Anti-inflammatory Effect of Metronidazole in Hospitalized Patients with Pneumonia due to COVID-19.

Metronidazole (MTZ) can decrease the levels of several cytokines. This research aimed at the investigation of the anti-inflammatory impact of MTZ in COVID-19. A randomized, single-blind clinical trial for comparing the anti-inflammatory effect of MTZ in two eligible groups of adult patients with lower respiratory tract involvement due to Covid-19 treated with a standard national method with or without MTZ was performed. Inflammatory markers were measured as the primary outcome in two groups. Oxygen saturation, length of hospital stays, and mortality of patients were evaluated as secondary outcomes. Among 44 patients with lower respiratory tract due to Covid-19, 20(45.5%) were randomly allocated in group A with the current standard treatment plus the MTZ tablet for 7 days orally and 24 (54.5%) in group B with the current standard treatment. The mean of ESR in group A was statistically significantly lower than that of group B on the seventh day (A: 38.25 ± 18.75 vs. B: 47.67 ± 26.41, p = 0.02). Moreover, the mean of IL6 diminished significantly in both A (p = 0.01) and B (p = 0.01) groups on the seventh day compared to the first day. The decrease of TNF was not significant in any of the groups A (p = 0.3) and B (p = 0.4) from the 7th day to the first day. No significant difference was not found between group A and group B groups on the CRP level (p = 0.1). Findings of this study showed the anti-inflammatory impact of MTZ in the patient with lower respiratory inflammation due to COVID-19.

Production of IgY polyclonal antibody against diphtheria toxin and evaluation of its neutralization effect by Vero cell assay.

BACKGROUND: Diphtheria is a bacterial disease which is caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The symptoms are due to the diphtheria toxin produced by the bacteria. Antibiotic therapy and the use of diphtheria antitoxin is a recommended strategy to control diphtheria. Although mammalian antibodies are used to treat patients, IgY antibody has advantages over mammalian ones, including cost-effectiveness and production through non-invasive means. Moreover, in contrast to mammalian antibodies, IgY does not bind to the rheumatoid factor and does not activate the complement system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro neutralizing effect of IgY against diphtheria toxin. RESULTS: Anti-DT IgY was produced by immunization of the laying white leghorn chickens. Indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed successful immunization of the animals, and the IgY was purified with a purity of 93% via polyethylene glycol precipitation method. The neutralizing activity of the purified IgY was evaluated by Vero cell viability assay. This assay confirmed that 1.95 µg (8.6 µg/ml of culture medium) of anti-DT IgY would neutralize 10 fold of cytotoxic dose 99% of DT, which was 0.3 ng (1.33 ng/ml of culture medium). CONCLUSION: This anti-DT IgY may be applicable for diphtheria treatment and quality controls in vaccine production.

In vitro evaluation of cross-strain inhibitory effects of IgY polyclonal antibody against H. pylori.

The present study aimed to evaluate in vitro cross-strain inhibitory effects of IgY polyclonal antibody on both growth and urease enzyme of four local strains of H. pylori. Leghorn chickens were immunized with whole cells of four different strains of H. pylori, separately. Rising of specific IgY was detected by ELISA. The IgY purified using polyethylene glycol method and the purity was evaluated by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Each strain was treated with its own-specific and also other strain-specific IgYs. The strain-specific IgY could inhibit the growth of specific strains by 49-72% and also other different strains of H. pylori by 29-86%. Our findings revealed that strain-specific IgY could inhibit urease activity of its own by 64-72% and other different strains by 49-79%. These findings confirmed strain-specific and also cross-strain inhibitory effects of the IgY polyclonal antibody on both growth and urease activity of H. pylori.