Importance of Microminerals for Maintaining Antioxidant Function After COVID-19-induced Oxidative Stress

Background:COVID-19 is caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Since the antioxidant mechanisms such as glutathione peroxidase or superoxide dismutase are downregulated during infection by the virus, there is an imbalance in the oxidant-antioxidant system. In this study we aimed to identify the effect of COVID-19 on the antioxidant defense mechanism by comparing the concentrations of antioxidants and microminerals in COVID-19 patients and healthy controls.Methods:This cross-sectional analytical study involved 200 patients at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal University. The serum concentrations of antioxidants and minerals were determined to establish the impact of COVID-19 on antioxidants mechanism and nutrient status in COVID-19 patients.Results:The serum concentrations of GPX (10.36 ± 2.70 ≥ 5.82 ± 1.64 mKAT/L, p < 0.0001) and copper (2192.5 ± 449.8 ≥ 782.15 ± 106.5 µg/dL, p < 0.0001) were significantly greater, and zinc (34.78 ± 4.5 ≤ 81.07 ± 10.13 µg/dL, p < 0.0001) was significantly less, in the study group than in controls. The Pearson correlation between serum SOD and zinc was significant (r = 0.491, p < 0.0001) indicating the importance of zinc in maintaining and improving SOD activity. No significant correlations were observed between copper and SOD (r = -0.089) or iron and CAT (r = -0.027). Conclusion:Our study demonstrated the expected increase in oxidant-radical production during COVID-19 by estimating the altered concentrations of antioxidants and the minerals required to neutralize the elevated ROS. This finding is not novel but adds to the existing literature, which recommends nutritional supplementation of microminerals and antioxidants.Key Words: COVID-19, Cytokines, Glutathione Peroxidase, Minerals, Reactive oxygen species, Zinc     

covR Mediated Antibiofilm Activity of 3-Furancarboxaldehyde Increases the Virulence of Group A Streptococcus

BackgroundGroup A streptococcus (GAS, Streptococcus pyogenes), a multi-virulent, exclusive human pathogen responsible for various invasive and non-invasive diseases possesses biofilm forming phenomenon as one of its pathogenic armaments. Recently, antibiofilm agents have gained prime importance, since inhibiting the biofilm formation is expected to reduce development of antibiotic resistance and increase their susceptibility to the host immune cells.SignificanceThough 3FCA possess antibiofilm activity against GAS, it was also found to increase the virulence of GAS. This study demonstrates that, covR mediated antibiofilm activity may increase the virulence of GAS. This also emphasizes the importance to analyse the acclimatization response and virulence of the pathogen in the presence of antibiofilm compounds prior to their clinical trials.     

Anaerobic degradation of textile dye bath effluent using Halomonas sp

The main objective of this work is to reduce the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color of the effluent containing reactive textile dye by microbial method. Anaerobic digestion has the potential to break down complex refractory organic compounds so that they may be further degraded aerobically or to completely mineralize them. An anaerobic digestion technique was applied to synthetic reactive red 2 dye cotton textile effluent aiming at the dye degradation. Halophilic and halotolerant bacterial culture Halomonas variabilis and Halomonas glaciei were used for degradation in batch-mode static condition. The temperature was kept constant at 30°C using CO(2) incubator. Maximum degradation was achieved within 144 h of experimental run. Degradation studies were made by determining COD and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Statistical analysis showed that the BOD and COD reduction rate were optimal in the concentration of 1297 mg L(-1) for the time duration of nearly 100 h.     

Evaluation of Efficacy of Stabilizers on the Thermostability of Live Attenuated Thermo-adapted Peste des petits ruminants Vaccines

In this study,thermo-adapted (Ta) PPR vaccines were assessed for their stability at 25,37,40,42 and 45℃ in lyophilized form using two extrinsic stabilizers {lactalbumin hydrolysate-sucrose (LS) and stabilizer E} and in reconstituted form with the diluents (1 mol/L MgSO4 or 0.85% NaCl).The lyophilized vaccines showed an expiry period of 24-26 days at 25℃,7-8 days at 37℃ and 3-4 days at 40℃.LS stabilizer was superior at 42℃ with a shelf-life of 44 h,whereas in stabilizer E,a 40 h shelf-life with a comparable ...     

Molecular imprinting in monolayer surfaces

A comprehensive report on molecularly imprinted monolayers (MIMs) is presented, but does not include bulk-polymer thin film coatings on surfaces, inorganic surface imprinting, polymer grafting and layer-by-layer methods. Due to difficulties in imprinting large molecules and obtaining fast binding responses with traditional network polymer materials, MIMs have been developed with the aim of enhancing mass-transfer of analytes in imprinted materials. Three approaches to MIM fabrication have been developed with respect to the formation of the pre-organized template-matrix complex. In the first approach, the molecular binding sites are formed in a monolayer on a glass or gold surface. The second approach uses a template-macromolecule complex to form binding sites in the solution phase that are immobilized onto a surface; and the third approach transfers an imprinted Langmuir film onto a gold surface. Mass transfer in these MIMs in most cases is on the order of minutes, and both small and large molecules (proteins) have been imprinted.     

Electrochemical assay for the determination of nitric oxide metabolites using copper(II) chlorophyllin modified screen printed electrodes

This work presents a novel electrochemical assay for the collective measurement of nitric oxide (NO) and its metabolites nitrite (NO₂⁻) and nitrate (NO₃⁻) in volume miniaturized sample at low cost using copper(II) chlorophyllin (CuCP) modified sensor electrode. Zinc oxide (ZnO) incorporated screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE) was used as a host matrix for the immobilization of CuCP. The morphological changes of the ZnO and CuCP modified electrodes were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical characterization of CuCP–ZnO–SPCE exhibited the characteristic quasi-reversible redox peaks at the potential +0.06 V versus Ag/AgCl. This biosensor electrode showed a wide linear range of response over NO concentrations from 200 nM to 500 μM with a detection limit of 100 nM and sensitivity of 85.4 nA μM⁻¹. Furthermore, NO₂⁻ measurement showed linearity of 100 nM to 1 mM with a detection limit of 100 nM for NO₂⁻ and sensitivity of 96.4 nA μM⁻¹. Then, the concentration of NO₃⁻ was measured after its enzymatic conversion into NO₂⁻. Using this assay, the concentrations of NO, NO₂⁻, and NO₃⁻ present in human plasma samples before and after beetroot supplement were estimated using suitable membrane coated CuCP–ZnO–SPCE and validated with the standard Griess method.     

Aldehyde dehydrogenase as an alternative to enumeration of total and viable CD34(+) cells in autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation

We validated the correlation of aldehyde dehydrogenase ALDH(br) cells with total and viable CD34(+) cells in fresh and thawed hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) products, and looked for a correlation with time to white blood cell (WBC) and platelet engraftment after autologous transplantation, using simple linear regression analyzes. We found a significant correlation between pre-freeze ALDH(br) cell numbers and pre-freeze total CD34(+) (P < 0.001), viable CD34(+) (P < 0.001) and post-thaw viable CD34(+) (P < 0.001) cell numbers. We suggest that ALDH(br) may be substituted for CD34(+) cell numbers when evaluating HPC. As post-thaw viability testing apparently adds no significant information, we suggest that it may not be necessary. Finally, neither marker correlated with time to engraftment in our patients, supporting previous data suggesting the existence of a threshold dose for timely engraftment around 2.5 × 10(6) cells/kg.