Search

The main objective of the study is to evaluate the antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities of Anchusa officinalis L. in vitro and in silico. The dried aerial parts of A. officinalis L. were extracted with methanol. Total phenolic and flavonoid content was analyzed. Antioxidant and antimicrobial effects were tested against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed the presence of 10 phytochemical compounds, and cyclobutane (26.07%) was identified as the major photochemical compound. The methanol extract exhibited the maximum amount of total phenolic content (118.24 ± 4.42 mg QE/g dry weight of the dry extract) (R 2  = 0.994) and the total flavonoid content was 94 ± 2.34 mg QE/g dry weight of the dry extract (R 2  = 0.999). The IC 50 value for 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid was 107.12 ± 3.42 μg/mL, and it was high for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (123.94 ± 2.31 μg/mL). The IC 50 value was 72.49 ± 3.14 against HepG2 cell lines, and a decreased value was obtained (102.54 ± 4.17 g/mL) against MCF-7 cell lines. The methanol extract increased the expression of caspase mRNA and Bax mRNA levels when compared to the control experiment (p < .05). The conclusions, A. officinalis L. aerial parts extract exhibited antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Tannery effluents contain high amounts of polluting chemicals, such as salts and heavy metals released often to surface waters. New economic and eco-friendly purification methods are needed. Two adsorbing materials and five salt-tolerant fungal isolates from mangrove habitat were studied. Purification experiments were carried out using the pollutant adsorbents biochar and the biomass of vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) roots and the fungi Cladosporium cladosporioides, Phomopsis glabrae, Aspergillus niger, Emericellopsis sp., and Scopulariopsis sp., which were isolated from mangrove sediment. They efficacy to reduce pollutants was studied in different combinations. Salinity, turbidity, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, phenols, nitrogen, ammonia. Biological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD, COD) and several heavy metals were measured. The adsorbents were efficient reducing the pollutants to 15-50% of the original. The efficiency of the combination of biochar and roots was generally at the same level as the adsorbents alone. Some pollutants such as turbidity, COD and ammonium were reduced slightly more by the combination than the adsorbents alone. From all 14 treatments, Emericellopsis sp. with biochar and roots appeared to be the most efficient reducing pollutants to < 10-30%. BOD and COD were reduced to ca 5% of the original. The treatment was efficient in reducing also heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Mn Pb, Zn). The fungal species originating from the environment instead of the strains present in the tannery effluent reduced pollutants remarkably and the adsorbents improved the reduction efficiency. However, the method needs development for effluents with high pollutant concentrations to fulfil the environmental regulations., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Jazan Industrial Economic City (JIEC) is located on the Red Sea coast in the province of Jazan, southwest of Saudi Arabia anchors diverse heavy and secondary industries in the energy, water desalination, petroleum, aluminum, copper, refineries, pharmaceuticals and food manufacturing fields. These various industries generate a large quantity of industrial wastewaters containing various toxicants. The present work represents ecologically beneficial alternatives for the advancement of environmental biotechnology, which could help mitigate the adverse impacts of environmental pollution resulting from petroleum refining effluents. The mycobiome (32 fungal strains) isolated from the industrial wastewater of the refinery sector in Jazan were belonged to five fungal genera including Fusarium , Verticillium , Purpureocillium , Clavispora and Scedosporium with a distribution percentage of 31.25, 21.88, 15.63, 12.50 and 18.75 %, respectively. These isolates showed multimetals tolerance and bioremoval efficiency against a large number of heavy metals (Fe 2+ , Ni 2+ , Cr 6+ , Zn 2+ , As 3+ , Cu 2+ , Cd 2+ , Pb 2+ , Ag + and Hg 2+ ) along with potent bioremediation activity toward crude oil and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Interestingly, the mycobiome resistance patterns obtained against different classes of fungal antibiotics including azole (fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, posaconazole, isavuconazole and ketoconazole), echinocandin (anidulafungin, caspofungin and micafungin) and polyene (amphotericin B) drugs proved the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among the mycobiome of refinery industry in Saudi Arabia is relatively low. The fungal isolate under isolation code JAZ-20 showed the highest bioremoval efficiency against heavy metals (90.8-100.0 %), crude oil (89.50 %), naphthalene (96.7 %), phenanthrene (92.52 %), fluoranthene (100.0 %), anthracene (90.34 %), pyrene (85.60 %) and chrysene (83.4 %). It showed the highest bioremoval capacity ranging from 85.72 % to 100.0 % against numerous pollutants found in a wide array of industrial effluents, including diclofenac, ibuprofen, carbamazepine, acetaminophen, sulfamethoxazole, bisphenol, bleomycin, vincristine, dicofol, methyl parathion, atrazine, diuron, dieldrin, chlorpyrifos, profenofos and phenanthrene. The isolate JAZ-20 was chosen for molecular typing, cytotoxicity assessment, analysis of volatile compounds and optimization investigations. Based on phenotypic, biochemical and phylogenetic analysis, strain JAZ-20 identified as Scedosporium apiospermum JAZ-20. This strain is newly discovered in industrial effluents in Saudi Arabia. Fungal strain JAZ-20 consistently produced various types of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. the main fatty acids were C 14:0 (1.95 %), iso-C 14:0 (2.98 %), anteiso-C 14:0 (2.13 %), iso-C 15:0 (9.16 %), anteiso-C 15:0 (11.75 %), C 15:0 (7.42 %), C 15:1 (2.37 %), anteiso-C 16:0 (3.4 %), C 16:0 (10.3 %), iso-C 16:0 (9.5 %), C 17:1 (1.36 %), anteiso-C 17:1 (8.64 %), iso-C 18:0 (11.0 %), C 18:0 (3.63 %), anteiso-C 19:0 (3.78 %), anteiso-C 20:0 (2.0 %), iso-C 21:0 (2.44 %), C 23:0 (1.15 %), and C 24:0 (2.17 %). These fatty acids serve as natural and eco-friendly antifungal agents, promoting fungal resistance and inhibiting the production of mycotoxins in the environment. Despite being an environmental isolate, its cytotoxicity was assessed against both normal and cancerous human cell lines. The IC 50 values of JAZ-20 extract were 8.92, 10.41, 20.0, 16.5, and 40.0 μg/mL against WI38, MRC5, MCF10A, HEK293 and HDFs normal cells and 43.26, 33.75, and 40.0 μg/mL against liver (HepG2), breast (A549) and cervix (HeLa) cancers, respectively. Based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), analysis the extract of S. apiospermum JAZ-20 showed 47 known volatile compounds (VOCs) for varied and significant biological activities. Enhancing the bioremoval efficiency of heavy metals from actual refining wastewater involves optimizing process parameters. The parameters optimized were the contact time, the fungal biomass dosage, pH, temperature and agitation rate., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

PEX5, the peroxisomal protein shuttling receptor, binds newly synthesized proteins in the cytosol and transports them to the organelle. During its stay at the peroxisomal protein translocon, PEX5 is monoubiquitinated at its cysteine 11 residue, a mandatory modification for its subsequent ATP-dependent extraction back into the cytosol. The reason why a cysteine and not a lysine residue is the ubiquitin acceptor is unknown. Using an established rat liver-based cell-free in vitro system, we found that, in contrast to wild-type PEX5, a PEX5 protein possessing a lysine at position 11 is polyubiquitinated at the peroxisomal membrane, a modification that negatively interferes with the extraction process. Wild-type PEX5 cannot retain a polyubiquitin chain because ubiquitination at cysteine 11 is a reversible reaction, with the E2-mediated deubiquitination step presenting faster kinetics than PEX5 polyubiquitination. We propose that the reversible nonconventional ubiquitination of PEX5 ensures that neither the peroxisomal protein translocon becomes obstructed with polyubiquitinated PEX5 nor is PEX5 targeted for proteasomal degradation., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Francisco et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Debaryomyces hansenii is a yeast with considerable biotechnological potential as an osmotolerant, stress-tolerant oleaginous microbe. However, targeted genome modification tools are limited and require a strain with auxotrophic markers. Gene targeting by homologous recombination has been reported to be inefficient, but here we describe a set of reagents and a method that allows gene targeting at high efficiency in wild-type isolates. It uses a simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based amplification that extends a completely heterologous selectable marker with 50 bp flanks identical to the target site in the genome. Transformants integrate the PCR product through homologous recombination at high frequency (>75%). We illustrate the potential of this method by disrupting genes at high efficiency and by expressing a heterologous protein from a safe chromosomal harbour site. These methods should stimulate and facilitate further analysis of D. hansenii strains and open the way to engineer strains for biotechnology., (© 2023 The Authors. Yeast published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: As the occurrence of total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) is forecasted to continue rising, so too will the frequency of prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) and revision TKAs. Multiple revisions can result in an unreconstructible knee. In such instances, the knee may be salvaged through arthrodesis. We evaluated whether height, BMI, and age impacted patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in patients who underwent knee arthrodesis after revision TKA due to PJI., Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients undergoing arthrodesis for an infected TKA at a dedicated orthopedic infection service from 2014 to 2022. Patient demographics and PROMs from 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaires were collected. Correlation analysis was performed to determine if any association between height, BMI, and age was present with the various PROMs and sub-scores., Results: Forty-four patients (19 males, 25 females) were included, with a mean follow-up of 48 months. Increases in height (>166 cm), BMI (>30), and age (>62 years) had a statistically significant negative impact on three SF-36 components: health changes (P = 0.016), physical functioning ability (P = 0.0096), and general health components (P = 0.0075)., Conclusion: Our results suggest that a knee arthrodesis is an acceptable option in patients with a persistent knee PJI with good functional PROMs and ambulatory status. Patients with shorter height, lower BMI, and younger age showed overall better outcomes. Knee arthrodesis can be an alternative option for amputation in patients with an infected TKA and provide good functional outcomes in selected patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared financial relationships, which are detailed in the next section., (Copyright © 2023, Conway et al.)

Objective: To analyze the surgical outcome in non-lesional intractable focal epilepsies in our center and to find possible predictors for better outcome., Methods: This is a retrospective study for 40 adult patients with intractable focal epilepsy following at KFSHRC-Riyadh, who underwent presurgical evaluation followed by resective surgery and continued follow up for a minimum of 2 years. The surgery outcome was evaluated based on the type of surgical procedure and histopathology results., Results: Out of all 40 patients studied, seizure freedom was achieved in 19 (47.5 %) and 17 (42.5 %) patients at the first and second year respectively in all non-lesional cases. Seizure freedom in non-lesional temporal lobe surgery was achieved in 10 (45 %) of patients at 2 years, 5 (38 %) in non-lesional frontal lobe patients at 2 years and 8 (44 %), 7 (38 %) for all extratemporal at 1 and 2 years respectively. Good prognosis was seen in patients with localized positron emission tomography (PET), had no aura and had a clear ictal onset either on scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) or subdural invasive electroencephalogram., Significance: The best surgical outcome is achievable in patients with non-lesional focal epilepsy. This study highlights the prognostic value of the PET scan and ictal scalp/subdural invasive EEG., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine the lateralizing value of unilateral peri-ictal and interictal headaches in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy (DRFE)., Methods: Four-hundred consecutive patients undergoing presurgical evaluation for DRFE were interviewed. Patients with headache were broadly divided into two groups: peri-ictal and interictal headache. The lateralizing value of unilateral headache was compared in each group between three diagnoses: temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), extratemporal lobe epilepsy (ETLE), and temporal-plus epilepsy (TEMP+ epilepsy)., Results: Out of 400 patients, 169 (42.25%) had headaches. Peri-ictal headaches were experienced in 106 patients (26.5%) and interictal headaches were experienced in 63 (15.75%). In the peri-ictal group, unilateral headaches were present in 48 out of 60 patients (80%) with TLE; they were ipsilateral to the seizure focus in 45 out of 48 patients (93.75%). Unilateral headaches in patients with ETLE were present in 20 out of 31 patients (64.5%) and were ipsilateral to the seizure focus in 14 out of 20 patients (70%). In patients with TEMP + epilepsy, unilateral peri-ictal headaches were present in 9 out of 15 patients (60%); they were ipsilateral to the seizure focus in all 9 patients (100%). In the interictal headache group, unilateral headaches were ipsilateral the seizure focus in 9 out of 10 patients (90%) with TLE and 5 out of 6 patients (83.3%) with ETLE. None of the TEMP + epilepsy patients had a unilateral interictal headache., Conclusion: Headache is a frequently encountered symptom in patients with DRFE. When occurring in a unilateral fashion, it has a high lateralizing value in temporal and extratemporal lobe epilepsies. This has been demonstrated to be true for both peri-ictal and interictal headaches. In the vast majority of patients with DRFE, unilateral headache occurs ipsilateral to the seizure focus., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study provides a standardized Arabic language neuropsychological test battery and tests its ability to distinguish patients with left and right hemisphere epileptic foci who are candidates for surgical resection., Methods: An Arabic language battery of 15 tests was developed based on the neuropsychological test battery used at the Johns Hopkins Hospital for surgical evaluation of patients undergoing temporal lobe resection. With modifications where culturally required, 11 tests were translated to Arabic by the principal investigator and back-translated by two bilingual health professionals; four tests were available in Arabic and added to the battery. The battery was administered to 21 Arabic-speaking patients with left temporal epileptic foci, 21 with right temporal epileptic foci, and 46 neurologically and psychiatrically healthy adults., Results: Nearly all the Arabic test versions were capable of differentiating healthy controls and the temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) groups. Tests known to distinguish left and right temporal lobectomy candidates, such as wordlist memory and prose recall, were able to do so as accurately as the English versions. Also, a roughly "culturally free" task (the Baltimore Board) and a newly developed version of the Boston Naming Test demonstrated some sensitivity to left temporal lobe involvement., Conclusions: Arabic-language neuropsychological tests for epilepsy surgical evaluations are made available, demonstrate cultural sensitivity and clinical validity, and require further psychometric property and normative research. (JINS, 2019, 25, 761-771).

Purpose. To review the postoperative seizure outcomes of patients that underwent surgery for epilepsy at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC). Methods. A descriptive retrospective study for 502 patients operated on for medically intractable epilepsy between 1998 and 2012. The surgical outcome was measured using the ILAE criteria. Results. The epilepsy surgery outcome for temporal lobe epilepsy surgery (ILAE classes 1, 2, and 3) at 12, 36, and 60 months is 79.6%, 74.2%, and 67%, respectively. The favorable 12- and 36-month outcomes for frontal lobe epilepsy surgery are 62% and 52%, respectively. For both parietal and occipital epilepsy lobe surgeries the 12- and 36-month outcomes are 67%. For multilobar epilepsy surgery, the 12- and 36-month outcomes are 65% and 50%, respectively. The 12- and 36-month outcomes for functional hemispherectomy epilepsy surgery are 64.2% and 63%, respectively. According to histopathology diagnosis, mesiotemporal sclerosis (MTS) and benign CNS tumors had the best favorable outcome after surgery at 1 year (77.27% and 84.3%, resp.,) and 3 years (76% and 75%, resp.,). The least favorable seizure-free outcome after 3 years occurred in cases with dual pathology (66.6%). Thirty-four epilepsy patients with normal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans were surgically treated. The first- and third-year epilepsy surgery outcome of 17 temporal lobe surgeries were (53%) and (47%) seizure-free, respectively. The first- and third-year epilepsy surgery outcomes of 15 extratemporal epilepsy surgeries were (47%) and (33%) seizure-free. Conclusion. The best outcomes are achieved with temporal epilepsy surgery, mesial temporal sclerosis, and benign CNS tumor. The worst outcomes are from multilobar surgery, dual pathology, and normal MRI.

There is no entirely satisfactory way to monitor nerve root integrity during spinal surgery. In particular, standard free-running electromyography carries a high false-positive rate and some false-negative rate of injury. Stimulated electromyography to direct root stimulation can only be done intermittently, and roots are often inaccessible. This article reviews to what extent muscle motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring might help. It presents background considerations, describes MEP methodology, and summarizes relevant experimental animal and clinical studies. Based on current evidence, root compromise can cause myotomal MEP deterioration that in some cases may be reversible. However, because of radicular overlap, limited sampling, confounding factors, and response variability, the effects range from no appreciable change to variable degrees of amplitude reduction to disappearance and some false-positive and false-negative results should be expected. For root monitoring, multichannel MEP recordings should span adjacent myotomes and avoid mixed myotome derivations. Only amplitude reduction warning criteria have been studied, but no percentage cutoff consensus has emerged, and this approach is troubled by response variability. There is some evidence that MEPs might reduce false electromyographic results. In conclusion, muscle MEPs could compliment electromyography but seem unlikely to completely solve the problem of nerve root monitoring.