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Background: Idiopathic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ICOPD) is a prevalent human disease. The etiology of the disease is yet to be clarified. The main aim of this project was to explore serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) in the ICOPD patients in comparison to healthy controls., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α and TGF-β were evaluated in the 70 non-smoker ICOPD patients and 70 sex and age matched controls, using ELISA technique by the commercial kits from Karmania Pars Gene Company. Analysis of data was performed by parametric independent and Pearson correlation test., Results: Serum levels of IL-6 and TGF-β, but not TNF-α, were significantly decreased in the ICOPD patients in comparison to controls. Serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α and TGF-β were not altered in the ICOPD male in comparison to female and also in mild when compared to moderate ICOPD patients., Conclusions: Down-regulation of TGF-β may be the main risk factor for deterioration of inflammation in the ICOPD patients. Decreased IL-6 may be related to the idiopathic type of COPD., Competing Interests: None., (AJCEI Copyright © 2022.)

It is considered that all growing cells, for exception of acidophilic bacteria, have negatively charged inside cytoplasmic membrane (Δψ⁻-cells). Here we show that growing populations of microbial cells contain a small portion of cells with positively charged inside cytoplasmic membrane (Δψ⁺-cells). These cells were detected after simultaneous application of the fluorescent probes for positive membrane potential (anionic dye DIBAC⁻) and membrane integrity (propidium iodide, PI). We found in exponentially growing cell populations of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae that the content of live Δψ⁻-cells was 93.6 ± 1.8 % for bacteria and 90.4 ± 4.0 % for yeasts and the content of live Δψ⁺-cells was 0.9 ± 0.3 % for bacteria and 2.4 ± 0.7 % for yeasts. Hypothetically, existence of Δψ⁺-cells could be due to short-term, about 1 min for bacteria and 5 min for yeasts, change of membrane potential from negative to positive value during the cell cycle. This change has been shown by the reversions of K⁺, Na⁺, and Ca²⁺ ions fluxes across the cell membrane during synchronous yeast culture. The transformation of Δψ(⁻-cells to Δψ⁺-cells can be explained by slow influx of K⁺ ions into Δψ⁻-cell to the trigger level of K⁺ concentration ("compression of potassium spring"), which is forming "alternative" Δψ⁺-cell for a short period, following with fast efflux of K⁺ ions out of Δψ⁺-cell ("release of potassium spring") returning cell to normal Δψ⁻ state. We anticipate our results to be a starting point to reveal the biological role of cell dualism in form of Δψ⁻- and Δψ⁺- cells.

Assessment of physiological states of individual bacterial cells can be useful in the monitoring of the biotechnological processes. Physiological heterogeneity of Escherichia coli population by respiration activity and membrane potential during growth and starvation in batch cultures was evaluated using 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) and bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxo (DiBAC₄)(3) fluorescent probes in combination with flow cytometry. The shares of CTC-reducing cells (CTC(+)-cells) and cells with positively charged outside cytoplasmic membrane which were not stained by DiBAC₄(3) (ΔΨ(+)-cells), were 90% and 95% in the exponential phase of batch culture, respectively. After short-term starvation for 10 h, the shares of CTC(+)-cells and ΔΨ(+)-cells in the samples taken from the exponential phase dropped to 78% and 72%, respectively. After long-term starvation for 40 days, the share of CTC(+)-cells dropped to 5%, whereas the share of ΔΨ(+)-cells was about 50%. The conclusions from this research are as follows: (a) the physiological heterogeneity of bacterial population increased after starvation; (b) the cell respiratory activity is more sensitive to starvation than the cell membrane potential; (c) a probe for the cell membrane potential DiBAC₄(3) is more suitable than a probe for the cell respiratory activity CTC in the detection of viable indicator bacteria in environment., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)