Towards New Scaffolds for Antimicrobial Activity-In Silico/In Vitro Workflow Introducing New Lead Compounds.

: The rapid evolution of bacterial resistance and the high cost of drug development have attributed greatly to the dearth in drug design. Computational approaches and natural product exploitation offer potential solutions to accelerate drug discovery. : In this research article, we aimed to identify novel antibacterial hits.

Correlation between flagellin A (flaA) genotypes and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from children with gastroenteritis in Athens, Greece.

Background And Objective: Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common enteric pathogens worldwide. The bacterium is transmitted to humans via contaminated food and water. In the majority of cases the disease is self-limiting, but treatment is indicated in immunocompromised patents, in severe cases with septicemia, and in children.

Low cholesterol along with inflammation predicts morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients.

Low and not high cholesterol seems to predict high mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The confirmation of this reverse epidemiology as well as its possible interconnection with the increased inflammatory activity observed in this population is being explored in the present study. A group of 136 HD patients was prospectively studied for 2 years, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) as well as all-cause mortality and morbidity were recorded.

Serum oxidized low-density lipoprotein is inversely correlated to telomerase activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of haemodialysis patients.

Background: Telomerase preserves telomeres' function and structure preventing cellular senescence. Its activity is reduced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of haemodialysis (HD) patients. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential correlation between increased oxidative stress/inflammation and telomerase activity in PBMC of HD patients.

Telomerase activity is decreased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of hemodialysis patients.

Background: Telomerase preserves telomere length and structure, preventing cellular senescence, which is associated with alteration of the chromosomal ends. We hypothesized that telomerase activity is altered in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of hemodialysis (HD) patients. To investigate this hypothesis as well as the relationship between telomerase and inflammation, we measured the activity of this reverse transcriptase as well as the level of several inflammatory markers in PBMCs and serum of an end-stage renal failure (ESRF) population and a non-renal-failure group of subjects.

Release of interleukin-6 and its soluble receptors by activated peripheral blood monocytes is elevated in hypocholesterolemic hemodialysis patients.

Background: A reverse association between cholesterol level and cardiovascular disease mortality is observed in hemodialysis (HD) patients; this paradoxical relationship may be explained by the coexistence of inflammation. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a central regulator of inflammation; its action is augmented by the soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) and inhibited by the soluble gp130 (sgp130). In order to investigate the potential association of inflammation with cholesterol levels in the HD population, release of soluble IL-6 components by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was measured in two groups of HD patients with distinctly different lipid profile and in a control group.

Serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells infectious burden: correlation to inflammation and atherosclerosis in haemodialysis patients.

Background: Infectious agents may be implicated in the inflammatory atherosclerotic process. Not only specific microorganisms but also the infectious burden, defined as the number of pathogens to which a patient is exposed, has been associated with atherosclerosis. In the present study, the infectious burden, determined directly (by identification of viable pathogens in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)) and indirectly (by serum antibodies detection) is correlated to the inflammatory and atherosclerotic status in haemodialysis (HD) patients, a population at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Treatment with fluvastatin rapidly modulates, via different pathways, and in dependence on the baseline level, inflammation in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are frequently in an elevated inflammatory state which is correlated to the atherosclerosis-related and overall morbidity and mortality in this population. Statins, beyond their antilipidemic effects, are also considered to have anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating and antioxidant properties. The individual response of HD patients to a short course of fluvastatin, the mechanisms involved in the immunomodulating and anti-inflammatory effects of this drug and the time interval to the appearance of these effects are investigated in this longitudinal study.

Exploring inflammation in hemodialysis patients: persistent and superimposed inflammation. A longitudinal study.

Background: Inflammation is frequently elevated, and seems to be episodic in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Whether, its episodic character is due to the temporal variability, in periods free of clinical events, of the inflammatory indices or due, to the acute phase response induced by common inflammatory stimuli, has not been investigated yet in a longitudinal study. This study explores inflammation forms, characteristics and causes which are probably related to the high cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity in HD patients.

The variability and accurate assessment of microinflammation in haemodialysis patients.

Background: Systemic microinflammation is correlated with atherosclerosis. It needs a reliable assessment. This study explores the temporal variations of three inflammatory indexes [C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)] in a period free of clinical events and tests the reliability of their multiple measurements for the assessment of microinflammation in haemodialysis (HD) patients, a population at high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

The effect of viable Chlamydia pneumoniae on serum cytokines and adhesion molecules in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cp) induces the production of cytokines and adhesion molecules in infected host eukaryotic cells. The causes for pro-inflammatory cytokine and adhesion molecule increase in hemodialysis (HD) patients have not been fully elucidated. The possibility that, in this particularly atherosclerotic population, Cp, a microorganism implicated in the infectious-based inflammatory hypothesis of atherosclerosis' is also responsible for these molecules' increase is assessed in this study.

Detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae in peripheral blood mononuclear cells: correlation with inflammation and atherosclerosis in haemodialysis patients.

Background: Chlamydia pneumoniae has been implicated as an inflammatory agent in atherosclerosis. Clinical studies in this field have yielded conflicting results, which may have resulted from a lack of standardization for C.pneumoniae detection.