Statin therapy improves outcomes in infective endocarditis: evidence from a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Beyond its ability to decrease cholesterol, statin medication has been proved to have a variety of pleiotropic effects, such as anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. Statins are an appealing therapeutic option for individuals with infective endocarditis because of these effects, as the condition is linked to a strong inflammatory response. METHODS: A comprehensive search was done in Medline/PubMed, Cochrane database (CENTRAL), and Google Scholar to identify relevant studies reporting outcomes of interest (rate of mortality, intensive care unit admission, and embolic events) comparing those who are on statin therapy to nonusers were included. We performed a random effect meta-analysis to pool each study's individual results. RESULTS: Three articles were included in the study. The pooled results regarding our primary endpoint showed there was a significant reduction in mortality among statin users in all time points (1-year mortality: OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.61-0.79, I2: 0%; Chi2 = 0.01; p < 0.0001). Meta-analysis for the secondary outcome showed statin users are less frequently admitted to the intensive care unit (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.59-0.90, I2: 0%; Chi2 = 0.00; p = 0.0004). The rate of mortality was significantly lower for those with a previous history of cerebrovascular disease who were on statin therapy compared to those without cerebrovascular diseases (CVD). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study support a significant association with statin therapy as a potential treatment proposed for individuals at risk of infective endocarditis.

Biochar affects the fate of phosphorus in soil and water: A critical review.

Biochar is a promising novel material for managing phosphorus (P), a nutrient often limiting for primary production but can also be a pollutant, in the environment. Reducing P input to the environment and finding cost-effective approaches to remediate P contamination are major challenges in P management. There is currently no review that systematically summarizes biochar effects on soil P availability and its P removal potential from water systems. In this paper, we comprehensively reviewed biochar effects on soil P availability and P removal from water systems and discussed the mechanisms involved. Biochar affects soil P cycling by altering P chemical forms, changing soil P sorption and desorption capacities, and influencing microbial population size, enzyme activities, mycorrhizal associations and microbial production of metal-chelating organic acids. The porous structure, high specific surface area, and metal oxide and surface functional groups make biochars effective materials for removing P from eutrophic water via ligand exchange, cation bridge, and P precipitation. Because soil and biochar properties are widely variable, the effect of biochar on the fate of P in soil and water systems is inconsistent among different studies. Knowledge gaps in the economic practicability of large-scale biochar application, the longevity of biochar benefits, and the potential ecological risks of biochar application should be addressed in future research.

Phytoextraction of heavy metals from contaminated soil, water and atmosphere using ornamental plants: mechanisms and efficiency improvement strategies.

Accumulation of heavy metals (HMs) in soil, water and air is one of the major environmental concerns worldwide, which mainly occurs due to anthropogenic activities such as industrialization, urbanization, and mining. Conventional remediation strategies involving physical or chemical techniques are not cost-effective and/or eco-friendly, reinforcing the necessity for development of novel approaches. Phytoextraction has attracted considerable attention over the past decades and generally refers to use of plants for cleaning up environmental pollutants such as HMs. Compared to other plant types such as edible crops and medicinal plants, ornamental plants (OPs) seem to be a more viable option as they offer several advantages including cleaning up the HMs pollution, beautification of the environment, by-product generation and related economic benefits, and not generally being involved in the food/feed chain or other direct human applications. Phytoextraction ability of OPs involve diverse detoxification pathways such as enzymatic and non-enzymatic (secondary metabolites) antioxidative responses, distribution and deposition of HMs in the cell walls, vacuoles and metabolically inactive tissues, and chelation of HMs by a ligand such as phytochelatins followed by the sequestration of the metal-ligand complex into the vacuoles. The phytoextraction efficiency of OPs can be improved through chemical, microbial, soil amending, and genetic approaches, which primarily target bioavailability, uptake, and sequestration of HMs. In this review, we explore the phytoextraction potential of OPs for remediation of HMs-polluted environments, underpinning mechanisms, efficiency improvement strategies, and highlight the potential future research directions.