Immune-adjuvant effect of vitamin A and probiotics supplementation on humoral response to cell culture rabies vaccine in rabbits.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of vitamin A (Vit A) and probiotic co-supplementation with rabies vaccine on humoral immune response in New Zealand white (NZW) rabbits. For this experiment, 54 rabbits were randomized into six experimental and three control groups. Mixed cultures of commercial probiotics supplements and a dose of Vit A were administered to each animal. Results were compared with the control group fed with only basal diet. Animals in different treatment groups showed significantly higher sero-conversions against rabies vaccine. There was a significant increase (p < 0.001) in the titers of rabies antibodies in all treatment groups on 14th and 35th days than control C3 group. Both commercial probiotics irrespective of brand increase the humoral immune response of rabbits against rabies vaccine. The mean titer values of all groups G1-G6 and sub-controls (C1, C2) were generally above 3.6 EU/ml on day 14th and between 3.7 and 3.9 EU/ml, showing highest sero-conversion on 35th day than mean titer of C3 control = 3.091 and 3.505 EU/ml respectively on both days. The maximum titer values were obtained with the addition of organic carrots to the daily diet. These results suggest that simple dietary interventions using probiotics and Vit A in natural form may enhance the efficacy of rabies vaccine in the host. These cost-effective strategies can be applied for getting higher yields of polyclonal antibody production in animal models, thus providing promising means of improving the final product yield and can be adopted easily by the manufacturers.

Penicillium verruculosum SG: a source of polyketide and bioactive compounds with varying cytotoxic activities against normal and cancer lines.

A newly isolated fungus Penicillium verruculosum SG was evaluated for the production and characterization of bioactive colored secondary metabolites using solid-state fermentation along with their cytotoxic activities against normal and cancer cell lines. Logical fragmentation pattern following column chromatography, thin layer chromatography and liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry of crude culture filtrate of fungus revealed the presence of different polyketide pigments and other bioactive compounds. Cytotoxicity of the selected colored fractions of fungal filtrate containing different compounds revealed IC50 (µg/ml) values ranging from 5 to 100. It was significantly higher in case of orevactaene (5 + 0.44) and monascorubrine followed by pyripyropene (8 + 0.63) against cancer cell line KA3IT. Overall, these compounds considerably showed less toxicity toward normal cell lines NIH3T3, HSCT6, HEK293 and MDCK. XRD of a yellow crystalline compound (224.21 m/z) confirmed its 3-dimensional structure as phenazine 1 carboxylic acid (C13H8N2O2) (broad spectrum antibiotic), and it is first time reported in fungi.

Endoscopic therapy for significant gastric outlet obstruction caused by a small pancreatic pseudocyst with a unique shape and location.

Large perigastric or periduodenal pseudocysts are a potential cause of gastric outlet obstruction, usually requiring interventional drainage of the pseudocysts. In contrary most of the small pseudocysts are asymptomatic and require no therapy. However, certain small pseudocysts can produce clinically significant problem depending on their location. Here we report a case of small pseudocyst (12.0 mm in width) with a unique shape and location causing significant Gastric outlet obstruction treated successfully with endoscopy.

Report: antibiotic production by thermophilic Bacillus specie SAT-4.

Production of antimicrobial compounds seems to be a general phenomenon for most bacteria. The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among key microbial pathogens is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. Current solutions involve development of a more rationale approach to antibiotic use and discover of new antimicrobials. Bacillus species produce a large number of biological compounds active against bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses. The process of production usually involves screening of wide range of microorganisms, testing and modification. Production is carried out using fermentation. Thermophilic spore-forming, gram positive, motile rod bacterial strains were isolated from the Thar Desserts, Sindh Province, Pakistan. These strains were screened and checked for antibacterial activity. The best activity was observed by SAT4 against Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. The activity was only observed against gram positive bacteria and no activity was seen against Pseudomonas aeroginosa. Thermophilic Bacillus specie SAT4 was found to be active in the fermentation process to produce the antimicrobial agents. Further optimizations of different conditions (time of incubation, media, pH, glucose concentrations, nitrogen concentrations, and temperature) for antimicrobial production by the selected bacterial strain was performed. Agar diffusion assay was performed to evaluate the antibacterial activity. Optimum conditions for the production of antimicrobials by selected isolate were observed to be 48 hour, pH 5, temperature 55 degrees C, 2% glucose and 1.5% nitrogen concentration. This newly isolated bacterial strain has great potential for antimicrobial production at industrial scale.