Anti-inflammatory Effects of Compounds Extracted from Marine Sponge s: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have experimentally validated and reported that chemical constituents of marine sponges are a source of natural anti-inflammatory substances with the biotechnological potential to develop novel drugs.

AIMS

Therefore, the aim of this study was to perform a systematic review to provide an overview of the anti-inflammatory substances isolated from marine sponges with therapeutic potential.

METHODS

This systematic review was performed on the Embase, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science electronic databases. In total, 613 were found, but 340 duplicate studies were excluded, only 100 manuscripts were eligible, and 83 were included.

RESULTS

The results were based on in vivo and in vitro assays, and the anti-inflammatory effects of 251 bioactive compounds extracted from marine sponges were investigated. Their anti-inflammatory activities include inhibition of pro-inflammatory mediators, such as tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), nitrite or nitric oxide (NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), nuclear transcription factor-kappa B (NF-κB), leukotriene B4 (LTB4), cyclooxygenase- 1 (COX-1), and superoxide radicals.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, data suggest (approximately 98% of articles) that substances obtained from marine sponges may be promising for the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of different pathological conditions.

Risk Factors for Different Grades of Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Children Under Five Years Old with Measles: Based on Chest Radiography

BACKGROUND

Although measles epidemic has been controlled effectively after measles vaccination being carried out, China is still the focus of measles epidemic. The lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) is the most common complication, and also the most common reason for the death of patients with measles.

PURPOSE

To analyze what clinical factors could affect the grades of LRTIs in children under five years old with measles.

METHODS

Patients' 13 clinical factors and chest radiography were analyzed retrospectively. Based on the chest radiography, the LRTIs were divided into 3 grades. The clinical factors and the grades of LRTIs were analyzed by ordered logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

There were 74 cases in grade 0, 77 cases in grade 1, and 36 cases in grade 2. After univariate logistic regression analysis, there were 5 clinical factors whose P value were no more than 0.1, including the children's course of disease before admission, co-infection other pathogens, vaccination, the first symptoms and gender. After ordinal logistic regression analysis, the difference in the course of disease before admission (OR = 1.134, 95% CI: 1.025 to 1.141), without vaccination (OR = 1.808, 95% CI: 1.065 to 3.065) and co-infected other pathogens other pathogens infections (OR = 1.618, 95% CI: 1.073 to 2.440) during different grades was statistically significant (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In our study, there were three clinical factors, including "with a long course of disease before admission", "without measles vaccination" and "with other pathogens infections", as the independent risk factors of the grades of LRTIs in children with measles.

Review of the Biological Activity of Maslinic Acid

Since the discovery of (2α,3β)-2,3-dihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid, also known as maslinic acid, many studies have examined its biological activity, which has been shown to promote health and resist various diseases. This article focuses on previous research on maslinic acid and mainly reviews its reported effects on cardiovascular diseases, neuroprotection, diabetes, cancer, inflammation, and pathogens. Maslinic acid exerts positive effects on both cell and animal models of disease. Although its mechanism of action has not yet been completely elucidated, maslinic acid is feasible as a nutritional additive and has the potential to be developed as a drug.

Bactericidal Activity of Sargassum aquifolium (Turner) C. Agardh against Gram-positive and Gram-negative Biofilm-forming Pathogenic Bacteria

AIM

To study the bactericidal activity of crude ethanolic extract and fractionations obtained from Sargassum aquifolium (Turner) C. Agardh (brown algae) towards Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative biofilm-forming human pathogenic bacteria.

BACKGROUND

The increasing emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the hospital and community settings has led to the discovery of alternative strategies. Marine organisms are considered as one of the potential sources of diverse bioactive molecules against several biological activities. Hence, the algae, especially the marine brown algae were selected to evaluate its antibacterial activities towards biofilm-forming human pathogenic bacteria.

OBJECTIVE

To restrain the drug-resistant ability of pathogenic bacteria, we checked the extract of Sargassum aquifolium (Turner) C. Agardh (Phyophyceae) for the concerned bioactive compounds.

METHODS

Antibacterial activity towards both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was evaluated using disk diffusion and broth microdilution assays. Furthermore, the active compound present in the extracts was also identified using Gas-Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS).

RESULTS

A total of 21 bioactive compounds were identified using GC-MS analysis with different chemical natures. The crude ethanolic extraction was fractionated sequentially according to the eluotropic series from less to extreme polar. The highest zone of inhibition was recorded for ethanolic extract on Listeria monocytogenes with a value of 38.00±0.17 mm and the lowest was 10.67±0.06 mm for ethyl acetate fraction on Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Ethyl acetate fractionate showed a higher effectivity than other fractionations. An MIC value of 256 μg/mL was recorded against Staphylococcus aureus and L. monocytogenes and 512 μg/mL against Escherichia coli and P. aeruginosa. Its ethanolic extract also showed synergism with oxytetracycline on S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, and E. coli. Furthermore, the same extracts also showed synergism with tetracycline on E. coli and with erythromycin on P. aeruginosa.

CONCLUSION

The present study reports the antibacterial activity of the S. aquifolium (Turner) C. Agardh extracts against human pathogenic bacteria. Furthermore, it also predicts the synergistic activity of selected antibiotic combinations against both selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria.

Future Perspective of Diabetic Animal Models

Objective

The need of today’s research is to develop successful and reliable diabetic animal models for understanding the disease susceptibility and pathogenesis. Enormous success of animal models had already been acclaimed for identifying key genetic and environmental factors like Idd loci and effects of microorganisms including the gut microbiota. Furthermore, animal models had also helped in identifying many therapeutic targets and strategies for immune-intervention. In spite of a quite success, we have acknowledged that many of the discovered immunotherapies are working on animals and did not have a significant impact on human. Number of animal models were developed in the past to accelerate drug discovery pipeline. However, due to poor initial screening and assessment on inequivalent animal models, the percentage of drug candidates who succeeded during clinical trials was very low. Therefore, it is essential to bridge this gap between pre-clinical research and clinical trial by validating the existing animal models for consistency.

Results and Conclusion

In this review, we have discussed and evaluated the significance of animal models on behalf of published data on PUBMED. Amongst the most popular diabetic animal models, we have selected six animal models (e.g. BioBreeding rat, “LEW IDDM rat”, “Nonobese Diabetic (NOD) mouse”, “STZ RAT”, “LEPR Mouse” and “Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat” and ranked them as per their published literature on PUBMED. Moreover, the vision and brief imagination for developing an advanced and robust diabetic model of 21^st century was discussed with the theme of one mice-one human concept including organs-on-chips.

Evaluation of Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern and Distribution of coa Genes in Coagulase-negative S. aureus from Ahvaz, Iran

BACKGROUND

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the important causes of clinical infections that can be more destructive by its antibiotic resistant strains.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern and distribution of mecA and coa genes in clinical isolates of S. aureus.

METHODS

Two hundred seventy-three specimens suspected to S. aureus were taken from hospitals of Ahvaz, southwest of Iran. Isolates were identified by standard microbiologic tests and confirmed by the molecular method. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out by disk diffusion method. The presence of mecA and coa genes was determined by PCR method.

RESULTS

Of a total of 200 isolates which were tested for coagulase tube test, 143 (71.5%) showed coagulase positive, and 57 (28.5%) showed a coagulase-negative reaction. Antibacterial susceptibility pattern of 200 S. aureus isolates showed the highest and lowest susceptibility rate to linezolid (98%) and ciprofloxacin (42%), respectively. The prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) by detection of mecA gene was estimated as 47.5 % (95/200), of which the rate of MRSA in coagulase positive and negative isolates was 35% (50/143), and 65% (45/57), respectively. Meanwhile, coa gene was detected in 100% of coagulase positive and 28.1% of coagulasenegative isolates.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study showed that the number of atypical CNSA in our area is high. Since the coagulase test is an essential test for diagnosis of S. aureus, our findings regarding the emergence of CNSA are a warning about the misdiagnosis and selection of appropriate treatment approach for S. aureus isolates.

Defense Against Pathogens: Structural Insights into the Mechanism of Chitin Induced Activation of Innate Immunity

Pattern recognition receptors on the plant cell surface mediate the recognition of microbe-associated molecular patterns, in a process which activates downstream immune signaling. These receptors are plasma membrane-localized kinases which need to be autophosphorylated to activate downstream responses. Perception of attacks from fungi occurs through recognition of chitin, a polymer of an N-acetylglucosamine which is a characteristic component of the cell walls of fungi. This process is regulated in Arabidopsis by chitin elicitor receptor kinase CERK1. A more complex process characterizes rice, in which regulation of chitin perception is operated by a complex composed of OsCERK1, a homolog of CERK1, and the chitin elicitor binding protein OsCEBiP. Recent literature has provided a mechanistic description of the complex regulation of activation of innate immunity in rice and an advance in the structural description of molecular players involved in this process. This review describes the current status of the understanding of molecular events involved in innate immunity activation in rice.