Tolerogenic probiotics Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Lactobacillus rhamnosus promote anti-inflammatory profile of macrophages-derived monocytes of newly diagnosed patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is known as an autoimmune disorder that is characterized by the breakdown of self-tolerance, resulting in disease onset and progression. Macrophages have been implicated as a factor in the development of SLE through faulty phagocytosis of dead cells or an imbalanced M1/M2 ratio. The study aimed to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Lactobacillus rhamnosus on M1 and M2 macrophages in new case lupus patients. For this purpose, blood monocytes were collected from lupus patients and healthy people and were cultured for 5 days to produce macrophages. For 48 h, the macrophages were then cocultured with either probiotics or lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Flow cytometry and real-time polymerase chain reaction were then used to analyze the expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) 14, CD80, and human leukocyte antigen - DR (HLADR) markers, as well as cytokine expression (interleukin [IL]1-ß, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor α [TNF-α], IL-10, and transforming growth factor beta [TGF-ß]). The results indicated three distinct macrophage populations, M0, M1, and M2. In both control and patient-derived macrophage-derived monocytes (MDMs), the probiotic groups showed a decrease in CD14, CD80, and HLADR expression compared to the LPS group. This decrease was particularly evident in M0 and M2 macrophages from lupus patients and M1 macrophages from healthy subjects. In addition, the probiotic groups showed increased levels of IL-10 and TGF-ß and decreased levels of IL-12, IL1-ß, and TNF-α in MDMs from both healthy and lupus subjects compared to the LPS groups. Although there was a higher expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in lupus patients, there was a higher expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines in healthy subjects. In general, L. delbrueckii and L. rhamnosus could induce anti-inflammatory effects on MDMs from both healthy and lupus subjects.

Investigation of IL-6 serum level in COVID-19 patients with positive COVID-19 IgG/IgM antibody titers to check inflammation and disease progression.

OBJECTIVE: The SARS-CoV-2, the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), leads to severe pathogenicity and high mortality among different communities around the world. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms of virus pathogenesis and the immune system's response to prevent the further spread of this virus. This study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between the serum level of interleukin 6 and positive IgG and IgM antibody levels in patients with COVID-19 to investigate inflammation and disease progression. METHODS & MATERIALS: In this study, 10 ml of EDTA blood samples were taken from 414 COVID-19 patients. Then, the plasma was separated and the levels of IgM and IgG antibodies and interleukin 6 cytokine were evaluated by ELISA and chemiluminescence methods, respectively. All data were analyzed by SPSS 22 and GraphPad prism 9 software at the significance level of P < 0.05. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that there was no significant difference in the expression of IgM and IgG antibodies between men and women. Also, a significant increase in the mean expression of IL-6 was observed only in the high concentration range (100-〉1000 pg/ml) in men compared to women (P < 0.001). In addition, in the female population, all three concentration ranges (negative, medium, and high) of IL-6 have the highest correlation with high titers (>10 U/ml) of IgM and IgG antibodies. While, in men, all three concentration ranges of IL-6 had the highest correlation with > 10 U/ml IgM antibody titers, but in the case of IgG, the highest correlation between different concentrations of IL-6 was observed with the negative or moderate titers of this antibody and there was an inverse relationship with the high titers of IgG (>10 U/ml). CONCLUSION: As a result, the relationship between different serum levels of cytokine IL-6 with different titers of IgM and IgG antibodies was observed in both male and female populations. In general, it can be concluded that the correlation between different concentrations of IL-6 with different IgM titers was similar in both men and women, but in the case of different IgG titers, this correlation was higher in women than men.

Efficiency of nanoemulsion of essential oils to control Botrytis cinerea on strawberry surface and prolong fruit shelf life.

Strawberry fruit is highly susceptible to decay by fungi. The objective of this study was to determine if essential oils (EOs) or nano-emulsions (Nano-EM) of EOs from Thymus vulgaris (Th), Matricaria chamomilla (Mc), Pistacia atlantica (Pa), or Mentha longifolia (Me) could inhibit growth of strawberry spoilage fungi Botrytis cinerea and their effect, if any, on strawberry quality parameters. An In vitro study showed that Th and Me EOs had the same minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 0.021 % while the MICs for Mc and Pa EOs were 0.9 % and 1.5 %, respectively. Th and Me EOs were used for subsequent experiments. In the second experiment, the application of Th and Me EOs and their nano-EM at 0.021, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 % were studied to control B. cinerea growth on the fruit surface. Nano-EM of EOs had higher antifungal activity in the control of B. cinerea than EOs on fruit surface. Generally, antifungal activity was increased at higher concentrations of Nano-EM, but in the case of EOs, their antifungal activity was not increased by increasing concentration. Nano-EM of EOs with 0.5 % was selected for further study. Finally, the quality changes and postharvest losses of fruit treated with Nano-EM of EOs of Th and Me at 4 °C were studied. The results of third experiment showed that Nano-EM of both EOs reduced microbial load, decay index, weight loss and induced greater firmness, vitamin C, total flavonoid and antioxidant activity in strawberry during storage. NanoEM-ThEO 0.5 % was more effective than NanoEM-MeEO 0.5 % to retain strawberry firmness, vitamin C and total flavonoid.

Effects of Orthokin, Sensikin and Persica mouth rinses on the force degradation of elastic chains and NiTi coil springs.

Background. Elastomeric chains and NiTi coil springs are two major traction aids in orthodontic tooth movements. Force degradation occurs over time in both groups, with higher percentages in elastic chains. The effects of environmental factors and some mouth rinses on this force decay have been previously studied. No study has been performed to evaluate the effect of current popular mouth rinses such as Orthokin, Sensikin and Persica on this force degradation. Methods . Forty pieces of elastic chains consisting of 5 loops (Ortho Technology, USA) and 40 NiTi closed coil springs (3M Unitek, Germany) were divided into 4 groups: control (artificial saliva), Orthokin mouthwash, Sensikin mouthwash and Persica mouthwash. All the groups were kept in an incubator at 37°C for 3 weeks. In the test groups, the samples were immersed in mouthwash twice a day. Force degradation was measured at 5 time intervals: baseline, 1 hour, 24 hours, 1 week and 3 weeks, using a digital force gauge. Repeated-measures ANOVA and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. Results. Force decay occurred over time in both elastic chainand coil spring groups. In elastic chain group, after 3 weeks, Orthokin mouth rinse had significantly lower force degradation compared to other groups (P < 0.05) and in coil spring group there were no statistically significant differences in force degradation after 3 weeks between the subgroups (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Based the results of this study, these three mouthwashes did not increase the force degradation of orthodontic traction aids under study.

The effect of using maternal care log book on pregnancy outcome in clients referred to private gynecologists and midwives offices.

BACKGROUND: One of the important health indicators in every society is maternal and neonatal health status. Provision of the best prenatal care can reduce mortality rate in these two susceptible groups. This study focused on the effect of maternal care log book on pregnancy outcome. METHODS: This was a clinical trial and 180 samples were randomly selected from the mothers referred to private offices of gynecologists and midwives and were divided into two groups of case and control. The outcome of pregnancy was determined by prenatal care log books in the case group and with pregnancy card in the control group. The data were collected using quality of life questionnaire and a pregnancy complications questionnaire. Descriptive and analytical statistical methods (Fisher's exact test, independent t-test and chi-square test) were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results demonstrated a significant difference between case and control groups concerning normal vaginal delivery (p = 0.01), preterm labor (p = 0.015) and postpartum infection (p = 0.012). The result of quality of life in physical and mental domains and especially in mental domains was better in the case group than in the control group (p = 0.026 in physical and mental dimensions and (p = 0.02 in mental dimensions). This difference was lower in physical dimensions alone (p = 0.049). However, there was no significant difference between the case and control groups in terms of preeclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation and intrauterine fetal death. CONCLUSIONS: As found out by the results, using maternal log book of mothers cares due to its comprehensive care items was more effective than simple maternal cards used by gynecologists and midwives. This can bring about better prenatal care and detected pregnancy complications.