could alleviate the effect of mycotoxin in feed and food. There is a need for aggressive public awareness
and farmers’ education on the prevalence, and danger caused by mycotoxins as well as possible additives that
can reduce toxin absorption into animal products
- …
