Role of White Blood Cell Count, Immature to Total Ratio and C-Reactive Protein in Early Detection of Clinically Suspected Neonatal Sepsis

Despite recent advances in neonatal care, early detection of neonatal sepsis still remains challenging. Positive blood culture is the gold standard for definitive diagnosis of neonatal sepsis but is time consuming and demands a well equipped laboratory setting. Therefore, it becomes imperative to evaluate usefulness of white blood cell count, Immature to total (IT) ratio and C-reactive protein as potential markers in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. The objective of the study was to evaluate role of white blood cell count, IT ratio and C-reactive protein in early detection of clinically suspected neonatal sepsis. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from January 2017 to December 2018 at Special Care Newborn Unit (SCANU) of Rangpur Medical College Hospital, Rangpur, Bangladesh. After parental permission and ethical clearance, a total of 70 eligible neonates were included into the study. Estimation of total white blood cell count, IT ratio and C-reactive protein as well as blood culture were done for each case. Significance for Chi-Square test and Pearson's correlation coefficient test was predetermined as p<0.05. Of the total 70 neonates studied, 19(27.14%) were blood culture positive and most common organism was Escherichia coli (7/14, 37.0%). Among individual and combination tests, CRP was highly sensitive (100%) followed by WBC count (74.94%). Highly specific tests in diagnosing sepsis were combination test of IT ratio and CRP (88.23%) followed by combination test of WBC count and CRP (82.35%). Positive predictive value (PPV) was high for combination test of WBC count and CRP (90.90%) followed by combination test of IT ratio and CRP (90.47%). Negative predictive value (NPV) was high in CRP (100.0%) followed by WBC count (89.19%). IT ratio positively correlated with CRP (p=0.002) and there was significant association between raised CRP and WBC count (p=0.005) in neonatal sepsis. Diagnostic role of both individual and combination tests were significant in early detection of clinically suspected neonatal sepsis while awaiting results of blood culture. However, none of the combination tests were able to achieve 100.0% sensitivity.

Deep tubewell use is associated with increased household microbial contamination in rural Bangladesh: Results from a prospective cohort study among households in rural Bangladesh

Deep tubewells are important sources of arsenic mitigation in rural Bangladesh. Compared to commonly available shallow tubewells, deep tubewells tap into deeper low-arsenic aquifers and greatly reduce exposure to arsenic in drinking-water. However, benefits from these more distant and expensive sources may be compromised by higher levels of microbial contamination at point-of-use (POU). This paper examines differences in microbial contamination levels at source and POU among households using deep tubewells and shallow tubewells, and investigates factors associated with POU microbial contamination among deep tubewell users. We assessed a prospective longitudinal cohort of 500 rural households in Matlab, Bangladesh, across 135 villages. Concentration of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in water samples at source and POU using Compartment Bag Tests (CBTs) was measured across rainy and dry seasons. We employed linear mixed-effect regression models to measure the effect of different factors on log E. coli concentrations among deep tubewell users. CBT results show that log E. coli concentrations are similar at source and at POU during the first dry and rainy season, but are significantly higher at POU among deep tubewell users during the second dry season. Log E. coli at POU among deep tubewell users is positively associated with both presence (exponentiated beta exp(b) = 2.52, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.70, 3.73) and concentration of E. coli (exp(b) = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.19, 1.54) at source, and walking time to the tubewell source (exp(b) = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.15, 1.69). Drinking-water during the second dry season is associated with reduced log E. coli (exp(b) = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.23, 0.57) compared to the rainy season. These results suggest that while households that use deep tubewells have lower arsenic exposure, they may be at higher risk of consuming microbially contaminated water compared to households that use shallow tubewells.

Curcuma longa L. Prevents the Loss of β-Tubulin in the Brain and Maintains Healthy Aging in Drosophila melanogaster

Loss of tubulin is associated with neurodegeneration and brain aging. Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) has frequently been employed as a spice in curry and traditional medications in the Indian subcontinent to attain longevity and better cognitive performance. We aimed to evaluate the unelucidated mechanism of how turmeric protects the brain to be an anti-aging agent. D. melanogaster was cultured on a regular diet and turmeric-supplemented diet. β-tubulin level and physiological traits including survivability, locomotor activity, fertility, tolerance to oxidative stress, and eye health were analyzed. Turmeric showed a hormetic effect, and 0.5% turmeric was the optimal dose in preventing aging. β-tubulin protein level was decreased in the brain of D. melanogaster upon aging, while a 0.5% turmeric-supplemented diet predominantly prevented this aging-induced loss of β-tubulin and degeneration of physiological traits as well as improved β-tubulin synthesis in the brain of D. melanogaster early to mid-age. The higher concentration (≥ 1%) of turmeric-supplemented diet decreased the β-tubulin level and degenerated many of the physiological traits of D. melanogaster. The turmeric concentration-dependent increase and decrease of β-tubulin level were consistent with the increment and decrement data obtained from the evaluated physiological traits. This correlation demonstrated that turmeric targets β-tubulin and has both beneficial and detrimental effects that depend on the concentration of turmeric. The findings of this study concluded that an optimal dosage of turmeric could maintain a healthy neuron and thus healthy aging, by preventing the loss and increasing the level of β-tubulin in the brain.

Serum hyaluronic acid as a predictor of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection

Chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Several studies investigated the diagnostic and prognostic value of some biochemical markers to detect the hepatic fibrosis and found a correlation between serum markers and hepatic fibrosis. Among them serum hyaluronic acid (HA) has been identified as a potential marker of fibrosis or cirrhosis in different studies. A prospective study in 60 subjects was conducted to evaluate the association between serum HA and hepatic fibrosis. Thirty consecutive patients with chronic HBV or HCV infection undergoing liver biopsy were studied. Sera were obtained for HA using enzyme linked protein binding assay. Patients with hepatic fibrosis had higher serum HA concentration compared with healthy subjects (236.65 ± 227.07 vs. 23.32 ± 14.22 respectively, p<0.001). Correlation was found between high serum HA concentration and increasing degree of hepatic fibrosis (R-0.322 and p<0.041). This study had shown a good correlation between serum HA and different stages of hepatic fibrosis. So serum HA may be used as a useful marker of hepatic fibrosis.

Proteome analysis of a temperature-inducible recombinant Escherichia coli for poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate production

A recombinant Escherichia coli strain harboring the lambdap(R)-p(L) promoter and heterologous poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) biosynthesis genes was shown to accumulate PHB when the incubation temperature was changed from 34 degrees C to temperatures higher than 37 degrees C. In the present research, total gene expression patterns of the recombinant E. coli before and after induction were investigated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Proteins encoded by serS, sucC, trpA, and alaS were found to be expressed before induction of phb genes at a culture temperature of 34 degrees C. On the other hand, proteins encoded by metG, rplI, and carA were found to be expressed after induction achieved by increasing the temperature to 40 degrees C. In the case of plasmid-free cells, all the selected genes have been shown to be expressed except metG, and ibpA and ibpB among the heat-shock proteins. The heat-shock proteins were found to be upregulated upon induction of phb genes, which may be due to the stress caused by the accumulation of PHB granules as well as by the temperature upshift. The changes in the expression of some of the metabolic pathway-related proteins before and after induction were interpreted in relation to the consumption of NADPH and acetyl-CoA for PHB synthesis.

Oligonucleotide probes based on 16S rRNA sequences for the identification of four Azospirillum species

Partial sequences of the 16S rRNA molecules of nine strains belonging to four Azospirillum species were used to design species-specific oligonucleotide probes. Azospirillum strains sequences were analyzed and three homologous fragments containing 16 nucleotides were determined. These three probes were found to be characteristic of A. lipoferum (Al), A. irakense (Ai), and A. brasilense/amazonense species (Aba) and of few nontarget organisms. The specificity of these three probes was tested both against sequences in the GenBank data base and in numerous colony hybridization experiments. As a few non-target organisms hyridized with the different Azospirillum probes, the use of these probes in bulk soil hybridization is not permitted. However, their use together with specific isolation techniques is validated.