Validity and reliability of the WHOQOL-BREF in the measurement of the quality of life of Sickle disease patients in Bahrain.

Background: Limited attention is devoted to the improvement of the quality of life of patients suffering from the negative consequences of Sickle cell disease (SCD). Our study focuses on the evaluation of the performance of the WHOQOL-BREF as a tool to measure the quality of life of SCD Patients in Bahrain. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study that enrolled 273 SCD patients selected using a simple random sampling technique from primary health-care centers in Bahrain in 2019. A designed questionnaire including the WHOQOL-BREF was filled by the patients in the health centers. The reliability of the WHOQOL-BREF was assessed by standardized Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and the validity was measured by convergent validity, principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The WHOQOL-BREF had good internal consistency as Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the overall scale was 0.91. The convergent validity results indicated that the correlation coefficients values for all scale domains are significantly correlated at α < 0.01. Confirmatory factor analysis found that the four-domain structure produced a robust fit to the data. Conclusion: The WHOQOL-BREF tool has high internal consistency and validity in assessing the quality of life of Sickle Disease patients in Bahrain.

Assessment of the Antibacterial Potential of Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles Combined with Vancomycin Against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus-Induced Infection in Rats.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is considered one of the most serious multidrug-resistant bacteria worldwide. MRSA resistance to methicillin antibiotics made vancomycin, the acceptable treatment option. Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are among the well-known antibacterial substances showing multimode antibacterial action. Therefore, Ag-NPs are appropriate applicants for use in combination with vancomycin in order to augment its antibacterial action. This study aimed to biosynthesize silver nanoparticles and to evaluate its antibacterial activity against MRSA alone and when combined with vancomycin both in vitro and in vivo. Agaricus bisporus is used to reduce the silver nitrate salts in solution to yield silver nanoparticles which was characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometric analysis that shows maximum absorption at 420 nm as a preliminary confirmation for nanoparticles synthesis, Energy-Dispersive Analysis of X-ray (EDX) which confirms the crystalline nature of silver nanoparticles and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image shows the particles in spherical form with mean size 27.45 nm. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were tested for antibacterial activity against MRSA, and the synergetic effects of the combination of silver nanoparticles and vancomycin were evaluated. The results showed a strong synergistic antibacterial effect between Ag-NPs and vancomycin in vitro with fractional inhibitory concentration 0.37 and in vivo against MRSA strain. The result revealed that mycosynthesized silver nanoparticles (NPs) enhance the in vitro and in vivo antibacterial activity of vancomycin against MRSA. These results suggested that sliver nanoparticles have an effective antibacterial activity against MRSA count, histopathology, and liver enzymes as well as protective immune response specially when combined with vancomycin in the lungs of infected rats with MRSA.

Evaluation of Some Biological Applications of Pleurotus citrinopileatus and Boletus edulis Fruiting Bodies.

BACKGROUND: Mushrooms are deemed as a special delicacy in many countries. They are considered an important cuisine due to their bioactive ingredients and possible health benefits. METHODS: Herein, we measured selected biological properties of methanol extracts of Pleurotus citrinopileatus and Boletus edulis fruiting bodies including; in vitro antimicrobial activity, anti-α- glucosidase activity, antioxidant activity, anti-lipase activity and cytotoxic activity against different cancer cells and normal cells. RESULTS: B. edulis methanol extracts showed high antimicrobial and anti-α-glucosidase activity. In contrast, P. citrinopileatus methanol extracts showed superior antioxidant activity indicated by (1,1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) DPPH radical scavenging with half maximal inhibitory concentration of IC50 37.4 µg/ml, anti-lipase activities with IC50 65.2 µg/ml and high cytotoxicity activity against HepG2 and HeLa cell lines with IC50 22.8 and 36.7 µg/ml, respectively. Flow cytometric analysis of the cell cycle was used to show apoptotic effects of methanol extracts against HepG2 and HeLa cells. CONCLUSION: P. citrinopileatus and B. edulis methanolic extracts appear to contain biologically active compounds that might be used to treat some common human diseases.

Systemic Approach to Virulence Gene Network Analysis for Gaining New Insight into Cryptococcal Virulence.

Cryptococcus neoformans is pathogenic yeast, responsible for highly lethal infections in compromised patients around the globe. C. neoformans typically initiates infections in mammalian lung tissue and subsequently disseminates to the central nervous system where it causes significant pathologies. Virulence genes of C. neoformans are being characterized at an increasing rate, however, we are far from a comprehensive understanding of their roles and genetic interactions. Some of these reported virulence genes are scattered throughout different databases, while others are not yet included. This study gathered and analyzed 150 reported virulence associated factors (VAFs) of C. neoformans. Using the web resource STRING database, our study identified different interactions between the total VAFs and those involved specifically in lung and brain infections and identified a new strain specific virulence gene, SHO1, involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. As predicted by our analysis, SHO1 expression enhanced C. neoformans virulence in a mouse model of pulmonary infection, contributing to enhanced non-protective immune Th2 bias and progressively enhancing fungal growth in the infected lungs. Sequence analysis indicated 77.4% (116) of total studied VAFs are soluble proteins, and 22.7% (34) are transmembrane proteins. Motifs involved in regulation and signaling such as protein kinases and transcription factors are highly enriched in Cryptococcus VAFs. Altogether, this study represents a pioneering effort in analysis of the virulence composite network of C. neoformans using a systems biology approach.