Diversity of uropathogens and their antibiotic resistance among diabetic patients presented to MTI-Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.

Objective: Our objective was to quantify the number of various bacteria that frequently cause UTI in diabetes patients as well as to gauge their susceptibility and resistance to antibiotics. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Internal Medicine Ward of Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan from June 2021 to December 2021, Patients with confirmed diabetes were included in the study; however, participants receiving antimicrobial medications for a maximum of 14 days were excluded from the study. Resistance of Escherichia coli, Candida, Pseudomonas, E. faecalis, Klebsiella, P. mirabilis and Staphylococcus was asssessed using ciprofloxac, ceftazidime and meropenem. Results: The findings highlighted the the prevalence of Escherichia coli in 38.8% of patients, Candida in 19% of patients, Enterococcus faecalis in 11.8% of patients, Pseudomonas in 10%, Klebsiella in 9.5% patients, Proteus mirabilis 6.2% patients and Staphylococcus was found in 5.2% patients. According to the overall sensitivity and resistance of antibiotics in microorganisms, Meropenem showed 89.6% sensitivity and 10.4% resistance. Ciprofloxacin showed 38.9% sensitivity and 61.1% resistance and ceftazidime showed 22.7 sensitivity and 77.3% resistance. Conclusion: UTIs were very common in diabetes patients, and Escherichia coli was the most common uropathogen found. Compared to male patients, more female patients had infections. The uropathogens showed a significant degree of resistance to ceftizidime and ciprofloxacin.

Plant Metabolomics: An Overview of the Role of Primary and Secondary Metabolites against Different Environmental Stress Factors.

Several environmental stresses, including biotic and abiotic factors, adversely affect the growth and development of crops, thereby lowering their yield. However, abiotic factors, e.g., drought, salinity, cold, heat, ultraviolet radiations (UVr), reactive oxygen species (ROS), trace metals (TM), and soil pH, are extremely destructive and decrease crop yield worldwide. It is expected that more than 50% of crop production losses are due to abiotic stresses. Moreover, these factors are responsible for physiological and biochemical changes in plants. The response of different plant species to such stresses is a complex phenomenon with individual features for several species. In addition, it has been shown that abiotic factors stimulate multi-gene responses by making modifications in the accumulation of the primary and secondary metabolites. Metabolomics is a promising way to interpret biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. The study of metabolic profiling revealed different types of metabolites, e.g., amino acids, carbohydrates, phenols, polyamines, terpenes, etc, which are accumulated in plants. Among all, primary metabolites, such as amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids polyamines, and glycine betaine, are considered the major contributing factors that work as osmolytes and osmoprotectants for plants from various environmental stress factors. In contrast, plant-derived secondary metabolites, e.g., phenolics, terpenoids, and nitrogen-containing compounds (alkaloids), have no direct role in the growth and development of plants. Nevertheless, such metabolites could play a significant role as a defense by protecting plants from biotic factors such as herbivores, insects, and pathogens. In addition, they can enhance the resistance against abiotic factors. Therefore, metabolomics practices are becoming essential and influential in plants by identifying different phytochemicals that are part of the acclimation responses to various stimuli. Hence, an accurate metabolome analysis is important to understand the basics of stress physiology and biochemistry. This review provides insight into the current information related to the impact of biotic and abiotic factors on variations of various sets of metabolite levels and explores how primary and secondary metabolites help plants in response to these stresses.

Expression profiles of microRNAs in skeletal muscle of sheep by deep sequencing.

OBJECTIVE: MicroRNAs are a class of endogenous small regulatory RNAs that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Recent studies on miRNAs are mainly focused on mice, human and pig. However, the studies on miRNAs in skeletal muscle of sheep are not comprehensive. METHODS: RNA-seq technology was used to perform genomic analysis of miRNAs in prenatal and postnatal skeletal muscle of sheep. Targeted genes were predicted using miRanda software and miRNA-mRNA interactions were verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. To further investigate the function of miRNAs, candidate targeted genes were enriched for analysis using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment. RESULTS: The results showed total of 1,086 known miRNAs and 40 new candidate miRNAs were detected in prenatal and postnatal skeletal muscle of sheep. In addition, 345 miRNAs (151 up-regulated, 94 down-regulated) were differentially expressed. Moreover, miRanda software was performed to predict targeted genes of miRNAs, resulting in a total of 2,833 predicted targets, especially miR-381 which targeted multiple muscle-related mRNAs. Furthermore, GO and KEGG pathway analysis confirmed that targeted genes of miRNAs were involved in development of skeletal muscles. CONCLUSION: This study supplements the miRNA database of sheep, which provides valuable information for further study of the biological function of miRNAs in sheep skeletal muscle.

Metabolomics and its physiological regulation process reveal the salt-tolerant mechanism in Glycine soja seedling roots.

Wild soybean (Glycine soja) is an excellent germplasm resource and has strong resistance and wide adaptability to different environments. Hence, the physiology and metabolomics characteristics of wild soybean under different types of salt stress were determined to improve understanding of salt-tolerant mechanisms of wild soybean in the field. Two types of wild soybean seedlings were exposed to two different types of salt stress for 14 d. The photosynthesis of wild soybean seedling extracts were analyzed using metabolomics based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The wild soybean root extracts used metabolomics to quantify the metabolic changes and ion contents. The assimilative function of photosynthesis in salt-tolerant wild soybean was less inhibited than in common wild soybean, and it regulated accumulation of toxic ions and maintained the accumulation of K+ and Mg2+ to alleviate salt stress. Moreover, in resisting salt stress the salt-tolerant wild soybean has showed improved amino acid and carbohydrate and polyol metabolisms under neutral-salt stress and organic acid, amino acid and tricarboxylic acid metabolisms under alkali-salt stress. Our results provide valuable insights into the response of salt-tolerant wild soybean to two types of salt stress by linking stress-related physiological responses to changes in metabolites.

Subcutaneous facial mycosis in a child due to Madurella mycetomatis.

Mycetoma is a chronic, granulomatous, subcutaneous, inflammatory disease caused by true fungi (eumycetoma) or filamentous bacteria (actinomycetoma). Eumycetoma usually affects adult males involving limbs and other exposed body parts. Children represent the least commonly encountered age group with this disease. A case of subcutaneous facial mycosis due to Madurella mycetomatis in a three year old child was diagnosed at the Microbiology department Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Rawalpindi, which to our knowledge is the first case reported of its kind. Early diagnosis and timely medical therapy lead to favourable outcome without any surgical intervention.