Displaying all 4 publications

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Budamagunta V, Shameem N, Irusappan S, Parray JA, Thomas M, Marimuthu S, et al.
    Environ Res, 2023 Feb 15;219:114997.
    PMID: 36529326 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114997
    Heavy metal toxicity affects aquatic plants and animals, disturbing biodiversity and ecological balance causing bioaccumulation of heavy metals. Industrialization and urbanization are inevitable in modern-day life, and control and detoxification methods need to be accorded to meet the hazardous environment. Microorganisms and plants have been widely used in the bioremediation of heavy metals. Sporosarcina pasteurii, a gram-positive bacterium that is widely known for its calcite precipitation property in bio-cementing applications has been explored in the study for its metal tolerance ability for the first time. S. pasteurii SRMNP1 (KF214757) can tolerate silver stress to form nanoparticles and can remediate multiple heavy metals to promote the growth of various plants. This astounding property of the isolate warranted extensive examinations to comprehend the physiological changes during an external heavy metal stress condition. The present study aimed to understand various physiological responses occurring in S. pasteuriiSRMNP1 during the metal tolerance phenomenon using electron microscopy. The isolate was subjected to heavy metal stress, and a transmission electron microscope examination was used to analyze the physiological changes in bacteria to evade the metal stress. S. pasteurii SRMNP1 was tolerant against a wide range of heavy metal ions and can withstand a broad pH range (5-9). Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) examination of S. pasteurii SRMNP1 followed by 5 mM nickel sulfate treatment revealed the presence of nanovesicles encapsulating nanosized particles in intra and extracellular spaces. This suggests that the bacteria evade the metal stress by converting the metal ions into nanosized particles and encapsulating them within nanovesicles to efflux them through the vesicle budding mechanism. Moreover, the TEM images revealed an excessive secretion of extracellular polymeric substances by the strain to discharge the metal particles outside the bacterial system. S. pasteurii can be foreseen as an effective bioremediation agent with the potential to produce nanosized particles, nanovesicles, and extracellular polymeric substances. This study provides physiological evidence that, besides calcium precipitation applications, S. pasteurii can further be explored for its multidimensional roles in the fields of drug delivery and environmental engineering.
  2. Rizwan M, Ali S, Javid A, von Fricken ME, Rashid MI
    Acta Trop, 2023 Jul;243:106940.
    PMID: 37160189 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106940
    Bartonella can infect a variety of mammals including humans and has been detected in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Roughly two-thirds of identified Bartonella species are found and maintained in rodent reservoirs, with some of these species linked to human infections. Rodents (N=236) were caught from the Sahiwal division of Punjab, Pakistan and tested for Bartonella using PCR targeting gltA and rpoB genes, followed by sequencing of rpoB-positive samples. Genetic relatedness to other published Bartonella spp. rpoB gene sequences were examined using BLAST and phylogenetic analysis. Overall, 7.62% (18/236) of rodents were positive for both gltA and rpoB fragments. Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus had 7.94% (12/151) and 7.05% (6/85) positivity rates for Bartonella DNA, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relatedness between Bartonella spp. from Pakistan to Bartonella spp. from China, Nepal, and Malaysia. This study is the first reported detection of Bartonella spp. in R. rattus and R. norvegicus from the Sahiwal area of Punjab, Pakistan.
  3. Nisar M, Tasleem Z, Muhammad SA, Javid A, Rasool MF, Karuniawati H, et al.
    Cost Eff Resour Alloc, 2024 Sep 05;22(1):65.
    PMID: 39237946 DOI: 10.1186/s12962-024-00566-9
    BACKGROUND: The direct and indirect costs of chronic kidney disease (CKD) are substantial and increase over time. Concerns regarding our capacity to manage the financial burden that CKD) places on patients, caregivers, and society are raised by its increasing prevalence and progression. Lack of awareness of CKD's economic effects is a major reason that lawmakers and administrators pay little attention to this chronic illness.

    OBJECTIVE: We aimed to analyze the direct burden of CKD across Asian countries and evaluate the main cost drivers among all mentioned cost centers in previous studies.

    METHODOLOGY: Related works evaluating the expenditures of CKD from the perspective of the patient were interpreted by a thorough search of PUBMED and GOOGLE SCHOLAR.

    RESULTS: Country-wise, in Asia, the direct mean average medical costs in RRT patients were reported in 8 studies as $4574, $18668, $2901, $6848, $16669, $3489, $5945, and $6344 in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, China, Jordan, Vietnam, Lebanon, and India respectively and the direct mean average medical costs in non-RRT patients were reported in six studies as $3412, $2241, $4534, $290 and $1500 in Singapore, Japan, China, Vietnam, and India respectively.

    CONCLUSION: Hemodialysis is the main cost driver having an average mean cost of $23,358 per patient per year while the average mean cost of disease management is $4977 per patient per year. More research is needed to understand the specific economic challenges disadvantaged populations face, including the impact of income, education, and access to healthcare resources on the financial burden of CKD.

  4. Mehmood R, Sadiq A, Alsantali RI, Mughal EU, Alsharif MA, Naeem N, et al.
    ACS Omega, 2022 Feb 01;7(4):3775-3795.
    PMID: 35128286 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c06694
    In the present work, a concise library of 1,3,5-triaryl-2-pyrazolines (2a-2q) was designed and synthesized by employing a multistep strategy, and the newly synthesized compounds were screened for their urease and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. The compounds (2a-2q) were characterized using a combination of several spectroscopic techniques including FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and EI-MS. All the synthesized compounds, except compound 2i, were potent against urease as compared to the standard inhibitor thiourea (IC50 = 21.37 ± 0.26 μM). These analogs disclosed varying degrees of urease inhibitory activities ranging from 9.13 ± 0.25 to 18.42 ± 0.42 μM. Compounds 2b, 2g, 2m, and 2q having IC50 values of 9.36 ± 0.27, 9.13 ± 0.25, 9.18 ± 0.35, and 9.35 ± 0.35 μM, respectively, showed excellent inhibitory activity as compared to standard thiourea (IC50 = 21.37 ± 0.26 μM). A kinetic study of compound 2g revealed that compound 2g inhibited urease in a competitive mode. Among the synthesized pyrazolines, the compounds 2c, 2k, 2m, and 2o exhibited excellent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with the lowest IC50 values of 212.52 ± 1.31, 237.26 ± 1.28, 138.35 ± 1.32, and 114.57 ± 1.35 μM, respectively, as compared to the standard acarbose (IC50 = 375.82 ± 1.76 μM). The compounds (2a-2q) showed α-glucosidase IC50 values in the range of 114.57 ± 1.35 to 462.94 ± 1.23 μM. Structure-activity relationship revealed that the size and electron-donating or -withdrawing effects of substituents influenced the activities, which led to the urease and α-glucosidase inhibiting properties. Compound 2m was a dual potent inhibitor against urease and α-glucosidase due to the presence of 2-CF3 electron-withdrawing functionality on the phenyl ring. To the best of our knowledge, these synthetic compounds were found to be the most potent dual inhibitors of urease and α-glucosidase with minimum IC50 values. The cytotoxicity of the compounds (2a-2q) was also investigated against human cell lines MCF-7 and HeLa. Compound 2l showed moderate cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and HeLa cell lines. Moreover, in silico studies on most active compounds were also performed to understand the binding interaction of most active compounds with active sites of urease and α-glucosidase enzymes. Some compounds exhibited drug-like characteristics due to their lower cytotoxic and good ADME profiles.
Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links