Trichomonas vaginalis, a flagellated protozoan parasite causes a variety of adverse health consequences in both men and women. The parasite exists in the trophozoite and the pseudocystic stage. The study reports for the first time that pseudocyst forms of T. vaginalis isolated from cervical neoplasia (CN) patients demonstrated distinct, different and significant in vitro growth profiles when grown in vitro cultures from day 1 up to day 5 (p<0.05, Mann-Whitney test) when compared with the same life cycle stages isolated from non-cervical neoplasia but symptomatic patients (NCN). Pseudocysts from CN and NCN isolates remained viable in distilled water until 3 h 10 min and 2 h 10 min, respectively. The nucleus of pseudocysts in CN isolates using acridine orange and DAPI showed more intense staining revealing higher nuclear content. The FITC-labeled Concanavalin A stained stronger green fluorescence with surface of pseudocysts in CN isolates showing more rough and creased surface with higher numbers of deep micropores with larger numbers of chromatin masses, vacuoles, and hydrogenosomes. The study confirms that pseudocystic stage from CN, despite the uniformity in appearance of being rounded and showing no motility without a true cyst wall under light microscopy, demonstrated different biochemical, surface, and ultrastructural properties. The study provides evidence that phenotypic variant forms of pseudocysts does exist and possibly does play a role in exacerbating cervical cancer.
Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer health benefits through the gastrointestinal microbiota. This nutritional supplement may benefit athletes who undergo rigorous training by maintaining their gastrointestinal functions and overall health. In this study the influence of moderate physical exercise using a graded treadmill exercise, alone or in combination with the consumption of a soy product fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum LAB12 (LAB12), on tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) responses was investigated in a murine model. Male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into four groups of six mice each (control, exercise alone, LAB12 and LAB12 + exercise). Mice treated with the potential probiotic LAB12 were orally gavaged for 42 days. At autopsy, blood and spleen from the animals were collected. The splenocytes were cultured in the presence of a mitogen, concanavalin A (Con A). The amount of TNF-α produced by the Con A-stimulated splenocytes was quantified using ELISA, while their proliferation was determined using the [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation method. This study shows that LAB12-supplemented and exercise-induced mice showed marked increase (P<0.05) in cell proliferation compared to the control animals. TNF-α production was suppressed (P<0.05) in the LAB12 group compared to the untreated mice. These results demonstrate that supplementation with LAB12 has immunomodulatory effects, under conditions of moderate physical exercise, which may have implications for human athletes. Further investigation in human trials is warranted to confirm and extrapolate these findings.
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a healthcare-associated bacterial pathogen which causes severe diseases in immunocompromised individuals. Concanavalin A (conA), a lectin which recognizes proteins with mannose or glucose residues, has been reported to agglutinate K. pneumoniae and hence, is postulated to have therapeutical potential for K. pneumoniae-induced liver infection. This study investigated the conA binding properties of a large collection of clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. ConA agglutination reaction was demonstrated by 94 (51.4%) of 183 K. pneumoniae isolates using a microtiter plate assay. The conA agglutination reactions were inhibited in the presence of 2.5 mg/ml D-mannose and 2.5 mg/ml glucose, and following pretreatment of the bacterial suspension with protease and heating at 80ºC. Majority of the positive isolates originated from respiratory specimens. Isolation of conA-binding proteins from K. pneumoniae ATCC 700603 strain was performed using conA affinity column and the conA binding property of the eluted proteins was confirmed by western blotting analysis using conA-HRP conjugates. Proteins with molecular weights ranging from 35 to 60 kDa were eluted from the conA affinity column, of which four were identified as outer membrane protein precursor A (37 kDa), outer membrane protein precursor C (40 kDa), enolase (45 kDa) and chaperonin (60 kDa) using mass spectrometry analysis. Several conA binding proteins (including 45 and 60 kDa) were found to be immunogenic when reacted with rabbit anti-Klebsiella antibody. The function and interplay of the conA binding proteins in bacterium-host cell relationship merits further investigation.